The circuit located in the heart of Styria will host two new races in which Campos Racing will defend its team leadership, and Hadjar will aim to take the lead in the drivers' standings. Martí, following the points scored in Barcelona a few days ago, will want to continue on the same positive path
Campos Racing will travel abroad this upcoming weekend for the seventh round of the 2024 FIA Formula 2 season, marking the midpoint of the calendar. The always challenging Red Bull Ring, an iconic venue for the Austrian F1 Grand Prix, will see a new chapter in the exciting and successful campaign that the Alzira-based team has been experiencing with its drivers Isack Hadjar and Pepe Martí. Notably, Campos Racing has historically achieved outstanding results at this circuit.
Hadjar and Martí have jointly secured five podiums so far, including two victories, driving their Dallara F2 2024 cars adorned with Red Bull colors. Despite some setbacks in the form of mechanical issues in Jeddah, the French driver has two victories under his belt at Melbourne Park and Imola and could have secured a third in Monaco if not for a VSC that denied him the honors when he was already within reach. Despite everything, Hadjar finished second in that Sunday race on the streets of Monaco. With these results, and having scored in five other races, Hadjar is second in the drivers' standings with 91 points, nine behind Paul Aron, and sixteen ahead of third-placed Zane Maloney. Needless to say, his goal will be to close the gap to the Estonian and, if possible, take the championship lead in Austria.
Regarding Martí, the Barcelona-born driver had a truly sweet debut in the category back in March. In Bahrain, in his first appearance in FIA Formula 2, Martí achieved a third place in the sprint race and improved even further in the feature race, where he finished second. Subsequently seventh in Jeddah, the Spaniard then endured a streak of misfortunes in the form of various incidents that cost him valuable points... until Barcelona. At home last weekend, Martí completed his comeback in ninth place, also securing the extra point for the fastest lap. With these premises, his goal will be to take another step forward in competitive terms at Red Bull Ring, a circuit he already knows from his previous FIA F3 starts.
Finally, in the teams' standings, Campos Racing will defend its lead with 120 points compared to Hitech Pulse-Eight's 119. The Spanish team will strive to increase its lead at the top of the standings.
Red Bull Ring is located on the outskirts of Spielberg. Originally known as Österreichring, it hosted the Austrian Grand Prix from 1970 to 1987 uninterruptedly. The Austrian track underwent its first reconstruction in 1995 and 1996 to make it safer, becoming known as A1-Ring until 2003. Once again facing safety concerns, the circuit was demolished in 2004, and it wasn't until 2008 that another reconstruction began, returning to international calendars in 2011. Despite all these changes, the track maintains its vintage spirit, a fast circuit with straights linked by barely ten corners, with a more technical third sector. Despite everything, the differences are usually minimal. Moreover, weather conditions are often very changeable, and specifically this weekend, rain and storms are forecast, potentially adding even more difficulty to the races.
Both free practice and the qualifying session will take place on Friday at 10:05 and 14:55 respectively. On Saturday, the sprint race will start at 13:30, while the main (feature) race on Sunday, with a mandatory pit stop for tire changes, will take place at 10:00. All times are in Spanish time zone.
Adrián Campos (Team Principal of Campos Racing): “We continue without pause this very important part of the FIA Formula 2 season. Red Bull Ring is always a very complicated event, as it is a track where differences are minimal, and if we add the changing weather conditions, as it seems will be the case this time, it can be quite chaotic. We have fond memories of it from previous years. As a team, we arrive as leaders of the standings. We will fight to the maximum for Isack to close the gap in the drivers' standings and, if possible, to take the lead. After the points Pepe scored in Barcelona, we hope he can maintain the momentum and continue in the same vein.”
Isack Hadjar (Campos Racing driver in FIA Formula 2): “It’s great to get back behind the wheel so quickly again to make the improvements from last weekend! It is the tightest qualifying session of the year so I am excited to see where we come out!”
Pepe Martí (Campos Racing driver in FIA Formula 2): “I am excited to be racing at the Red Bull Ring, it’s a special weekend especially as a part of the Red Bull Junior Team. I can’t wait to get started with the weekend and keep progressing after a step forward in Barcelona.”
Photos: © Dutch Photo Agency
