FIA Formula 2 headed to Barcelona for Round 2 of the Championship. On Friday’s Free Practice session started under glorious conditions. Nato finished the sessions within a second off the top spot. Nato finished the practice session in 8th (1:30.886) and Gelael finished in 14th (1:31.255)
Later that day the qualifying session went green under the beautiful Spanish sunshine and the team wasted no time in getting out onto the track for the 30 minute qualifying session. Nato took the chequered flag within a second of pole position finishing 7th place with a time of 1:29.790 and Gelael finished in 17th with a time of 1:30.772.
The conditions were very hot for Saturday’s Feature Race which meant tyre degradation management was key. A VSC was issued to remove a car stopped on track and eventually the
safety car was deployed. Nato was in the top 10 until mid-race, he then finished 17th. Gelael progressed to 13th and maintained his position until the chequered flag, however, he received a 10 second penalty for passing a car while the safety car was on track which left him finishing 16th.
The Sprint Race started on Sunday under clear blue skies and warm conditions. Once again, the safety car made an appearance for a second time this weekend to collect two cars that had collided. Nato finished the Sprint Race 13th and Gelael finished 16th.
At the end of round two, Nato and Gelael lay 9th and 19th respectively in the FIA Formula 2 Championship standings.
FIA Formula 2 head to the prestigous Monaco Grand Prix for the next event on the 26-28 May. Norman Nato narrowily missed out on victory in the blue riband event last season and will be determined to do one better this time around - as will teammate Sean Gelael who will be also hunting for the top prize at the crown jewel race of the season.