The 2011 FIA Formula Two Championship season was the third year of the

FIA Formula Two Championship The FIA Formula 2 Championship is a second-tier single-seater championship organised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). Held on road racing, racing circuits, the championship was introduced in 2017, following the rebrandi ...

. The championship began on 17 April at

Silverstone Silverstone is a village and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is about from Towcester on the former A43 main road, from the M1 motorway junction 15A and about from the M40 motorway junction 10, Northampton, Milton Keynes and B ...

and finished on 30 October at the

Circuit de Catalunya The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya () is a motorsport race track in Montmeló, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. With long straights and a variety of corners, the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is seen as an all-rounder circuit. The track has stands ...

, after eight double-header rounds and all (excluding Silverstone) in support of

International GT Open The International GT Open is a grand tourer-style sports car racing series founded in 2006 by the Spanish GT Sport Organización. It was a spin-off of the now-defunct Spanish GT Championship, but is now a distinct series featuring FIA GT3-spec car ...

racing weekends. For most of the season, the championship battle revolved around a returning driver

Mirko Bortolotti Mirko Bortolotti (born 10 January 1990) is an Italian racing driver from Trento. He has won the Italian Formula 3 Championship in 2008, the FIA Formula 2 Championship in 2011, the Eurocup Megane Trophy in 2013 and the Blancpain GT Series Endur ...

(finished fourth in

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

and rookie driver

Christopher Zanella Christopher Zanella (born 21 October 1989) is a Swiss former racing driver. Career Formula Renault 2.0 Switzerland Zanella, born in Waldshut-Tiengen, began competing in formula racing with Formula Renault 2.0 Switzerland in 2007. In 2008 he ...

. Bortolotti took lead after win in the opening race of the season at Silverstone and did not leave him until the end of the season. The Italian secured his title and a prize test for the

Williams F1 Williams Grand Prix Engineering Limited, currently racing in Formula One as Williams Racing, is a British Formula One motor racing team and constructor. It was founded by former team owner Frank Williams and automotive engineer Patrick Head ...

team in the home race at

Monza Monza (, ; lmo, label=Lombard language, Lombard, Monça, locally ; lat, Modoetia) is a city and ''comune'' on the River Lambro, a tributary of the Po River, Po in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capit ...

with two races to spare. Bortolotti scored seven wins in a season matching 2009 Champion

Andy Soucek Andy may refer to: People *Andy (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters *Horace Andy (born 1951), Jamaican roots reggae songwriter and singer born Horace Hinds *Katja Andy (1907–2013), German-American pianist and piano ...

record and with win in 2009 at

Brno Brno ( , ; german: Brünn ) is a city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava and Svratka rivers, Brno has about 380,000 inhabitants, making it the second-largest city in the Czech Republic ...

the Italian took absolute win record in FIA Formula Two Championship. Zanella finished a second place in the standings with two wins, 123 points behind Bortolotti and just eight ahead of his nearest rival and another newcomer Ramón Piñeiro, who scored three wins. The fourth place went to Piñeiro compatriot and winner of the

's race

Miki Monrás Miquel "Miki" Monrás Albanell (born 17 January 1992 in Barcelona) is a professional Auto racing, racing driver from Spain. Career Karting Monrás began his motorsport career in karting back in 2002. In 2007, he was runner-up of the European KF ...

Drivers

Driver changes

; Entering/Re–Entering FIA Formula Two Championship *

José Luis Abadín José Luis Abadín Iglesias (born 13 March 1986 in Ourense) is a Spanish racing driver who competed in the FIA Formula Two Championship The FIA Formula 2 Championship is a second-tier single-seater championship organised by the Fédérati ...

graduated from

European F3 Open The Euroformula Open Championship (formerly the Spanish Formula Three Championship, European F3 Open Championship) is a junior formula racing series based in Spain. It was one of six national and international Formula Three championships in Europe ...

to compete in the championship. *

Alex Brundle Alex Brundle (born 7 August 1990) is a British Auto racing, racing driver and broadcaster who currently competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship with Inter Europol Competition. He was the 2016 European Le Mans Series champion (LMP3) and ...

and

Tobias Hegewald Tobias Hegewald (born 3 August 1989 in Neuwied) is a German racing driver. Career Karting Hegewald spent three seasons racing in professional karting, including a 5th place in the 2002 Junior Monaco Kart Cup at ICA Junior level, racing against ...

all returned to the championship, after competing in other series in 2010. Bortolotti and Hegewald moved back from the

GP3 Series The GP3 Series, or GP3 for short, was a single-seater motor racing series launched in 2010 as a feeder series for the GP2 Series, introduced by GP2 organiser Bruno Michel. GP3 followed the entire European leg of the Formula One series and the ...

, while Brundle will rejoin from

British Formula 3 The British Formula Three Championship was an international motor racing series that took place primarily in the United Kingdom with a small number of events in mainland Europe. It was a junior-level feeder formula that used small single seate ...

. * James Cole moved into the series from the British Formula 3 National Class.

Max Snegirev Maksim "Max" Sergeyevich Snegirev ( rus, Макси́м Серге́евич Снегирёв, p=mɐkˈsʲim sʲɪrˈɡʲejɪvʲɪtɕ sʲnʲɪɡʲɪˈrʲɵf; born 12 June 1987) is a Russian racing driver. He currently resides in London. Career ...

also joined Formula Two from the Championship Class in British Formula 3. *

Formula Renault NEC In science, a formula is a concise way of expressing information symbolically, as in a mathematical formula or a ''chemical formula''. The informal use of the term ''formula'' in science refers to the general construct of a relationship betwee ...

runner-up

Mikkel Mac Mikkel Mac Jensen (born 18 December 1992 in Nykøbing Falster) is a Danish racing driver. Career Like many other racing drivers Mac began his racing career in karting. He remained in karting until 2008. In 2009 he began his formula racing caree ...

moved into Formula Two in 2011. *

switched from GP3 Series to compete in the championship. * Sung-Hak Mun joined the championship after racing in

Formula BMW Pacific JK Racing Asia Series, formerly known as both Formula BMW Asia and Formula BMW Pacific, was a Open wheel car, single-seater racing series based in Asia. Formula BMW Asia was created in 2003 as a replacement for Asian Formula 2000 and was under th ...

in 2010. *

Thiemo Storz Thiemo Storz (born 12 October 1991 in Tettnang) is a racing driver from Germany. Career Formula Renault 2.0 After ten years in karting, Storz stepped up to single-seaters in 2008, making his debut in the Formula Renault 2.0 Italia Winter Cup. ...

moved into the championship, having missed most of 2010 due to completing his schooling and competing in the last

Formula Palmer Audi Formula Palmer Audi, officially abbreviated to FPA, and sometimes informally abbreviated to Palmer Audi, was a one-make class of open wheel Formula racing founded in 1998 by former Formula One driver, Jonathan Palmer. It was based in the United ...

season. * After finishing sixth in the

Italian Formula Three Championship The Italian Formula Three Championship was the Formula Three racing competition in Italy. History Formula Three has traditionally been regarded as the first major stepping stone for F1 hopefuls - it is typically the first point in a driver's care ...

graduated into Formula Two in 2011. ; Leaving FIA Formula Two Championship * 2010 champion

Dean Stoneman Dean Colin Stoneman (born July 24, 1990) is a British racing driver. Stoneman was the 2010 Formula Two champion. Career Like many drivers, Stoneman began his career in karting. He made his first steps in single-seaters in 2006 when he compete ...

had been due to compete with

ISR Racing ISR Racing (also known as Coca-Cola Racing Team in FIA GT) is a racing team from Czech Republic, created in 1993 by Igor Salaquarda. The team is currently competing in ADAC GT Masters. History The company was created to develop the Peugeot 30 ...

in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series in

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

, but withdrew after being diagnosed with testicular cancer. * 2010 runner-up

Jolyon Palmer Jolyon Carlyle Palmer (born 20 January 1991) is a British motorsport commentator and columnist, covering the Formula One World Championship on BBC Radio 5 and F1TV. Prior to his media career, Palmer was a racing driver and the 2014 GP2 Series ...

graduated to GP2, signing with the

Arden International Arden International is a multiple formula racing team created and run by Christian Horner and Garry Horner. It currently runs teams in the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 and F4 British Championship, and formerly ran in the FIA Formula 2 Championship ...

team. Palmer returned to Formula Two at the

Nürburgring The is a 150,000 person capacity motorsports complex located in the town of Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It features a Formula One, Grand Prix race track built in 1984, and a long "North loop" track, built in the 1920s, around t ...

, in order to gain track time ahead of the GP2 races at the circuit later in the season. *

Sergey Afanasyev Sergey Afanasyev may refer to: *Sergey Afanasyev (engineer) (1918–2001), Soviet engineer and space and defense industry executive * Sergey Afanasyev (athlete) (born 1964), Russian middle-distance runner, in 1989 European Athletics Indoor Champio ...

, who finished third in 2010 moved to

Auto GP Auto GP, sometimes referred to as the Auto GP World Series and formerly known as both Euro Formula 3000 and the Euroseries 3000, was a European formula racing series. The series' roots can be traced back to 1999 and the Italian Formula 3000 serie ...

with

DAMS A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, ...

. ;Mid-Season Changes *

Jordan King Jordan King (born 26 February 1994 in Warwick) is a British racing driver from Harbury, Warwickshire who last competed in the 2019–20 FIA World Endurance Championship. He is currently a reserve and development driver for the Mahindra Form ...

Jon Lancaster Jon Lancaster (born 10 December 1988 in Leeds) is a British auto racing driver. Career Early life and karting Lancaster was born on 10 December 1988 in Leeds, Yorkshire. He used to watch Formula One since he was three years old and always lik ...

and Fabio Gamberini joined the series during the season. Lancaster contested the Magny-Cours round, after racing in the

Formula Renault 3.5 Series The World Series Formula V8 3.5, formerly the World Series by Nissan from 1998 to 2004, the Formula Renault 3.5 Series from 2005 to 2015 and the Formula V8 3.5 in 2016 and 2017, was a motor racing series promoted by RPM Racing (1998–2004) and R ...

during the 2010 season, while King is combining his Formula Two programme with

Formula Renault UK British Formula Renault Championship referred to one of two Formula Renault championships that were held in the United Kingdom. The main series was Renault Sport UK's Formula Renault 2.0 UK championship which was held from 1989 to 2011 and was g ...

. Gamberini, a front-runner in the European F3 Open series, competed at the Nürburgring.

Calendar

An eight-round calendar was published on 3 November 2010, with an amendment made to the Magny-Cours date on 8 December 2010. The series was not part of the support package of the

World Touring Car Championship The FIA World Touring Car Championship was an international touring car championship promoted by Eurosport Events and sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). It has had several different incarnations, including a sin ...

as it had been since the series' revival. With the exception of the opening round at

, the championship was a part of

meetings.

Championship standings

A driver's best 14 scores counted towards the championship, with any other points being discarded.

References

External links

The official website of the FIA Formula Two Championship
{{Formula Two years FIA Formula Two Championship seasons FIA Formula Two season FIA Formula Two season

Formula Two Formula Two (F2 or Formula 2) is a type of open-wheel formula racing category first codified in 1948. It was replaced in 1985 by Formula 3000, but revived by the FIA from 2009–2012 in the form of the FIA Formula Two Championship. The name retur ...