The 2018 Silverstone FIA Formula 2 round was a pair of motor races held on 7 and 8 July 2018 at the Silverstone Circuit in Silverstone, United Kingdom as part of the FIA Formula 2 Championship. It was the seventh round of the 2018 FIA Formula 2 Championship and ran in support of the 2018 British Grand Prix.

ART Grand Prix driver George Russell entered the round with a ten-point lead over Lando Norris in the drivers' championship. In the teams' championship, Carlin held a twenty-seven point lead over ART Grand Prix.

This round was also notable for a collision at the end of the sprint race involving Trident teammates Arjun Maini and Santino Ferrucci. Ferrucci was deemed to have deliberately hit the back of Maini's car on the cooldown lap, and he was then banned for the next two rounds by the FIA. He was then sacked from Trident ten days later due to sponsorship issues, and his replacement would be their GP3 Series driver Alessio Lorandi.

Report Background The round saw the continued use of rolling starts following a series of drivers stalling on the grid in previous rounds. The procedure was introduced at the previous round in response to a start-line accident in a Formula 3 race that saw a driver crash into a car that had stalled on the grid.

The circuit featured three Drag Reduction System (DRS) zones. The two used in previous years—positioned on the Wellington and Hangar Straights—returned, with a third zone placed on the main straight. As DRS is deactivated when the driver brakes, drivers were able to use the system through the Abbey and Farm corners as these corners could be taken flat-out when the car is low on fuel. This brought increased risk as DRS reduces drag by reducing downforce, with aerodynamic grip improving the car's ability to take corners at speed. Drivers were able to manually deactivate DRS before the corners if they were unable or unwilling to take the corner without the use of DRS. The race marked the first time that drivers were able to use DRS through corners.

Classification Qualifying Driver Team Time 1 8 George Russell ART Grand Prix 1:39.989 – 1 2 5 Alexander AlbonDAMS 1:40.065 +0.076 2 3 21 Antonio FuocoCharouz Racing System 1:40.094 +0.105 3 4 20 Louis Delétraz Charouz Racing System 1:40.190 +0.201 4 5 18 Carlin 1:40.234 +0.245 5 6 19 Lando NorrisCarlin 1:40.396 +0.407 6 7 16 Arjun MainiTrident 1:40.512 +0.523 7 8 1 Artem MarkelovRussian Time 1:40.590 +0.601 8 9 14 Luca GhiottoCampos Vexatec Racing 1:40.707 +0.718 9 10 11 Maximilian GüntherBWT Arden 1:40.786 +0.797 10 11 4 Nyck de Vries 1:40.847 +0.858 11 12 7 Jack AitkenART Grand Prix 1:40.863 +0.874 12 13 9 Roberto MerhiMP Motorsport 1:40.994 +1.005 13 14 10 Ralph BoschungMP Motorsport 1:41.031 +1.042 14 15 3 Sean GelaelPertamina Prema Theodore Racing 1:41.052 +1.063 15 16 6 Nicholas LatifiDAMS 1:41.061 +1.072 16 17 17 Santino FerrucciTrident 1:41.414 +1.425 17 18 2 Tadasuke MakinoRussian Time 1:41.493 +1.504 18 19 12 Nirei FukuzumiBWT Arden 1:42.081 +2.092 19 20 15 Roy NissanyCampos Vexatec Racing 2:13.133 +33.144 20 Source:

Feature race

DriverTeamLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints15 Alexander AlbonDAMS29 52:04.519225 28 George RussellART Grand Prix29 +9.783118 (6)321 Antonio FuocoCharouz Racing System29 +18.507315420 Louis DelétrazCharouz Racing System29 +26.689412514 Luca GhiottoCampos Vexatec Racing29 +27.01691061 Artem MarkelovRussian Time29 +27.1078874 Nyck de Vries29 +28.034116811 Maximilian GüntherBWT Arden29 +34.020104910 Ralph BoschungMP Motorsport29 +37.2271421019 Lando NorrisCarlin29 +39.62061119 Roberto MerhiMP Motorsport29 +39.97113122 Tadasuke MakinoRussian Time29 +40.13118137 Jack AitkenART Grand Prix29 +42.930121416 Arjun MainiTrident29 +54.85571515 Roy NissanyCampos Vexatec Racing29 +58.064201617 Santino FerrucciTrident29 +59.39417176 Nicholas LatifiDAMS29 +59.76416DNF18Carlin23 Engine5DNF3 Sean GelaelPertamina Prema Theodore Racing20 Collision15DNF12 Nirei FukuzumiBWT Arden13 Electrics19 Source: Notes – George Russell had five seconds added to his race time for speeding in the pit lane. – Jack Aitken had ten seconds added to his race time; five for speeding in the pit lane and five for a VSC infringement. – Santino Ferrucci had five seconds added to his race time for forcing Arjun Maini off the circuit.

Sprint race DriverTeamLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints111 Maximilian GüntherBWT Arden21 37:09.80211528 George RussellART Grand Prix21 +0.520712 (2)319 Lando NorrisCarlin21 +2.504101041 Artem MarkelovRussian Time21 +9.92438520 Louis DelétrazCharouz Racing System21 +12.0055664 Nyck de Vries21 +13.9292475 Alexander AlbonDAMS21 +14.00682810 Ralph BoschungMP Motorsport21 +14.6849199 Roberto MerhiMP Motorsport21 +16.487111014 Luca GhiottoCampos Vexatec Racing21 +18.0514112 Tadasuke MakinoRussian Time21 +19.63212127 Jack AitkenART Grand Prix21 +23.653131316 Arjun MainiTrident21 +24.040141415 Roy NissanyCampos Vexatec Racing21 +32.16515153 Sean GelaelPertamina Prema Theodore Racing21 +33.31819166 Nicholas LatifiDAMS21 +34.042171718Carlin21 +47.91218DNF21 Antonio FuocoCharouz Racing System14 Collision6DNS12 Nirei FukuzumiBWT Arden0 Transmission20DSQ17 Santino FerrucciTrident21 Disqualified16 Source: Notes – Luca Ghiotto received a 5-second time penalty for failing to maintain the minimum delta time at the end of the virtual safety car period. – Santino Ferrucci has been disqualified from the Sprint race and banned for the next two rounds by the FIA following collision with teammate Arjun Maini. – Sérgio Sette Câmara set the fastest lap in the race but because he finished outside the top 10, the two bonus points for fastest lap went to George Russell as he set the fastest lap inside the top 10 finishers.

Championship standings after the round

Drivers' Championship standings DriverPoints1 George Russell 1702 Lando Norris 133 13 Alexander Albon 115 14 Artem Markelov 110 15 Antonio Fuoco 97

Teams' Championship standings TeamPoints 11 ART Grand Prix 219 12 Carlin 2193 Charouz Racing System 1594 DAMS 1495 Russian Time 128

See also 2018 British Grand Prix 2018 Silverstone GP3 Series round

References

External links