2011 FIA Formula Two Championship explained

The 2011 FIA Formula Two Championship season was the third year of the FIA Formula Two Championship. The championship began on 17 April at Silverstone and finished on 30 October at the Circuit de Catalunya, after eight double-header rounds and all (excluding Silverstone) in support of International GT Open racing weekends.

For most of the season, the championship battle revolved around a returning driver Mirko Bortolotti (finished fourth in 2009 and rookie driver Christopher Zanella. Bortolotti took lead after win in the opening race of the season at Silverstone and did not leave him until the end of the season. The Italian secured his title and a prize test for the Williams F1 team in the home race at Monza with two races to spare.^[1] Bortolotti scored seven wins in a season matching 2009 Champion Andy Soucek record and with win in 2009 at Brno the Italian took absolute win record in FIA Formula Two Championship.^[2]

Zanella finished a second place in the standings with two wins, 123 points behind Bortolotti and just eight ahead of his nearest rival and another newcomer Ramón Piñeiro, who scored three wins. The fourth place went to Piñeiro compatriot and winner of the Silverstone's race Miki Monrás.

Drivers

	Driver	Rounds
2	James Cole^[3]	All
3	Armaan Ebrahim^[4]	1–6
4	Mirko Bortolotti^[5]	All
5	Alex Brundle^[6]	All
6	Miki Monrás^[7]	All
8	Plamen Kralev^[8]	All
9	Mihai Marinescu^[9]	All
10	Max Snegirev^[10]	All
11	Jack Clarke^[11]	All
12	Kelvin Snoeks^[12]	All
13	José Luis Abadín^[13]	1–3, 5, 8
14	Jolyon Palmer^[14]	4
15	Ramón Piñeiro^[15]	All
16	Mikkel Mac^[16]	All
17	Will Bratt^[17]	1–4
18	Tobias Hegewald^[18]	All
19	Christopher Zanella^[19]	All
20	Julian Theobald^[20]	1–4, 6–7
21	Thiemo Storz^[21]	All
22	Johannes Theobald	1–4, 6
23	Jon Lancaster^[22]	2
24	Tom Gladdis^[23]	1
25	René Binder^[24]	6
26	Luciano Bacheta^[25]	6–7
28	Benjamin Lariche^[26]	All
30	Tom Mun^[27]	All
33	nowrap	Parthiva Sureshwaren^[28]	1, 3–8
42	Jordan King^[29]	3–5
77	Natalia Kowalska^[30]	1–2
88	Fabio Gamberini^[31]	4

Driver changes

Entering/Re–Entering FIA Formula Two Championship

• José Luis Abadín graduated from European F3 Open to compete in the championship.
• Mirko Bortolotti, Alex Brundle and Tobias Hegewald all returned to the championship, after competing in other series in 2010. Bortolotti and Hegewald moved back from the GP3 Series, while Brundle will rejoin from British Formula 3.
• James Cole moved into the series from the British Formula 3 National Class. Max Snegirev also joined Formula Two from the Championship Class in British Formula 3.
• Formula Renault NEC runner-up Mikkel Mac moved into Formula Two in 2011.
• Miki Monrás switched from GP3 Series to compete in the championship.
• Sung-Hak Mun joined the championship after racing in Formula BMW Pacific in 2010.
• Thiemo Storz moved into the championship, having missed most of 2010 due to completing his schooling and competing in the last Formula Palmer Audi season.
• After finishing sixth in the Italian Formula Three Championship, Christopher Zanella graduated into Formula Two in 2011.

Leaving FIA Formula Two Championship

• 2010 champion Dean Stoneman had been due to compete with ISR Racing in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series in 2011, but withdrew after being diagnosed with testicular cancer.
• 2010 runner-up Jolyon Palmer graduated to GP2, signing with the Arden International team. Palmer returned to Formula Two at the Nürburgring, in order to gain track time ahead of the GP2 races at the circuit later in the season.
• Sergey Afanasyev, who finished third in 2010 moved to Auto GP with DAMS.

Mid-Season Changes

• Jordan King, Jon Lancaster and Fabio Gamberini joined the series during the season. Lancaster contested the Magny-Cours round, after racing in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series during the 2010 season, while King is combining his Formula Two programme with Formula Renault UK. Gamberini, a front-runner in the European F3 Open series, competed at the Nürburgring.

Calendar

An eight-round calendar was published on 3 November 2010,^[32] with an amendment made to the Magny-Cours date on 8 December 2010.^[33] The series was not part of the support package of the World Touring Car Championship as it had been since the series' revival. With the exception of the opening round at Silverstone, the championship was a part of International GT Open meetings.^[34]

Round		Circuit/Location	Country	Date	Pole Position	Fastest Lap	Winning Driver
1	R1	Silverstone Circuit, Northamptonshire		16 April	Mirko Bortolotti	Mirko Bortolotti	Mirko Bortolotti
	R2	17 April		Miki Monrás	Miki Monrás	Miki Monrás
2	R1	Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours	France	14 May	Alex Brundle	nowrap	Christopher Zanella	nowrap	Christopher Zanella
	R2			15 May	nowrap	Christopher Zanella	Miki Monrás	nowrap	Christopher Zanella
3	R1	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps		25 June	Ramón Piñeiro	Ramón Piñeiro	Will Bratt
	R2			26 June	Will Bratt	Tobias Hegewald	Mirko Bortolotti
4	R1	Nürburgring		2 July	Mirko Bortolotti	Mirko Bortolotti	Mirko Bortolotti
	R2			3 July	Mirko Bortolotti	Mirko Bortolotti	Mirko Bortolotti
5	R1	Brands Hatch, Kent		23 July	Tobias Hegewald	Jack Clarke	Jack Clarke
	R2			24 July	Mirko Bortolotti	Ramón Piñeiro	Ramón Piñeiro
6	R1	Red Bull Ring, Spielberg		27 August	Ramón Piñeiro	Mirko Bortolotti	Ramón Piñeiro
	R2			28 August	Christopher Zanella	Mirko Bortolotti	Ramón Piñeiro
7	R1	Autodromo Nazionale Monza		1 October	Mihai Marinescu	Mihai Marinescu	Mihai Marinescu
	R2			2 October	Mirko Bortolotti	Mihai Marinescu	Mirko Bortolotti
8	R1	Circuit de Catalunya, Montmeló		29 October	Mirko Bortolotti	Mirko Bortolotti	Mirko Bortolotti
	R2			30 October	Mirko Bortolotti	Mirko Bortolotti	Mirko Bortolotti

Championship standings

A driver's best 14 scores counted towards the championship, with any other points being discarded.^[35]

Pos. Driver SIL MAG SPA NÜR BRH RBR MNZ CAT Points 1 Mirko Bortolotti 1 2 6 3 2 1 1 1 5 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 2 Christopher Zanella 7 3 1 1 3 2 2 3 6 7 12 4 5 6 6 7 3 Ramón Piñeiro 5 11 5 9 7 12 14 10 2 1 1 1 4 2 3 2 185 4 Miki Monrás 3 1 4 4 9 4 4 8 4 9 Ret 11 17 3 2 4 153 5 Mihai Marinescu 4 5 Ret 5 8 5 Ret 11 Ret 4 3 3 1 Ret 5 3 138 6 Tobias Hegewald 6 4 2 8 4 Ret 12 4 3 5 15 6 6 9 4 11 121 7 Alex Brundle 19 Ret 3 2 5 7 Ret 5 Ret 17 4 Ret 3 4 8 5 112 8 Jack Clarke 8 6 13 10 19 6 3 7 1 3 5 Ret 8 7 7 9 110 9 Will Bratt 2 DSQ 8 7 1 3 7 2 92 10 Kelvin Snoeks Ret 8 10 Ret 10 9 6 19 Ret Ret Ret 5 11 8 9 6 40 11 Mikkel Mac 12 9 15 12 11 14 8 6 13 11 Ret 9 9 11 10 8 23 12 Thiemo Storz 14 14 9 15 6 10 9 15 Ret Ret Ret 14 7 Ret 11 16 19 13 Luciano Bacheta 7 10 10 5 18 14 Jordan King 17 8 5 9 Ret 10 17 15 Armaan Ebrahim 11 7 12 Ret 13 20 15 13 9 6 14 Ret 16 16 Benjamin Lariche 13 10 11 13 20 Ret 13 12 Ret 8 8 8 13 10 13 10 15 17 Jon Lancaster 7 6 14 18 Max Snegirev 9 Ret 16 14 14 13 11 18 7 Ret 11 7 16 Ret 12 12 14 19 Julian Theobald 17 Ret 17 Ret 15 15 16 Ret 6 12 Ret Ret 8 20 James Cole 15 13 18 17 16 16 18 14 8 12 9 18 14 15 14 15 6 21 Johannes Theobald Ret 16 14 11 12 Ret 10 Ret Ret 16 1 22 José Luis Abadín 16 18 Ret 16 18 11 10 15 15 13 1 23 Plamen Kralev Ret 17 Ret 18 Ret 18 17 17 12 13 10 15 12 13 16 17 1 24 Tom Gladdis 10 15 1 25 align=left nowrap Parthiva Sureshwaren 18 Ret 21 19 DNS Ret 11 14 Ret 17 15 14 17 14 0 26 Sung-Hak Mun 20 19 19 19 Ret 17 19 Ret 14 16 13 19 Ret 12 Ret DNS 0 27 Natalia Kowalska Ret 12 Ret 20 0 28 René Binder 16 13 0 29 Fabio Gamberini 20 16 0 Jolyon Palmer DNS DNS 0 Pos Driver SIL MAG SPA NÜR BRH RBR MNZ CAT Points

Bold – Pole Italics – Fastest Lap † – Retired, but classified

External links

• The official website of the FIA Formula Two Championship

Notes and References

1. News: Mirko Bortolotti secures 2011 F2 Championship. 2 October 2011. FIA Formula Two Championship. MotorSport Vision. 30 October 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20111103223349/http://www.formulatwo.com/news/r2-report.aspx. 3 November 2011. dead.
2. News: Imperious Bortolotti takes F2 win record. 30 October 2011. FIA Formula Two Championship. MotorSport Vision. 30 October 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20111101194618/http://www.formulatwo.com/news/barcelona-race-two.aspx. 1 November 2011. dead.
3. News: James Cole graduates to F2. FIA Formula Two Championship. MotorSport Vision. 31 March 2011. 31 March 2011.
4. News: Armaan Ebrahim returns for F2 title attack. FIA Formula Two Championship. MotorSport Vision. 18 February 2011. 18 February 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110224001811/http://www.formulatwo.com/news/armaan-returns-for-title-tilt.aspx. 24 February 2011. dead.
5. News: Mirko Bortolotti returns to Formula Two. FIA Formula Two Championship. MotorSport Vision. 9 March 2011. 9 March 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110325021022/http://www.formulatwo.com/news/mirko-bortolotti-returns.aspx. 25 March 2011. dead.
6. News: Alex Brundle rejoins F2 for 2011. FIA Formula Two Championship. MotorSport Vision. 21 January 2011. 21 January 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110123034116/http://www.formulatwo.com/news/alex-brundle-signs-for-2011.aspx. 23 January 2011. dead.
7. News: Miki Monras opts for F2 in 2011. FIA Formula Two Championship. MotorSport Vision. 7 March 2011. 7 March 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110325020710/http://www.formulatwo.com/news/miki-monras-joins.aspx. 25 March 2011. dead.
8. News: Plamen Kralev confirms F2 return. https://web.archive.org/web/20110325021028/http://www.formulatwo.com/news/plamen-kralev-rejoins-f2.aspx. dead. 25 March 2011. FIA Formula Two Championship. MotorSport Vision. 10 March 2011. 10 March 2011.
9. News: Mihai Marinescu commits to F2 for 2011. FIA Formula Two Championship. MotorSport Vision. 12 April 2011. 12 April 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110417050443/http://www.formulatwo.com/news/mihai-marinescu-commits-to-f2-for-2011.aspx. 17 April 2011. dead.
10. News: Max Snegirev switches from F3 to Formula Two. FIA Formula Two Championship. MotorSport Vision. 25 February 2011. 25 February 2011.
11. News: Jack Clarke targets championship victory on F2 return. FIA Formula Two Championship. MotorSport Vision. 18 January 2011. 18 January 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110121044434/http://www.formulatwo.com/news/clarke-eyes-title-tilt-on-f2-return.aspx. 21 January 2011. dead.
12. News: Kelvin Snoeks to make F2 return. FIA Formula Two Championship. MotorSport Vision. 4 March 2011. 4 March 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110325020700/http://www.formulatwo.com/news/kelvin-snoeks-for-2011.aspx. 25 March 2011. dead.
13. News: Jose Luis Abadin graduates to F2. FIA Formula Two Championship. MotorSport Vision. 13 April 2011. 14 April 2011.
14. News: Jolyon Palmer makes F2 return this weekend. FIA Formula Two Championship. MotorSport Vision. 30 June 2011. 30 June 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110701211536/http://www.formulatwo.com/news/jolyon-palmer-makes-f2-return-this-weekend.aspx. 1 July 2011. dead.
15. News: Ramón Piñeiro joins Formula Two. FIA Formula Two Championship. MotorSport Vision. 13 April 2011. 13 April 2011.
16. News: Mikkel Mac signs up for F2. FIA Formula Two Championship. MotorSport Vision. 14 April 2011. 14 April 2011.
17. News: Will Bratt returns to F2. FIA Formula Two Championship. MotorSport Vision. 11 April 2011. 11 April 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110413114408/http://www.formulatwo.com/news/will-bratt-returns-to-f2.aspx. 13 April 2011. dead.
18. News: Tobias Hegewald switches from GP3 to F2. FIA Formula Two Championship. MotorSport Vision. 18 March 2011. 18 March 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110326220654/http://www.formulatwo.com/news/tobias-hegewald-switches-from-gp3-to-f2.aspx. 26 March 2011. dead.
19. News: Christopher Zanella signs for F2 in 2011. FIA Formula Two Championship. MotorSport Vision. 1 April 2011. 1 April 2011.
20. News: Julian and Johannes Theobald sign up for F2. FIA Formula Two Championship. MotorSport Vision. 11 April 2011. 11 April 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110413114254/http://www.formulatwo.com/news/julian-and-johannes-theobald-sign-up-for-f2.aspx. 13 April 2011. dead.
21. News: Thiemo Storz to make Formula Two bow in 2011. FIA Formula Two Championship. MotorSport Vision. 27 January 2011. 27 January 2011.
22. News: Jon Lancaster signs up to F2. FIA Formula Two Championship. MotorSport Vision. 11 May 2011. 11 May 2011.
23. News: Tom Gladdis aiming for the front on F2 return. FIA Formula Two Championship. MotorSport Vision. 12 March 2011. 12 March 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110325021510/http://www.formulatwo.com/news/gladdis-returns-for-2011.aspx. 25 March 2011. dead.
24. News: Binder to make F2 debut on home soil. FIA Formula Two Championship. MotorSport Vision. 19 August 2011. 19 August 2011.
25. News: Luciano Bacheta makes F2 switch. FIA Formula Two Championship. MotorSport Vision. 23 August 2011. 23 August 2011.
26. News: Benjamin Lariche secures F2 return for 2011. FIA Formula Two Championship. MotorSport Vision. 20 January 2011. 20 January 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110122103343/http://www.formulatwo.com/news/lariche-returns-for-2011.aspx. 22 January 2011. dead.
27. News: Sung-Hak Mun confirms place on F2 grid. FIA Formula Two Championship. MotorSport Vision. 8 April 2011. 9 April 2011.
28. News: Parthiva Sureshwaren returns for 2011 assault. https://web.archive.org/web/20110325021109/http://www.formulatwo.com/news/sureshwaren-rejoins-for-2011.aspx. dead. 25 March 2011. FIA Formula Two Championship. MotorSport Vision. 10 March 2011. 10 March 2011.
29. News: Jordan King adds F2 programme. FIA Formula Two Championship. MotorSport Vision. 3 June 2011. 3 June 2011.
30. News: Natalia Kowalska returns for a second season in F2. FIA Formula Two Championship. MotorSport Vision. 29 March 2011. 29 March 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110405034350/http://www.formulatwo.com/news/natalia-kowalska-returns-for-a-second-season-in-f2.aspx. 5 April 2011. dead.
31. News: Gamberini makes F2 debut at the Nürburgring. FIA Formula Two Championship. MotorSport Vision. 29 June 2011. 29 June 2011.
32. News: World Motor Sport Council, 03/11/2010 . fia.com . . 3 November 2010 . 3 November 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20101105155751/http://www.fia.com/en-GB/mediacentre/pressreleases/wmsc/2010/Pages/wmsc_031110.aspx . 5 November 2010 . dead.
33. News: FIA ratifies 16-race 2011 F2 calendar. FIA Formula Two Championship. MotorSport Vision. 8 December 2010. 8 December 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20110101082128/http://www.formulatwo.com/news/fia-confirm-calendar.aspx. 1 January 2011. dead.
34. Web site: INTERNATIONAL GT OPEN PROVISIONAL CALENDAR SEASON 2011. GT Sport. International GT Open. 12 December 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20120315125905/http://www.gtsport.es/resources/uploads/Documents/InternationalGTOpen/2011/Open%201%20CALENDARIO%20%20INT%20GT%20OPEN%2011%20v4.pdf. 15 March 2012. dead.
35. Web site: 2011 Formula Two Sporting Regulations. 10 December 2010. 30 October 2011. fia.com. Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 6.2: Points for the title will be awarded at each race...but a driver must only count his highest scores from the total of all the races in the Championship less two..