Formula 2

Story

Between the world wars, in parallel with the Grand Prix races, there were subcompact competitions that allowed low-income and inexperienced private pilots to prove themselves in the world of auto racing. Also, these competitions made it possible for small car manufacturers, which did not have the resources to build cars for racing the Grand Prix, to participate in sports at the international level. By the beginning of World War II, the rules for small cars limited the engine volume to one and a half liters (without a supercharger), and Grand Prix cars had to have an atmospheric engine of no more than 4.5 liters or an engine with a supercharger of no more than three liters.

Formula 1 (originally named Formula-A ) was created immediately after the war: in 1946, based on requirements for old Grand Prix cars. Requirements for naturally aspirated engines were left unchanged (4.5 liters), but the volume of engines with a supercharger was reduced from three liters to one and a half to equalize the chances with the technology of the old compact class. Such changes did not imply the existence of competitions below the Formula 1 class, which previously served as subcompacts in Grand Prix car competitions. The number of potential people who want to go to the start of the race, however, soon turned out to be such that they returned to the idea of ​​the younger class and in 1948 the regulation of Formula 2 (originally Formula B ) was introduced, allowing two-liter atmospheric engines or power plants to compete in their competitions with a 750 cc supercharger see, bringing racing motors as close as possible to the most popular serial counterparts. A large number of small private firms were also interested in new technical requirements, quickly offering potential participants in the series various options for a new class of cars. The championship quickly gained popularity, giving the world championship many strong pilots, and in 1952 , when the previous Formula 1 regulation proved its viability, and became two years the base for the World Cup.

The introduction in 1954 of the new Formula 1 regulation significantly reduced the popularity of junior racing, turning it into a testing ground not only for young pilots, but also for revolutionary technical solutions. So in these years, a project by the British company Cooper was tested in a series with a revolutionary, at that time, rear engine and independent wheel suspension, which was soon modernized to the requirements of the World Cup and quickly proved its obvious advantages at that level. The convergence of the F1 and F2 Rules soon led to the elimination of Formula 2 as an independent championship - individual cars were modified to the requirements of Formula 1, and new projects since 1961 were already built to meet the requirements of a new category - Formula Junior , which was supposed to be a single regulation for juniors championships and in 1959 has already replaced Formula 3 .

By 1964, the idea of ​​Formula 2 was again returned when it became clear that the Formula Junior concept needs to be broken down into smaller steps, offering everyone who wants it the senior championship regulations, where the power plant was supposed to be a one-liter four-cylinder naturally aspirated engine. Manufacturers supported the new concept and gradually, under the new regulation, various championships began to emerge - first national ones, and by 1967 the most prestigious niche was occupied: a pan-European championship was organized. For this event, the FIA agreed to increase the working capacity of class engines to 1.6 liters, and to raise the prestige of the races, the World Cup pilots were also given the opportunity to start in them, though not giving them the opportunity to fight for positions in the individual competition, leaving their results only in the minutes racing. The regulations of the new series also allowed for the private refinement of purchased factory engines, subsequently affecting the growth of small companies from the development bureau to the status of independent producers. By 1972, however, a new technical revolution was brewing: Ford engines forced all its competitors out of the market for sporting reasons, and the federation had to revise the power plant regulations, increasing their working volume to two liters, and the number of cylinders to six. The new regulation gave an increase in the number of manufacturers, but did not affect the attendance for the better. The races of the series increasingly turned into a youth championship, and the fight for the title often depended less and less on the pure speed of the pilot, depending on his experience in such races and the level of technology provided to him by the team. By the beginning of the 1980s, the situation worsened when Honda came into the series, building and finalizing its powertrains, as well as helping its partner company Ralt improve its chassis. As a result, their alliance, even putting out only two cars for the series, year after year proved to be stronger than many competitors, having won by 1985 three of the last four personal titles in the series. Fighting other teams with them led to a rise in the cost of participation in the series and by 1985 the next change of schedule was ripe, abolishing Formula 2 as a class and introducing Formula 3000 instead, where the Japanese auto concern had already decided not to go. The national Formula 2 championships lived longer - some were gradually closed due to the high cost of participation, and some adopted the F-3000 regulations. The most successful of them was the Japanese championship, still existing, but already under the guise of Super Formula .

In 2008, the idea of ​​Formula 2 returned when, in the next episode of the fight against increasing costs, the FIA again decided to reduce the cost of the senior class of its “formulaic” hierarchy before Formula 1. With the support of MotorSport Vision , the FIA Formula 2 single-team European championship was created, then GP2 (previously replacing the main European Formula 3000 championship) and Formula Renault 3.5 as a competitor. The series lasted four seasons, but did not bring any of its winners to Formula 1 and on the eve of the 2013 season, due to the small number of applications, it was closed.

In 2017, on the basis of the liquidated GP2, the next version of Formula 2 was created.

Series

The most famous series that existed under this regulation or used its technique:

• Trophes de france
• Australian Formula 2
• British Formula 2
• European Formula 2
• Mexican Formula 2
• FIA Formula 2
• Japanese Formula 2 (now Super Formula )

• Formula 1
• Formula 3
• Formula 4
• Open wheel car

• Website Formula 2 register (English)
• Profile (English) on oldracingcars

• The history of the racing Formula 2 (Formula 3000) (Russian) . carracer.ru (February 1992). Date of treatment February 4, 2015.