2020 Formula 2 Championship

The 2020 Formula Two Season, formally known as the 2020 FIA Formula 2 Championship, wase the fourth edition of the FIA Formula 2 Championship, and the sixteenth edition of the GP2 Series format. Originally planned to be held between 20 March and the 29 November 2020, the 2020 Season was actually conduced between July and December 2020, after the 2020 Covid-19 Pandemic caused the original calendar to be torn up.

Nyck de Vries entered 2020 as the reigning F2 Champion, although the series' rules meant that he was unable to defend his crown. The Dutchman subsequently secured a seat in the FIA Formula E Championship for the season, as his former F2 employers ART Grand Prix hired Marcus Armstrong to replace him.

French team DAMS would start the 2020 Season as the reigning Teams' Champions, although they opted to field a brand new line-up of Sean Gelael and F2 rookie Dan Ticktum.

The start of the season would be delayed as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, with the opening round in Bahrain postponed amid a suspension of Formula One, F2 and the FIA Formula 3 Championships until May 2020. After an en-masse cancellation of races, a new calendar for the 2020 season was released on 2 June 2020, with the season set to start in Austria on 4 July.

The season opened with victory for Callum Ilott, before Felipe Drugovich became the first rookie of the season to claim victory in the Sprint Race. The following weekend, again staged at the Red Bull Ring, would see Robert Shwartzman and Christian Lundgaard claim their maiden victories in their rookie seasons, with Shwartzman claiming a second win in Hungary.

With that Shwartzman emerged as a major title pretender, although four poor races in Silverstone, culminating in a costly collision with teammate Mick Schumacher while fighting for the lead, prevented the Russian racer from building an advantage. Indeed, Schumacher would then take up the mantle of being Prema's main title challenger, with the German racer beginning a five-race streak of podium finishes.

Schumacher would, however, have to wait for the Monza Feature Race to claim his first victory, although it was Ilott who ended that weekend in the lead in the Championship with his third win of the campaign in the Sprint. Schumacher then claimed the lead as Ilott and Shwartzman failed to score major points in Mugello, before extending his lead with a second win in Sochi.

The season finale would be held with four races in Bahrain, two on the full Bahrain International Circuit, and two on the experimental "Outer Circuit" at the same venue. No fewer than nine drivers entered the first battle of Bahrain with a shot at the title, although after the first pair of races only Schumacher, Ilott, Nikita Mazepin, Shwartzman and Yuki Tsunoda held mathematical hopes of the crown.

Ultimately it would be Schumacher who triumphed in the final battle, with a dramatic Sprint Race seeing the fortunes of Schumacher and Ilott ebb and flow. Elsewhere, Yuki Tsunoda claimed the Anthoine Hubert Award for the best rookie, finishing a point behind Ilott in third in the Championship, while twelve drivers claimed victory at some point during the 24 race 2020 campaign.

Calendar
The 2020 FIA Formula 2 Championship would have a near identical calendar to the 2019 season, with 24 race scheduled across 12 race meetings. As ever F2 would serve as the main support for the FIA Formula One World Championship, with all twelve race meetings taking place at Grand Prix weekends. The only change would be the addition of a race at the Circuit Park Zandvoort in early May, which replaced Circuit Paul Ricard on the calendar to create a more even spread of races mid-season.

The Azerbaijan round was also pushed back to June as the F1 calendar was rejigged to accommodate the new Dutch and Vietnamese Grand Prix.

A Continental Tour
The season would open with a pre-season test in Bahrain on 1-3 March, before the Sakhir circuit hosted the first two races of the season on 21 and 22 March. The Series' maiden trip to the Netherlands and Zandvoort would follow on 2-3 May, followed a week later by the annual trip to Spain and the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. The Circuit de Monaco would then host the Championship on 22-23 May, with another fortnight break before the field assembled at the Baku City Circuit in Azerbaijan for the fifth round of the season.

A one month break was to follow, ended by the 2020 Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring, before the field arrived in Silverstone to start the second half of the season. A trip to the Hungaroring on 1-2 August would then precede the summer break, before the Series reconvened at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps at the end of August. One week later F2 would support the 2020 Italian Grand Prix at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza, then venture to the Sochi Autodrom on 5-6 September to support the Russian Grand Prix. The season finale would then be staged at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi on 28-29 November, alongside sister series' F1 and the FIA Formula 3 Championship.

Coronavirus Complications
The worsening COVID-19 outbreak, which was declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organisation on 12 March 2020, would result in a two month suspension of the FIA Formula 2 Championship a week before the scheduled season opener in Bahrain. The Bahrain was hence postponed to an as yet undeclared date, with the season set to start with the trip to Zandvoort in May. All of the 2020 events were subsequently cancelled in May 2020, after a series of postponements and cancellations from each individual organiser.

Tuned Timetable
A revised calendar, approved by the FIA, was revealed on 2 June 2020, with eight rounds all held in Europe. The season was to start on 3 - 5 July at the Red Bull Ring in Austria, with a second pair of races to be held on the circuit a week later. The field would then head to the Hungaroring for its third pair of races on 17 - 19 July, before a two week break to the next set of races.

Silverstone would host two sets of F2 races, with the first weekend being staged on 31 July - 2 August, before the fifth round of the season on 7 - 9 August. The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya would then host the series on 14 - 16 August, before the field returned to the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps on 28 - 30 August. The season was then to be concluded at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza on 4 - 6 September, although both F1 and F2 hoped to add further rounds to the calendar as the Covid-19 Pandemic calmed.

On 10 July it was announced that Mugello in Italy would host the ninth round of the F2 season on 11 - 13 September. A tenth round was added to the schedule on 29 July, with the Sochi Autodrom returning to the calendar on 25 - 27 September. The calendar was then completed on 25 August, with a double header, as well as post-season test, scheduled at the Bahrain International Circuit on 28 - 29 November and 5 - 6 December set to conclude the season.

Schedule
The full calendar for the 2020 FIA Formula 2 Championship is shown below:

Entry List
The full 2020 FIA Formula 2 Championship entry list is outlined below:
 * * Placeholder liveries are show for the second drivers in each team.

Round I: 2020 Austrian Formula 2 Round
The opening round of the heavily revised 2020 calendar would be staged at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Styria, Austria, with F2 heading to the Austrian circuit on 3 - 5 July 2020.

Race One: 2020 Red Bull Ring Feature Race
Guanyu Zhou would open the season with pole position for the first race of the season, sharing the front row with debutante Felipe Drugovich in a chaotic session. At the start, however, both would be caught flat-footed when the lights went out, with Callum Ilott streaking past the pair of them to claim the lead. Zhou would recover to claim second, and duly wrestled the lead back from UNI-Virtuosi teammate Ilott later around the opening tour, while behind Mick Schumacher secured third ahead of Prema Racing teammate Robert Shwartzman, with Drugovich falling to fifth.

The race quickly settled with Zhou holding a small lead over Ilott, Schumacher and Shwartzman, with drivers and teams still getting used to F2's new 18" Pirelli tyres. Marcus Armstrong opened the pit window with a stop on lap eight, while Zhou clung onto the lead until lap seventeen, handing the lead to Ilott. Ilott was, however, to be instantly passed by Schumacher before making his stop a lap later, with Schumacher stretching his soft tyre stint out a further two laps.

That decision appeared to work for Schumacher as he emerged with the lead, only to be passed by Zhou courtesy of having cold tyres leaving the pitlane. However, an engine issue for Zhou would dump the Chinese racer out of contention, with Ilott managing to fire past both Zhou and Schumacher, before a quick Safety Car intervention bunched the field back up. The restart saw Schumacher attack Ilott for the lead, only to throw himself off at turn seven to tumble back down the field.

Ilott was hence left to claim victory ahead of Armstrong, while Shwartzman made it an all Ferrari Driver Academy podium with third.

Race Two: 2020 Red Bull Ring Sprint Race
Drugovich would start the Sprint Race from pole position, and duly converted pole into a lead at the start with a clean getaway. Fellow front row starter Louis Delétraz would ultimately fall too far back to challenge into the first corner, while Dan Ticktum was likewise too far back to entertain a lunge at the Swiss racer into the right-hander. Behind it was a clean start, only for a spectacular engine failure for Giuliano Alesi to trigger an early Safety Car period, the back of the #17 BWT HWA Racelab entry having been engulfed in flame.

A swift restart followed, although just as the field were released Sean Gelael stopped on track, resulting in another quick-fire SC period. Once the #1 DAMS was cleared the race was fully back underway, until Luca Ghiotto sent himself spinning into the gravel to trigger SC number three after just a couple of laps of green flag running. That intervention would ultimately settle the race, with so little time left when the race finally resumed that there was nothing anyone could do to deny Drugovich.

Indeed, the #15 MP Motorsport debutante claimed a shock victory in comfortable style, two seconds clear of Delétraz after controlling each restart perfectly. Ticktum, meanwhile, would finish in third after Armstrong was forced to pit with an issue, while Shwartzman claimed fourth ensuring he sat behind Ilott in the Championship hunt at the end of the opening round.

Round II: 2020 Styrian Formula 2 Round
The second round of the heavily revised 2020 calendar would also be staged at the Red Bull Ring in Austria, and would be staged just a week after the opening round on 10 - 12 July.

Race Three: 2020 Spielberg Feature Race
Qualifying for the second Feature Race around the Red Bull Ring would see rookie Yuki Tsunoda sweep to pole position, edging out Zhou by 0.038s in a session dominated by traffic. Heavy rain would then sweep across the Styrian Mountains overnight and into Saturday, resulting in the FIA Formula 3 Championship race being abandoned, while Formula One's qualifying session was delayed by an hour. Regardless, the rain would still be hanging around the Red Bull Ring by the time the F2 field were allowed to line-up on the grid, resulting in one attempted start behind the Safety Car before the field were brought into the pits and held.

After a fair pause the race was once again started behind the Safety Car, with conditions having improved enough that the field were released after just one lap. Tsunoda duly edged into the lead after a half-look from Zhou, while behind Jack Aitken lunged past Luca Ghiotto to claim fourth behind Ilott. Christian Lundgaard would then provide the early entertainment by climbing up to fifth, with the field settling into a steady rhythm before Zhou opened the stops for the leaders with half of the race to run.

Tsunoda's hopes of a maiden victory were dashed during the pit-phase, a broken radio meaning he missed several calls to stop, meaning he stayed out far too long on worn tyres and hence slipped back down the field. Zhou inherited the lead ahead of Ilott, although their pace was overshadowed by the rise of the two Premas, Shwartzman leading Schumacher up the order. Shwartzman duly elbowed his way into the lead and would go on to claim his maiden win, Tsuonda rallied back to claim second, while Zhou had just enough in hand to keep Schumacher at bay to complete the podium.

Race Four: 2020 Spielberg Sprint Race
Dan Ticktum was to start from pole position for the Sprint Race, with conditions a vast improvement on the day before and no threat of rain. Ticktum subsequently converted pole into the lead at the start, with Lundgaard storming into second behind the #2 DAMS. Elsewhere, Shwartzman was spun out of the race in the middle of the pack as the field poured through the first corner, while Tsuonda too would hit trouble with a clutch issue.

Lundgaard would harass Ticktum throughout the early laps, and duly threw the #6 ART down the inside of Ticktum's #2 DAMS for the lead into the first corner on lap five. Ticktum almost managed to retaliate at turn three but was forced to relent, with Lundgaard duly sprinting away to claim a two second lead. Behind, Schumacher was on the warpath as he climbed up to third, although moments after passing Armstrong the #20 Prema was seen limping into the pits with extinguishant coated over the cockpit.

With Schumacher out the race settled down, with Lundgaard claiming an impressive victory to make it four different winners in four races, and three in a row for rookies in 2020. Ticktum and Armstrong would then complete the podium, while Shwartzman retained the lead in the championship hunt despite going out on the opening lap.

Round III: 2020 Hungarian Formula 2 Round
Round three of the 2020 campaign would see the F2 field head to the Hungaroring near Budapest, Hungary, completing a "triple-header" to open the campaign on 17 - 19 July.

Race Five: 2020 Hungaroring Feature Race
Heavy rain saw turbulent qualifying session set the grid for the third Feature Race of the weekend, with Ilott claiming pole position as Guilherme Samaia and Jehan Daruvala both caused red flags. Fortunately the rain would disappear for the race, with Ilott storming away to claim the lead, while Ticktum leapt into second ahead of Lundgaard. Behind, however, there would be chaos as the two Tridents of Roy Nissany and Marino Sato collided, resulting in an early Safety Car.

At the restart Lundgaard would slip behind Luca Ghiotto, only to tag the back of the #25 Hitech Grand Prix and destroy his own left front tyre. That caused more carnage with Armstrong sending Artem Markelov into the barriers as they tried to avoid the Dane, triggering a second SC almost instantly. As a result it was only on lap seven that the race truly did get underway, with Ilott sweeping away out front, while Ticktum instantly dived into the pits for medium Pirelli tyres in a bid to undercut his compatriot.

Ilott followed a lap later and remained ahead of Ticktum, leaving Schumacher in the lead until he made his stop on lap thirteen, rejoining ahead of Ilott. That left Shwartzman in the lead on the alternate strategy, which ultimately proved to be the correct choice for Shwartzman as he rejoined from his stop just a few seconds down on Schumacher with a handful of laps to go. The Russian racer duly stormed into the lead in the closing stages to claim victory, dragging Nikita Mazepin up with him, while Schumacher managed to retain third.

Race Six: 2020 Hungaroring Sprint Race
After slipping to eighth in the Feature Race, Ilott would start the Hungarian Sprint from pole, and would once again blast away at the start to secure an early lead. He hence left Ghiotto to fend off the attentions of Louis Delétraz to hold second, the Italian just hanging on, while Mazepin and Ticktum made excellent starts to move into the top five. Ilott went on to establish a huge 3.6 second lead by the end of the opening tour, while Ticktum's race was ruined by a mechanical issue.

The middle phase of the race would see Ghiotto establish himself in second, while Schumacher led teammate Shwartzman up into third and fourth, before Schumacher followed Ilott into the pits for fresh tyres. The rest of the field would soon bundle in, leaving Ghiotto and Giuliano Alesi as the only drivers in the field not to stop. They duly ran in first and second, with Ghiotto in particular holding a 34 second margin over Ilott with a handful of laps to go.

However, the superior grip from those fresher tyres would setup a tense finale to the lap, with Ilott and Schumacher storming past Alesi with ease. Ilott then produced two stunning laps late on to demolish Ghiotto's then twelve second lead, and was on the #25 Hitech's tail as they entered the final corner on the final lap. Yet, Ghiotto had just enough grip to power out of the final corner and claim victory ahead of the Brit, with Schumacher sweeping into third having opted to ease off his pace in the closing stages.

Round IV: 2020 British Formula 2 Round
The Silverstone Circuit in Northamptonshire, UK, would host the fourth round of the season, with the first of two rounds at the British circuit scheduled for 1 - 8 August.

Race Seven: 2020 Silverstone Feature Race
Felipe Drugovich would continue his impressive rookie season by claiming his maiden F2 pole position for the Silverstone Feature, a feat that was also noted as the first pole for MP Motorsport as an entrant. The Brazilian's hopes of a second victory were then aided by an issue for Ilott on the formation lap, which dumped the Brit to the back of the field, only for Drugovich to be swarmed at the start on the harder tyres. Instead, it was Schumacher who swept into the lead when the lights went out, with Mazepin and Lundgaard following the #20 Prema past Drugovich's MP.

Mazepin would steal the lead on lap three when DRS came online, with those two able to drop Lundgaard who instead came under pressure from Drugovich as the medium tyres showed alarming signs of early wear. Mazepin and Schumacher duly stopped on lap eight, dropping down into the bottom half of the field, with Lundgaard staying out for one more lap before he too stopped for hard Pirellis. That left Drugovich in control of the race on the alternate strategy, with the field entering a brief lull during the middle third of proceedings.

Once those on the alternate strategy stopped the order was seemingly settled, with Mazepin in the lead ahead of Lundgaard and Delétraz, who had both jumped Schumacher. However, in the closing stages the medium tyres would prove far more effective, resulting in Zhou and Yuki Tsunoda storming up the order and onto the podium. They would, however, still end the race trailing Mazepin by some five seconds when the chequered flag was flown, while Ilott made impressive progress to claim fifth despite starting the race from the pitlane.

Race Eight: 2020 Silverstone Sprint Race
Ticktum would start the Sprint Race from pole position, and duly converted pole position into an early lead ahead of Lundgaard. Behind, Drugovich would make another poor start to tumble back down to fourth from the front row of the grid, with Lundgaard and Delétraz usurping the Brazilian to complete the top three. Ilott, meanwhile, would fall to sixth before earning himself a penalty for making contact with Tsunoda, while Zhou pulled off a move of the season contender by dancing past Mazepin and Drugovich in one move.

Ilott would belay his early woes to rise from seventh to second, only to spin when harassing his compatriot for the lead to trigger a Safety Car. That proved to be a catalyst for drivers to gamble, with a number of drivers including Lundgaard diving into the pits for fresh tyres. Ticktum, meanwhile, would opt to stay out in the lead along with the rest of the top four, with Zhou in particular concerned that staying out was the wrong call.

When the race resumed with two laps to go Zhou's fears were confirmed, with Lundgaard quickly storming past the Chinese racer to move into the top three. Delétraz then held the Dane up for over half a lap, meaning Ticktum managed to hold enough of a margin over the charging Dane to claim victory by just three tenths of a second. Lungaard hence had to settle for second ahead of Delétraz, while Shwartzman retained the lead in the Championship despite failing to score.

Round V: 2020 70th Anniversary Formula 2 Round
For the second round of races around Silverstone the F2 field would run in support of the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix, which was to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the first F1 World Championship race on 7 - 9 August.

Race Nine: 2020 Anniversary Feature Race
Qualifying for the second Feature Race at Silverstone would see Callum Ilott sweep to pole position, edging out Christian Lundgaard with a late run. The Brit duly swept away when the lights went out to claim an early lead, while Lundgaard immediately dropped to second behind Dan Ticktum, before the #2 DAMS slid off at Chapel. Ticktum would recover to fourth before Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin stormed ahead, with the race quickly settling into a steady rhythm as drivers focused on tyre management.

Indeed, Ilott would lead those on the softs into the pits for hards on lap eight, with a near universal decision to maintain tyres rather than attack, regardless of whether drivers had started on hards or recently switched. Schumacher, who had inherited the lead when Ilott stopped, would continue on until lap 21 and rejoined behind Ilott, while Mazepin completed an additional lap before he too swapped to the softs. With those two out of the way Ilott was restored to the lead, with Lungaard back up to second and Jack Aitken running in a confident third after fending off an attack from Ticktum.

There was little change at the front of the field in the closing stages, with Ilott able to cruise to the chequered flag to claim victory and the Championship lead, safely ahead of Lundgaard and Aitken. Behind, Mazepin made a late charge to claim fourth ahead of Louis Delétraz, while Yuki Tsunoda kept Schumacher at bay to claim sixth.

Race Ten: 2020 Anniversary Sprint Race
Robert Shwartzman would start the Anniversary Sprint from pole position, with the Russian racer going on to convert pole into an early lead. Prema Racing teammate Schumacher started from second and would match the Russian's getaway, and briefly thought about challenging for the lead, before settling into second. Behind Tsunoda secured third ahead of a fast starting Aitken, while Lundgaard and Delétraz fought with Ilott in the opening stages.

Once again the race would quickly become a tyre management affair, with the order remaining largely unchanged after the early exchanges. Indeed, it was only in the closing stages that there would be some more excitement, with Schumacher moving onto the tail of Shwartzman to engage his teammate for the lead. Ultimately that fight would end disastrously for the Russian youth on the penultimate tour, with an ambitious lunge from Schumacher into Brooklands ending with the German racer damaging his front wing, and Shwartzman skating off track.

There to profit was Tsunoda, who darted past the recovering Premas to claim the lead and ultimately victory ahead of Schumacher. Aitken would also benefit from the inter-Prema collision to claim third ahead of Delétraz, Guanyu Zhou secured fifth ahead of his teammate Ilott, Ticktum and Mazepin, while Shwartzman finished down in thirteenth.

Round VI: 2020 Spanish Formula 2 Round
Round six of the campaign saw the F2 field return to the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Barcelona, Spain, with the familiar venue bring a close to the second "triple-header" of the campaign on 14 - 16 August.

Race Eleven: 2020 Barcelona Feature Race
Ilott would secure pole position for the second Feature Race in succession, defeating title rival and fellow Ferrari Driver Academy ace Shwartzman. The start of the race, however, would see the duo swap places, with Shwartzman sweeping into the lead, while Ilott tried to keep the second Prema of Schumacher behind for second. The rest of the field made it through the opening corners without issue, until Marcus Armstrong slid into the gravel to trigger a Safety Car.

At the restart Shwartzman would bolt into the lead, although he would be swiftly hunted down by Ilott as the race unfolded, with those two making early stops for hard tyres on lap eight. That left Schumacher, the lead driver on the alternate hard-soft tyre strategy in the lead, although towards the end of his first stint the German youth's pace collapsed. That allowed Ilott to storm to within four seconds of the #20 Prema when Schumacher made his stop with ten laps to go, with Nobuharu Matsushita briefly leading before he too ventured into the pits.

Fate, however, would play its hand at that moment, with the Safety Car scrambled as Matsushita entered the pitlane after Sean Gelael and Giuliano Alesi collided. An en-masse scramble to the pits would follow with numerous drivers including Ilott, Shwartzman and Zhou all stopping for soft tyres for the final laps. Matsushita was hence shuffled back into the lead of the race on fresh softs ahead of Tsunoda, Ilott and Shwartzman, with the #14 MP Motorsport briefly able to break clear before another SC period.

The cause this time was Roy Nissany, who managed to slam into the barriers at turn three, which would end up setting up a one-lap sprint to the chequered flag when the race did resume. Ultimately, Matsushita had enough in hand to secure victory, while Shwartzman and Zhou completed the podium after late fights with Tsunoda and Shwartzman. Elsewhere there would be a nasty moment between Gelael and Jack Aitken on the final tour, which would leave Gelael with a fractured vertebra after his car was flicked into the air before slamming down on top of a kerb.

Race Twelve: 2020 Barcelona Sprint Race
Luca Ghiotto would start the Barcelona Sprint from pole position, although it was Felipe Drugovich would led the field into turn one with a lunge past the #25 Hitech into the first corner. Schumacher also tried to jump Ghiotto but instead fell behind Ilott, while behind Shwartzman fended off the attentions of Louis Delétraz. Indeed, the race would quickly settle into a steady rhythm out front, with the Shwartzman/Delétraz the only real fight of interest as the race wore on.

Their fight would ultimately end when Nikita Mazepin and Christian Lundgaard barged past, those two having caught the squabbling duo as they fought. Out front, meanwhile, Drugovich secured an impressive eight second lead as Ghiotto slipped into the sights of Ilott, although it was Schumacher who made the first move, lunging past Ilott as the Brit had a half look at passing Ghiotto. Ilott's pace soon deteriorated and saw him slip behind Tsunoda, while behind Zhou, Aitken and Dan Ticktum opted to gamble and make a stop for fresher tyres in the closing stages.

That, however, would have little impact of the race, with an imperious Drugovich maintaining his tyres and eight second lead beautifully to claim an impressive victory. Ghiotto was eight seconds back in second after fending off Schumacher and breaking clear, while Ilott ultimately ended the race in eighth to add a point to his eighteen point Championship lead.

Round VII: 2020 Belgian Formula 2 Round
For the first time since the death of Anthoine Hubert in 2019 the F2 field would head to the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps on 28 - 30 August for round seven of the 2020 season.

Race Thirteen: 2020 Spa Feature Race
Tsunoda stormed to pole position in qualifying for the Spa Feature Race, beating Mazepin as Vips and Guilherme Samaia both caused red flags during the session. After a minute's silence to mark the anniversary of Hubert's death, the race would get underway with Tsunoda denying Mazepin the lead. Matsushita would take advantage and claim second from the Russian racer, while Schumacher streaked from seventh to fourth before harrying Mazepin for third.

Matsushita's pace would deteriorate after the early laps, resulting in Mazepin, Schumacher and Delétraz all firing past, before the Japanese racer collided with teammate Drugovich to trigger a VSC. That ended just as drivers were to begin making their stops, with Mazepin and Schumacher both diving in on lap six to open the pit window. Tsunoda then stopped and rejoined behind Mazepin, handing the lead to Zhou who was running on the alternate tyre strategy.

Zhou held out until the final laps before making his stop, rejoining in sixth as Mazepin moved into the lead, albeit with a fired-up Tsunoda closing onto his tail. Indeed, the Russian youth would make some questionable defensive moves to keep Tsunoda at bay, culminating with Mazepin forcing Tsunoda off circuit and earning himself a five second time penalty. That settled the race, with Mazepin finishing first on track, although once his penalty was applied it was Tsunoda who was declared the victor.

Race Fourteen: 2020 Spa Sprint Race
Nissany would start the Spa Sprint from pole position, although the Israeli racer was to be instantly beaten by a fast starting Ticktum into La Source. Nissany would respond instantly, however, using the slipstream effect down the Kemmel Straight to draw back ahead and reclaim the lead, moments before the SC was deployed. That was due to a collision between Championship leader Ilott and Feature winner Tsunoda, which left the British racer stranded on track with heavy damage.

When the race resumed Ticktum went on the offensive, although a clumsy move into Les Combes from the Brit ended up with Nissany slamming into the outside wall and out after contact. Ticktum would lead the race as a result as the SC was scrambled again, although when the race resumed it was clear that the #2 DAMS was damaged from the incident. Indeed, Shwartzman would take instant advantage to snatch the lead from Ticktum at the restart, with Delétraz also making an early move on the DAMS before Ticktum fought back.

Shwartzman went on to claim victory and the Championship lead, while Ticktum's hobbled car meant he was unable to hunt the Russian racer down. Schumacher and Zhou would ultimately force their way ahead, but were left too far behind Shwartzman to entertain bids for victory, with Ticktum eventually falling to tenth when the chequered flag fell.

Round VIII: 2020 Italian Formula 2 Round
The final round of the initial revised calendar would be held at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza in Monza, Italy, on 4 - 6 September.

Race Fifteen: 2020 Monza Feature Race
Ilott would sweep to pole position for the Monza Feature Race, edging out Tsunoda by just 0.030s as just seven tenths covered the top twenty drivers. Ilott duly converted pole into the lead as Schumacher, who had caused a red flag towards the end of qualifying by crashing at Ascari, stormed up to second from sixth on the grid. He duly moved to challenge Ilott but settled for stalking the #4 UNI-Virtuosi in the early stages, as everyone surprisingly managed to make it through the first laps without issue.

Ilott managed to establish a two second lead over Schumacher before the pitstops began, although that would be of little comfort to the British racer as a stall during his stop cost him a lot of time. Schumacher duly inherited the de facto lead of those that had stopped when he came in a lap later, handing the lead over to those on the alternate strategy. When they began coming in on lap nineteen Schumacher was moved to the de jure lead of the race, albeit with Lundgaard and Ghiotto close to his tail.

Ultimately, however, Schumacher would have enough pace to claim his first win of the campaign, with Ghiotto and Lundgaard ultimately ending up in a fight for second, which the veteran Italian won. Ilott would briefly climb his way back into fourth before he was usurped by teammate Zhou on the penultimate tour, while Championship leader Shwartzman claimed ninth to ensure he ended the race level on points with Ilott at the head of the table.

Race Sixteen: 2020 Monza Sprint Race
Delétraz would start the Monza Sprint from pole position after claiming eighth place in the Feature Race, although he would be denied an early lead by a fast starting Ticktum. Ilott would also make a strong start to claim third, while Schumacher shot from eighth to sixth with teammate Shwartzman following him up the field. The early laps then saw Schumacher make successive moves on Lundgaard and Tsunoda, before he was himself passed by Zhou, whose lunge into the Rettifilo would see Schumacher drop to sixth.

Zhou's race was over just half a lap later, his car entering a limp-home mode due to an issue, handing Schumacher fifth with Shwartzman on his tail, with both rapidly closing onto the back of Lundgaard. Out front, meanwhile, Ticktum was producing a dominant display, imperiously building a lead over Delétraz as the Swiss racer fought to keep Ilott at bay. Ilott would eventually force his way past to secure second, while Delétraz fell away into the sights for Lundgaard and Schumacher, who both passed him late on.

With that, and a late VSC to recover a stranded Drugovich from the circuit, the race was run, with Ticktum claiming victory ahead of Ilott, while Lundgaard completed the podium ahead of Schumacher. However, after the race it was revealed that Ticktum's car, which the Brit had stopped just beyond the finish line, had failed post-race scrutineering for failing to provide a fuel sample. The #2 DAMS, which the team later said had a fuel leak, was subsequently disqualified, leaving Ilott as the victor ahead of Lundgaard and Schumacher.

Round IX: 2020 Tuscan Formula 2 Round
The Mugello Circuit in Tuscany, Italy, would host the ninth round of the season on 11 - 13 September, having been added to the calendar late on to celebrate the 1000th Grand Prix entry for Ferrari in Formula One.

Race Seventeen: 2020 Mugello Feature Race
It proved to be an incredibly tight qualifying session for F2's first trip to Mugello, with Christian Lundgaard securing pole position by just 0.005s from Dan Ticktum after half-an-hour of running. At the start the two would hold position as they galloped off the grid, while behind Callum Ilott made a miserable getaway to slump from third to seventh, effectively swapping places with Luca Ghiotto. After that the race would soon settle, albeit after Ilott swept past Jack Aitken for sixth, before those on soft tyres saw their pace nosedive after just five laps.

Lundgaard was the first of the leaders to stop at the end of lap eight, and would duly drop to 21st place as Ticktum assumed the lead, only to be passed by Ghiotto. Once they stopped Nikita Mazepin was left in the lead with a comfortable margin, while Lundgaard found himself with Nobuharu Matsushita between himself and Ghiotto behind. Title pretender Robert Shwartzman would then drop out of the race with an issue after his stop, before Giuliano Alesi triggered a Safety Car when an engine failure left him at the side of the circuit.

A wave of stops for those who had started on the hard Pirelli tyres would follow Alesi's exit, resulting in Lundgaard filtering back into the lead ahead of Ghiotto. The Dane duly aced the restart to break clear, only for two first corner incidents between Ticktum and Yuki Tsunoda, as well as an unrelated accident between Aitken, Guanyu Zhou and Mick Schumacher to bring out the SC once again. With two laps to go the race would resume for the final time, although now Lundgaard and Ghiotto had Mazepin in relatively fresh soft tyres right on their tail.

Indeed, there would be no denying Mazepin in the dying embers of the race, with the Russian youth dancing past both Lundgaard and Ghiotto on the penultimate tour before storming away to claim victory. Ghiotto would make it a Hitech one-two with a move on his own on Lundgaard, with the Dane also falling Louis Delétraz, Felipe Drugovich and Schumacher on the final tour.

Race Eighteen: 2020 Mugello Sprint Race
Artem Markelov would start the Mugello Sprint from pole position, although he would instantly be mugged off the line by a fast starting Lundgaard, out to make up for his miserable collapse late on in the Feature Race. Markelov was hence left to settle into second, while behind Schumacher retained fifth behind Delétraz and Jüri Vips. The early laps would then see Lundgaard break away, while Markelov slowly slipped out of contention for victory as Delétraz and Vips elbowed their way past.

The Russian veteran's hopes of points were then ended when contact with Schumacher resulted in the #17 BWT HWA sustaining front wing damage, the result of some ambitious defending from Markelov into turn one. Elsewhere, Ilott broke into the points when the two Hitech's took each other out, with Mazepin slamming into teammate Ghiotto while defending seventh. Ghiotto was out on the spot, resulting in a VSC, while Mazepin picked up damage and a ten second time penalty for causing the incident.

The VSC would not, however, have a major impact on the final result, for Lundgaard would maintain a comfortable margin at the head of the field to secure victory for ART Grand Prix. Delétraz was next up ahead of Vips, while Schumacher's fourth place ensured that he established an eight point lead at the head of the Championship as the weekend in Tuscany came to a conclusion.

Round X: 2020 Russian Formula 2 Round
On 25 - 27 September the F2 class of 2020 would head to the Sochi Autodrom in Russia for its tenth round of the campaign, with the Russian circuit remaining unchanged after its late re-addition to the calendar.

Race Nineteen: 2020 Sochi Feature Race
Tsunoda secured pole position for the Sochi Feature Race, beating Carlin teammate Jehan Daruvala by 0.006s as Championship leader Schumacher claimed third on the grid ahead of Ilott. Schumacher duly relieved Daruvala of second when the race began, before challenging Tsunoda unsuccessfully for the lead into turn two. Behind there would be chaos into the first braking zone, with Vips getting out of shape and hitting Pedro Piquet into the back of Lundgaard, with four other drivers also getting caught out.

A Safety Car was required to clean up the mess, with Tsunoda acing the restart to secure a lead, while Schumacher established himself in second. Indeed, it would be a stalemate throughout the field until the pitstop window opened when Daruvala stopped, with Tsunoda, Schumacher and Ilott all stopping a lap later. They would all rejoin ahead of Daruvala, while Jack Aitken took over control of the race as the lead driver on the alternate strategy.

Once those on the alternate strategy had stopped Tsunoda was elevated back into the lead, only to instantly lose it when Schumacher lunged around the outside of the #7 Carlin into turn two. With that the German title pretender was away to claim victory, while Tsunoda spent the rest of the race fending off Ilott and Ghiotto to hold second.

Race Twenty: 2020 Sochi Sprint Race
Pole position for the Sochi Sprint was handed to Zhou after he claimed eighth in the Feature Race, with the Chinese racer duly converting pole into a lead when the lights went out. In contrast second placed started Mazepin would tumble into the pack, allowing Aitken to claim second ahead of Schumacher, who stormed up from eighth to third. At the back, meanwhile, Samaia and Jake Hughes would tangle at the second corner, resulting in a brief Virtual Safety Car.

Mazepin was the man to watch after the VSC, the Russian racer elbowing his way past Schumacher and Aitken before hunting Zhou for the lead, with Schumacher also moving ahead of the #9 Campos. Ghiotto would also attempt to make a move on Aitken, although his attempt to pass the Anglo-Korean racer around the outside of turn three would end in a huge accident, as Aitken suffered a puncture as they entered the sweeping left-hander. Contact between the two sent Ghiotto skating into and under the barriers, destroying his car which subsequently caught fire moments after the Italian racer jumped out of his cockpit.

After several laps behind the SC the race was red flagged due to barrier damage, with the shortened race distance of just five laps seeing half points awarded. Zhou was declared as the winner ahead of Mazepin and Schumacher, meaning Schumacher's Championship lead was extended to 22 points.

Round XI: 2020 Bahrain Formula 2 Round
After a one month break the F2 field would head to the Bahrain International Circuit for the first part of a two-round season finale in the Bahraini desert, starting on 27 - 29 November.

Race Twenty-One: 2020 Bahrain Feature Race
Ilott would secure pole position for the first race at Bahrain, with an impressive four tenth margin over closest challenger Drugovich as Championship leader Schumacher only managed tenth. The start would subsequently see Drugovich challenge Ilott for the lead, a position he would ultimately gain by turn four, while Schumacher streaked up from tenth to fifth before the first corner. The German youth would subsequently attack Zhou for fourth, resulting in contact between the Chinese racer's front wing and Schumacher's right rear.

Miraculously Schumacher escaped without a puncture, and duly set about attacking Marcus Armstrong as the New Zealander moved into striking position behind Ilott. Armstrong ultimately forced his way past as Ilott's tyres began to struggle, with Schumacher able to bide his time before snatching third with a relatively safe manoeuvre. That would soon become second as Armstrong made an unforced error and slid wide, before Ilott and Drugovich dived in for their stops on laps thirteen and sixteen respectively.

Schumacher was left in control of the race and would make his stop with twelve laps to go, rejoining in sixth as Drugovich reclaimed the lead ahead of Ilott. Daruvala had moved into third during the pitwindow, and would ultimately prove to be the centre of attention in the closing stages as a charging Schumacher attacked him for third. Daruvala duly held on to complete the podium behind Drugovich and Ilott, meaning Schumacher's Championship lead at the end of the evening stood at twelve points over Ilott.

Race Twenty-Two: 2020 Bahrain Sprint Race
Shwartzman would start the Bahrain Sprint from pole position, having effectively slipped out of title contention in the Bahrain Feature, and would subsequently lose out at the start to Tsunoda and Armstrong. Yet, Shwartzman would manage to fire back past the pair of them to reclaim the lead into the first corner, before Armstrong miscalculated a lunge on Tsunoda later around the opening tour and punctured one of the Japanese's racer's tyres. Tsunoda was hence left to limp back to the pits for a fresh tyre, before the race was neutralised behind the Safety Car after Théo Pourchaire stopped as his fire extinguisher went off.

The restart saw Shwartzman instantly break clear, while Schumacher made a mistake and slid wide, allowing Daruvala and Ilott to dive down the inside. Unfortunately they would both aim for the same piece of tarmac, resulting in contact that sent Daruvala into a spin and heavy damage to Ilott's front wing. Schumacher hence retained fourth and saw his main title rival fall to the back of the field, with that knowledge seeming to remove the fight from the German youth as Piquet passed him without issue.

After a SC intervention to remove Daruvala's car the race resumed, with Shwartzman once again breaking clear to secure a dominant victory, while Armstrong fell into the sights of Mazepin as his tyres faded. Indeed, Mazepin, as well as Louis Delétraz who had stopped for medium tyres during the first SC, would make late charges up the field, with successive moves on Schumacher, Piquet and Armstrong carrying Mazepin to second. Delétraz, meanwhile, would get caught behind teammate Piquet in a fight for third after they both battled past Armstrong, only for Piquet's maiden podium hopes to be cruelly denied by an engine failure on the penultimate tour.

Round XII: 2020 Sakhir Formula 2 Round
For the finale of the 2020 season F2 would remain in Bahrain and the Bahrain International Circuit, although would instead use the alternate "Outer Circuit" on 4 - 6 December to conclude the campaign.

Race Twenty-Three: 2020 Sakhir Feature Race
Tsunoda secured pole for the final Feature Race of the campaign, as Championship leader Schumacher suffered a miserable session, claiming eighteenth after contact with Roy Nissany, although title rival Ilott could only secure ninth himself. At the start Tsunoda would launch away well onto for a distraction in his cockpit to cause him to break early for the first corner, allowing Mazepin and Shwartzman to charge either side of him to claim first and second. Further back, meanwhile, Ilott and Schumacher had both inched further up the field, although as the early laps developed Ilott in particular would struggle with his tyres.

Ilott opted to make his stop after he fell into the sights of Schumacher moments before diving into the pits, the Brit rejoining in last place as a result of his pace collapse. Mazepin and co. meanwhile, would all stop before the Brit and rejoin well ahead of him, with the rest of the field shuffling as a result of the stops. Furthermore, late stoppers would have seize the moment in the closing stages, with Zhou in particular making terrific ground in the closing stages.

As the final stops were made Tsunoda made his way into the lead, elbowing his way past Shwartzman and Mazepin before breaking away to secure victory. The Russian racers, meanwhile, would find themselves fighting with Zhou and Drugovich in the closing stages, with a double move from Zhou carrying him up to second late on. Mazepin held on to claim third ahead of Drugovich, while Ilott managed to claim sixth ahead of Schumacher to keep the title fight going into the final race.

The result would also hand Prema Racing and unassailable lead in the Teams' Championship with a race to spare.

Race Twenty-Four: 2020 Sakhir Sprint Race
Ticktum would start the season finale from pole position, as title rivals Ilott and Schumacher shared the second row of the grid, the Championship leader ahead of the Brit. Schumacher duly made a strong getaway to challenge Ticktum and Daruvala for the lead into the first corner, ultimately ending up in second behind the Brit, while Ilott opted to watch on in fourth. Daruvala then attacked Schumacher to reclaim second, with their fight culminating in Schumacher locking up and causing a flat-spot on his left front tyre.

That flat-spot would result in a visible vibration on the #20 Prema, forcing Schumacher to go on the defensive from first Daruvala and then Ilott. Daruvala would break clear after a brief VSC before hunting down and passing Ticktum for the lead, while Ilott had to wait for ten laps before breaking Schumacher's resistance. Quickfire moves from Shwartzman and Zhou would prompt Schumacher to pit, with the German racer now hoping that his teammate Shwartzman could get ahead of Ilott to ensure that the Brit was denied victory and a potential title winning points haul.

The closing stages, however, would see the fights for both the title and race victory fizzle out, with Daruvala escaping from Ticktum, while Ilott was unable to match the Indian youth's pace. Instead, the Brit would be passed by a flying Tsunoda in the closing stages, with the Japanese racer ultimately catching and passing Ticktum on the final tour to secure second behind teammate Daruvala, a result which also earned him the Anthoine Hubert Award for best rookie. Ilott, meanwhile, would fall back to tenth as his tyres faded late on, handing the title to Schumacher as the German youth ended his final F2 race down in eighteenth.

Regulations
The F2 rulebook remained fairly stable heading into the 2020 season, with the Dallara-Mecachrome F2 2018 remaining as the Championship's base car for a third season. There would, however, be a slight change to the homologation of the F2 2018, with Pirelli requesting that the Series swap to using 18" wheels in preparation for F1's planned switch to the rim size in 2021.

Technical
The F2 Championship of 2020 would see all twenty-two drivers use identical Dallara F2 2018 chassis, all powered by identical Mecachrome V634 3.4l V6t engines.

Wheels and Tyres
The only change to the technical rulebook for the 2020 season would be an increase in the rim size of the wheels on the Dallara F2 2018, as F2 moved away from the traditional 13" wheels used since the 2005 GP2 Series. For 2020 F2 would use 18" rims, which would serve as a test for Pirelli and their tyres ahead of Formula One's move to the same rim size in 2022. As a result Pirelli would update their tyre compounds and structures for the new wheels, while still providing four different compounds across the 2020 season.

Outlined below is the full range of compounds used by Pirelli, as they were marked for the 2020 FIA Formula 2 Championship: The wet tyre compound and tread pattern was identical to those used in 2019.

Pirelli would supply each driver with five sets of dry tyres and three sets of wets for each race meeting. Of the dry tyres, each driver would be issued with three sets of a harder compound and two sets of a softer compound, predetermined ahead of the race meeting by Pirelli and F2 itself. Both compounds of tyres would then have to be used during the Feature Race, unless the race was declared wet by the race director.

Sporting
There would be no major change to the sporting rulebook for the 2020 FIA Formula 2 Championship, with championship point scoring and FIA Super Licence point scoring both remaining unchanged:

Championship Points
Outlined below is a full breakdown of the point scoring system for the 2020 FIA Formula 2 Championship:
 * * The fastest lap points were only awarded to the driver who set the fastest lap in the top ten of each race.

Anthoine Hubert Award
The Anthoine Hubert Award would also be available during the 2020 Formula 2 Championship, with those drivers completing their first full F2 campaign eligible for the title. Otherwise, there were no special rules for the AH Award, with the highest placed rookie in the final Championship standings set to receive the Award at the end of the season.

FIA Super Licence Points
Outlined below is a full breakdown of the how FIA Super Licence points were distributed for the 2020 FIA Formula 2 Championship, based on final Championship position: A minimum of 40 Super Licence points, scored in the previous three seasons, are required for a driver to apply for an FIA Super Licence in order to compete in Formula One. A driver must also be over the age of 18, hold an International Grade A competition licence (required to compete in F2) and valid road car licence, complete an FIA theory test on F1 sporting regulations, and have completed two full (80% or more) seasons of an FIA accredited Championship.

2020 FIA Formula 2 Championship for Drivers
The full Championship standings from the 2020 FIA Formula 2 Championship for Drivers is outlined below:

2020 FIA Formula 2 Championship for Teams
The full Championship standings from the 2020 FIA Formula 2 Championship for Teams is outlined below: