The Formula 2 Title Will Now Be Settled on Track

Confirmation that the Qatar and Abu Dhabi rounds will take place has an immediate effect one rung down the ladder, because Formula 2 supports Formula 1 at both events. The title will now be settled on track rather than on the calendar. Until Tuesday it was entirely possible that the season would end without a champion being crowned in competition.

The man to watch is Rafael Camara. He raced for Haas in Brazil, is in negotiations to keep the Formula 1 seat for Las Vegas, and now faces two Formula 2 rounds on the same weekends as the final two Grands Prix. Before the calendar was confirmed it looked as though he might not return to Formula 2 at all, which would have been a clear advantage for whoever is nearest to him in the standings.

For the rest of the field this is straightforward good news. Nobody wanted a title settled by cancellation, and the series now runs its full programme at two circuits it has raced at before, in the same support slots it has used all year.

The calendar is set. Qatar hosts the penultimate round on 29 November, Abu Dhabi closes both championships on 6 December, and Las Vegas comes first on 21 November with no Formula 2 race on the bill. For Camara that single detail is the whole problem, because it is the one weekend where he can drive a Formula 1 car without giving anything up.

The effect runs through every support series on the schedule. Formula 2 and Formula 3 travel with Formula 1 and build their calendars around it, and a cancelled double-header would have left championships decided by a calculator rather than on track. Both rounds are now confirmed, three weeks ahead of the first of them rather than three days.

Camara’s own plans remain the loose end in all of this. He has two Formula 2 rounds and an open Formula 1 seat pulling in opposite directions, and whoever is closest to him in the standings will be watching the Haas announcement as carefully as he is. The Formula 1 championship order behind the champion is already settled to within a point in places, which is more than can be said one series down.