In Melbourne, both Scuderia Ferrari Driver Academy drivers will be looking to move up the order in their respective championships, with Oliver back behind the wheel of a Formula 2 car on one of his favourite tracks.
After a flight of over 20 hours from Europe, the Formula 2 and 3 teams and drivers are ready to do battle at the Albert Park circuit that proved very popular with the drivers after the two series raced in Melbourne for the very first time last year. It’s going to be an important weekend for Oliver Bearman and Dino Beganovic, in terms of meeting their goals for the season. Ollie has yet to score points after two rounds.
Fighting back. In the opening round in Bahrain, Bearman had technical problems and then he was called up by Scuderia Ferrari to replace Carlos Sainz in Saudi Arabia. The Englishman made the most of the opportunity finishing his maiden Formula 1 race in seventh place. “At the moment, I have more points in F1 than in F2,” laughed Ollie after taking the chequered flag in Jeddah. He was ruled out from taking any further part in the Formula 2 series that weekend, after taking pole position in Thursday’s qualifying so his goal for this third round of the season is to score as many points as possible. “I can’t wait to get back into my Formula 2 car,” said Bearman. “The Jeddah weekend got off to a very good start as I took pole, but I couldn’t capitalise on what would have meant starting from the front in the Feature Race. Last year, Melbourne was one of my favourite tracks, so I’m looking forward to getting out of the garage and driving again. The aim is to pick up where we left off in Jeddah and score as many points as possible to move up the order.”
Dino. Beganovic is in a similar situation to Bearman. This is round 2 of the Formula 3 season, after the first event in Bahrain. Dino started off very well in Sakhir, claiming pole position, but then suffered a technical problem at the start which compromised his Feature Race, while he was involved in a collision at the start of the Sprint. His pace in both those races was outstanding and so he has high hopes for Melbourne. “I’m really keen to get back on track after Bahrain,” commented Beganovic. “The aim is to continue with the pace we had in Sakhir where taking pole and my race pace were both very positive. I want to make up for the points lost that weekend. Last year was my first time driving Albert Park and I really liked it straight away, with its combination of twisty sections and places where you hit very high speeds, which make it demanding to drive but also exciting.”
Programme.
Friday
08.50 (22.50 Thursday CET) Formula 3 free practice
10.00 (00.00 CET) Formula 2 free practice
14.00 (04.00 CET) Formula 3 qualifying
17.30 (07.30 CET) Formula 2 qualifying
Saturday
11.15 (01.15 CET) Formula 3 Sprint Race
14.15 (04.15 CET) Formula 2 Sprint Race
Sunday
09.05 (23.05 Saturday CET) Formula 3 Feature Race
11.35 (01.35 CET) Formula 2 Feature Race