The 2017 FIA Formula 2 Championship was the fifty-first season of the second-tier of Formula One feeder championship and also the first season under the moniker of FIA Formula 2 Championship, a motor racing championship run in support of the 2017 FIA Formula One World Championship. The championship is sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) and is open to teams and drivers competing in cars complying with Formula 2 regulations.[1]
2017 was the final season that the Dallara GP2/11 chassis package—which débuted in the 2011 GP2 Series—was used in competition. It was also the final season that the Mecachrome 4.0 litre V8 naturally-aspirated engine package that débuted in the 2005 GP2 Series was used, as a brand new chassis and engine package was introduced for the 2018 season.[2] [3]
The season was dominated by Charles Leclerc, who secured the drivers' championship with three races to go.[4] Second place went to Artem Markelov with Oliver Rowland finishing third. The teams' championship was decided in the final race, with Russian Time winning by fifteen points over Prema Racing and DAMS in third, a further eleven points behind.
Champion Charles Leclerc took 7 wins, while runner-up Artem Markelov took 5 victories, Oliver Rowland took 2 wins, Luca Ghiotto, who finished fourth in the championship, took 1 win, Nobuharu Matsushita took 2 victories, Norman Nato, Nicholas Latifi, Antonio Fuoco, Nyck de Vries and Sérgio Sette Câmara each took one race win.
All FIA Formula 2 drivers competed in a Dallara GP2/11 chassis, using a Mecachrome GP2 V8 engine and Pirelli tyres.
| Team | Drivers | Rounds | |
|---|---|---|---|
 Prema Racing | 1 |  Charles Leclerc | All |
| 2 | Antonio Fuoco[5] | All | |
| 3 |  Louis Delétraz[6] | 1–7 | |
 Nyck de Vries[7] | 8–11 | ||
| 4 |  Gustav Malja[8] | All | |
 Russian Time | 5 | Luca Ghiotto[9] | All |
| 6 | Artem Markelov | All | |
 ART Grand Prix | 7 | All | |
| 8 |  Alexander Albon[10] | ||
| Sergey Sirotkin[11] | 4 | ||
| DAMS | 9 |  Oliver Rowland[12] | All |
| 10 |  Nicholas Latifi | All | |
 Campos Racing | 11 | Ralph Boschung[13] | 1–10 |
| Lando Norris[14] | 11 | ||
| 12 | Stefano Coletti[15] | 1 | |
| Roberto Merhi[16] | 2 | ||
 Robert Vișoiu[17] | 3–9 | ||
 Álex Palou[18] | 10–11 | ||
| MP Motorsport | 14 | All | |
| 15 | Jordan King[19] | All | |
| Trident | 16 |  Nabil Jeffri[20] | All |
| 17 | Sergio Canamasas | 1–4 | |
| Raffaele Marciello[21] | 5 | ||
| Callum Ilott[22] | 6 | ||
 Santino Ferrucci[23] | 7–11 | ||
| Rapax | 18 | Nyck de Vries | 1–7 |
| Louis Delétraz | 8–11 | ||
| 19 |  Johnny Cecotto Jr.[24] | 1–4 | |
| Sergio Canamasas | 5–7 | ||
| Roberto Merhi[25] | 8–9, 11 | ||
 René Binder[26] | 10 | ||
| Pertamina Arden[27] | 20 | Norman Nato | All |
| 21 |  Sean Gelael[28] | All |
After six seasons in the series, Carlin withdrew to concentrate on their Indy Lights programme.[29] German entry Hilmer Motorsport were due to return to the series while it was still known as GP2, however, this never came to fruition.[30]
Prema Racing drivers Antonio Giovinazzi and reigning GP2 champion Pierre Gasly both left the series; Giovinazzi began a role in Formula One as Ferrari reserve driver and Gasly moved to Super Formula.[31] They were replaced by Ferrari Driver Academy members Charles Leclerc and Antonio Fuoco, who finished first and third respectively in the 2016 GP3 Series[5]
Racing Engineering drivers Norman Nato and Jordan King both switched teams.[19] [28] Their seats were taken by Renault Sport Academy member and Formula V8 3.5 Series runner-up Louis Delétraz — who had made an appearance for Carlin at the final GP2 round the previous year — and Gustav Malja, who moved across from Rapax.[6]
Russian Time driver Raffaele Marciello left the series to begin a career in GT racing.[32] He was replaced by Luca Ghiotto, who moved from Trident to join the retained Artem Markelov.[9]
ART Grand Prix continued with Nobuharu Matsushita and hired GP3 runner-up Alex Albon to replace Sergey Sirotkin, who left the series to begin a Formula One test and reserve driver role with Renault.[10]
DAMS driver Alex Lynn left the championship to serve as a Formula E reserve driver with DS Virgin Racing.[33] He was replaced by Renault Sport Academy driver Oliver Rowland, who switched from MP Motorsport to join Nicholas Latifi at the team.[12]
Campos Racing drivers Sean Gelael and Mitch Evans both departed the team, with Evans leaving the series after four years to join Jaguar Racing in Formula E.[34] Ralph Boschung, who finished 11th in the previous two GP3 seasons, graduated to Formula 2 with Campos.[13] Stefano Coletti, who previously raced in GP2 between 2009 and 2014 and had since raced in IndyCar and the European Le Mans Series, joined Boschung for the opening round.[35]
MP Motorsport changed both drivers, with Oliver Rowland switching teams and Daniël de Jong leaving the category for sportscar racing. Jordan King joined the team from Racing Engineering and was partnered by Sérgio Sette Câmara, who graduated to Formula 2 having placed 11th in the 2016 FIA Formula 3 European Championship.
Trident drivers Luca Ghiotto and Philo Paz Armand departed the team, with Armand leaving racing entirely. The team signed Nabil Jeffri and Sergio Canamasas,[15] who moved across from the Arden and Carlin teams respectively.
Rapax retained Johnny Cecotto Jr., who raced with the team in the final two rounds of the previous season in place of Arthur Pic. He was joined by GP3 sixth-placed finisher and McLaren junior driver Nyck de Vries in place of the departing Gustav Malja.[24]
Pertamina Arden did not retain Emil Bernstorff, who debuted with the team in the final round of 2016. Norman Nato and Sean Gelael joined the team from Racing Engineering and Campos respectively, in place of Bernstorff and Nabil Jeffri.[28]
A broken collarbone from a bicycle accident forced ART Grand Prix driver Alex Albon to miss the fourth round at the Baku City Circuit.[36] [37] Sergey Sirotkin returned to the team to deputise.[11]
Trident driver Sergio Canamasas switched to Rapax for the fifth round at the Red Bull Ring in place of Johnny Cecotto Jr., who left the series.[21] His Trident seat was filled firstly by series returnee Raffaele Marciello, then by FIA Formula 3 European Championship title contender Callum Ilott at Silverstone Circuit,[38] and finally by GP3 racer and Haas Formula One test driver Santino Ferrucci for the remainder of the season.[39]
The eighth round at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps saw Rapax driver Nyck de Vries and Racing Engineering's Louis Delétraz swap seats for the rest of the season.[7] Sergio Canamasas left the series before the round and his Rapax seat was taken by Roberto Merhi, who returned to the championship. Canamasas later revealed he had left motorsport entirely due to an incident involving security at the Hungaroring round during which he "almost lost [his] father".[40]
Robert Vișoiu left the series for "personal reasons" before the tenth round at Circuito de Jerez. His seat at Campos Racing was filled by Japanese Formula 3 driver Álex Palou for the final two rounds.[18] World Series Formula V8 3.5 driver René Binder, who had raced in GP2 between 2012 and 2016, joined Rapax in place of Roberto Merhi for the Jerez round.[41]
Merhi returned to the Rapax seat for the final round at Yas Marina Circuit. Reigning FIA Formula 3 European champion Lando Norris made his debut in the category at Yas Marina,[14] taking the Campos Racing seat vacated by Ralph Boschung.[42]
The following eleven rounds took place as part of the 2017 championship:
| Round | Circuit/Location | Date | Supporting |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir | 15–16 April | |
| 2 | 13–14 May | ||
| 3 | Circuit de Monaco, Monaco | 26–27 May | |
| 4 |  Baku City Circuit, Baku | 24–25 June | |
| 5 | Red Bull Ring, Spielberg | 8–9 July | |
| 6 | Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone | 15–16 July | |
| 7 |  Hungaroring, Mogyoród | 29–30 July | |
| 8 | 26–27 August | ||
| 9 | Autodromo Nazionale Monza, Monza | 2–3 September | |
| 10 | Circuito de Jerez, Jerez de la Frontera | 7–8 October | stand-alone event |
| 11 |  Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi | ||
| Colspan=5 | Source:[43] |
The series returned to the Bahrain International Circuit in support of the Bahrain Grand Prix,[43] while the rounds at the Hockenheimring and the Sepang International Circuit were discontinued.[43] The series made its début at the Circuito de Jerez, with a stand-alone event that was run as the penultimate round of the championship.[43]
The series was originally intended to be run as the GP2 Series before it was rebranded as the FIA Formula 2 Championship in March 2017.[1] The decision to rebrand the series brings it in line with the FIA Global Pathway, which aims to create a linear path of feeder series from domestic Formula 4 to the top tier of open-wheel racing, Formula One. Despite the name change, it will retain the GP2 regulations as originally scheduled, making the 2017 season the thirteenth to use GP2 regulations. It will be the first time that a series has been run under the name of Formula 2 since Jonathan Palmer's unrelated series collapsed in 2012.
Points were awarded to the top 10 classified finishers in the Feature race, and to the top 8 classified finishers in the Sprint race. The pole-sitter in the feature race also received four points, and two points were given to the driver who set the fastest lap inside the top ten in both the feature and sprint races. No extra points were awarded to the pole-sitter in the sprint race.
| Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | Pole | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Points | 25 | 18 | 15 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 2 |
| Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Points | 15 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
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