Grand Prix Rejects

Autosport, January 2022 wrote:Kalogeropoulos questions F2 importance as no drivers get promoted to Formula One

FIA president Alekos Kalogeropoulos has questioned just how important the current incarnation of the Formula 2 championship is to Formula One teams. The reform of the F1 ladder was part of Kalogeropoulos' FIA presidency bid, and while that seemed to have brought a new talent influx into F1 in the first couple of years of the new ladder, the 2021 F2 season promoted no one into F1 - not even its champion, George Russell.

Kalogeropoulos has revealed he was surprised no one got promoted and open an inquire on what exactly went wrong with the 2021 championship. The 2021 F2 saw weekends move back to just a single race per weekend, while also opening up to become a fully fledged world championship on its own, with more standalone events when compared to its previous season. Kalogeropoulos mentioned the plan to build F2 has its own important championship is meant to carry on, and puts the blame on the lack of F1 promotees on the shoulders of the talent pool already available. "We've had so many great drivers come through the ranks that it becomes hard to open spaces up. We're also reaching the end of a cycle with the likes of Vettel or Maldonado nearing the end of their F1 career, so the FIA is looking for a way to further push space for new talent in the top tier of motorsport."

Discussing the future of F2 and how the new car performed, Kalogeropoulos mentioned that the first season, criticized for lack of variation, was more a consequence of teams having loads of data available to them from the get go, as the FIA made sure teams were involved in the testing of the new car. He expects the 2022 season to be more open and one of the most competitive championships in the world, as 22 young drivers fight for the F2 crown.

Autosport wrote:FIA reveals calendar for the 2022 Formula 2 season

The FIA have revealed the entirety of the 2022 Formula 2 calendar this morning. The calendar, made out of 16 races - two more than 2021 -, will start in March, in Australia, and end in October, in China. Out of the 16 races, three are standlone events, with the remaining thirteen being in support of the Formula One World Championship.

The FIA have also clarified the 2022 Formula season will keep the one race per weekend format the series debuted in 2021, with the races being run to a 150km mark. The weekend also includes a 45 minute free practice session and a 30 minute qualifying session. In race weekends where F2 is support F1, the practice session will be run on friday morning, qualifying on friday afternoon and the race on saturday afternoon. In standalone events, friday and qualifying are run on saturday morning and friday respectively, while the race is run on a sunday.

Down below, you can find the entirety of the 2022 FIA Formula 2 calendar. Standalone deems the weekend as F2 being the main event of the weekend.

Round 1: Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit, Australia, 26 February
Round 2: Autódromo Roberto José Mouras, Argentina, 26 March
Round 3: Bahrain International Circuit, Bahrain, 16 April
Round 4: Losail International Circuit, Qatar, 23 April - Standalone
Round 5: Motorsport Arena Oschersleben, Germany, 7 May
Round 6: Circuit Zandvoort, Netherlands, 15 May - Standalone
Round 7: Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours, France, 18 June
Round 8: Snetterton Circuit, Great Britain, 25 June
Round 9: Hungaroring, Hungary, 9 July
Round 10: Circuit Charles de Gaulle, France, 23 July
Round 11: Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello, Italy, 20 August
Round 12: Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium, 27 August
Round 13: Poznan Circuit, Poland, 17 September - Standalone
Round 14: Marina Bay Street Circuit, Singapore, 1 October
Round 15: Yas Marina Circuit, United Arab Emirates, 15 October
Round 16: Shanghai International Circuit, China, 29 October