Merhi, who will continue driving the Boschung’s MoonMobile Dallara, and Caldwell will be aiming at strong results on French soil
Campos Racing will contest the ninth round of the 2022 FIA Formula 2 Championship season this weekend at Paul Ricard, the French circuit built in the sixties near Marseille by eponymous pastis magnate and racing enthusiast Paul Ricard. The French venue is the third round on the calendar in a very busy July after Silverstone and the Red Bull Ring with Hungaroring scheduled on the last weekend.
With Ralph Boschung still following the recovery plan for his neck issues, Roberto Merhi is back at the wheel of the MoonMobile Dallara F2 car alongside Briton Olli Caldwell. Campos Racing completed a sensational weekend in Spielberg. Merhi made his Formula 2 comeback in place of Boschung two weeks ago and he got up to speed immediately in free practice. But definitely his best performance came on Sunday when the Spaniard was in race-winning contention for the whole race. But an unfair five-second penalty in the final stages denied Merhi a well-deserved triumph. Merhi’s third place was still an excellent reward for Campos Racing efforts in recent rounds. Besides, Caldwell completed his best-ever Formula 2 weekend by finishing in sixth place in the main race. The British driver will focus his sights in more points-paying results.
The Paul Ricard circuit, home of the French F1 Grand Prix, is a track demanding for tires due to lateral forces, which are way more important than traction or braking. Despite the track was built in 1969 and hosted F1 for decades, it was replaced by Magny-Cours since 1991 onwards. After a prolonged absence, Paul Ricard returned on the F1 calendar in 2018 but with major changes in comparison to its previous layout. For instance, the iconic Mistral straight was separated in two thanks to a chicane. Cars run in medium downforce levels and, besides, the French venue is also very demanding due to traditional high temperatures in the area in late July.
Both free practice and qualifying sessions will take place on Friday at 11.35 and 18.30 respectively. Saturday’s Sprint race is scheduled at 17.55 with Sunday’s Feature race, with mandatory pit stop for tires change, taking place at 10.00. All times are CET.
Adrián Campos (Campos Racing Team Principal): “Ralph (Boschung) continues his recovery and I hope he be able to continue in the same speedy way of last weeks. Therefore, Roberto (Merhi) is back at the wheel of the MoonMobile car. After our drivers’ excellent performances during Sunday’s feature race at Red Bull Ring, we want to bring another good haul of points home in Le Castellet. Olli (Caldwell) finally managed to deliver his potential and I hope this is a turning point for him fighting for more points this weekend.”
Olli Caldwell (Campos Racing driver of FIA Formula 2): “It will be fun to race at Paul Ricard this weekend, a track where I got some good results in the past both in the FIA Formula 3 and the Formula Regional. I’m excited to be back with the Dallara, especially coming from a good points-finish in Austria. I’m expecting to follow the same positive path and achieve more good results.”
Roberto Merhi (Campos Racing driver of FIA Formula 2): “I’m delighted to continue racing with Campos Racing after a fantastic weekend in Austria. I stepped onto the podium when I paid my last visit to Paul Ricard in a Formula 2 race, so my goal is to get more good results with the MoonMobile Dallara and score more points. After the Austrian venue, everybody has great expectations but to be honest it will difficult to repeat on the podium in normal conditions because our rivals have much more mileage this season than us. But I will push as hard as always to achieve good results at Paul Ricard.”
