Kush Maini creates history in Monaco: How is Formula 2 different than Formula 1

Kush Maini made history over the weekend by pulling off a spectacular victory in the Formula 2 Sprint Race at the Monaco Grand Prix. The 24-year-old, who stormed to victory after starting from pole position, thus became the first Indian driver to collect a win at the iconic street circuit in Monte Carlo, located along the picturesque French Riviera.

It certainly was a historic moment for Indian motorsport with Maini standing on top of the podium and the national anthem playing in the background at Circuit de Monaco , where business tycoon and automobile enthusiast Gautam Singhania was also among those present.

Maini, representing DAMS Lucas Oil, won the nerve-wracking 30-lap reverse-grid sprint race with a timing of 44:57.639, finishing 3.705 seconds ahead of Prema Racing’s Gabriele Mini and 7.299 seconds ahead of Hitech TGR’s Luke Browning.

“P1 and first Indian to win at Monaco. It’s a great honour and a dream come true, really. We keep believing,” Maini said after collecting his second Formula 2 victory, having previously won the Feature Race in Jeddah last year.

His victory comes two months after he had joined the Alpine team as their reserve driver for the ongoing Formula 1 season .

And while his heroics in Monaco certainly fill Indian motorsport fans with hope, Maini still has some distance to cover before he can realise his dream of racing in the Formula 1, where Narain Karthikeyan and Karun Chandhok remain the only Indian drivers to have competed till date.

How is Formula 2 different from Formula 1?

Formula 1, after all, is the highest class of open-wheel, single-seater racing, and is considered by many as the pinnacle of motorsport (although American motorsport enthusiasts might want to bring NASCAR into the conversation). And comparing F2 with F1 would be akin to comparing the Championship with the Premier League in English club football.

The top teams in the Championship are promoted to the Premier League at the end of a season. Similarly, while F1 is motorsports’ equivalent of the top-flight, F2 serves mainly as a feeder series as well as a training ground for future Formula 1 stars.

The vehicles might appear similar at a glance, but are different in more ways than one. While each constructor is responsible for building their own cars in F1, all cars in F2 have the same chassis (built by Italian race car manufacturer Dallara) and gearbox (Hewland). Additionally, an average F1 car (798kg) outweights its F2 counterpart (755kg).

And it goes without saying that the engines in F1 are a lot more powerful than in F2, given it is the top-tier after all. F1 engines have a horsepower of 1,000 while those in F2 have an upper limit of 620. This translates to faster cars in the higher category, with F1 cars reaching top speeds of 230mph (370 kmph) compared to 200mph (321 kmph) in F2.

How the two categories differ in format and points distribution

The two racing categories also differ in their formats. An F1 race comprises three practice sessions on Friday and Saturday followed by qualifying on Saturday and the main event on Sunday. Some events also have a sprint qualifying, which reduces the number of practice sessions to just one and establishes the starting field for Sunday’s race.

F2 race weekends, on the other hand, have a qualifying session on Friday that establishes the starting grid for Sunday’s Feature Race. The Sprint Race that takes place on Saturday is a standalone event which features a reverse starting grid, wherein positions 1-10 for the main race are inverted, while positions 11-22 remain the same.

And while F1 and F2 races typically take place at the same circuit, the former is a lot longer in terms of the number of laps. The points distribution is also the same for the top 10 drivers; F1, however, awards a point for the fastest lap for drivers finishing in the top 10 and eight points for the sprint winner.

F2, meanwhile, awards a point for the fastest lap in the feature as well as sprint race, so long as the driver finishes in the top-10, and 10 points for the sprint race winner with the driver finishing runner-up collecting 8 and the one finishing third earning 6.