Formula 2: Sunday's race cancelled due to bad weather

      Victor Martin became Formula 3 champion three years ago, after which he moved to F2, but he cannot repeat his success in this series, although the French racer, a participant in the Alpine youth program, has been competing for the ART team for the third season and still shows quite decent speed.

      Another confirmation of this was his pole position at the first stage of the season in Australia. As promised, Sunday morning in Melbourne turned out to be rainy, and Victor certainly hoped that experience would allow him to succeed even in these difficult conditions.

      Richard Fershor, an equally experienced rider, started from the second position, and he probably had his own plans for the upcoming race, but something went wrong for the Dutchman even before the start. There were some problems with his orange car with tail number 6, which caused the start to be postponed.

      For an extra 10 minutes, the drivers were soaked in the rain on the starting field, waiting for the MP Motorsport team to sort out Fershor's car, and in the meantime, the stewards' decision became known: Richard received a penalty pass through the pit lane, although the race had not even started yet.

      The rain was getting heavier and it was realized that the start should in any case be given behind the safety car in order to reduce the risk of incidents on the first lap. The track was flooded with water, and commentators expressed doubts that the race would start on time – even from the outside it was clear that the conditions in Albert Park were completely unsuitable for motorsport competitions.

      Nevertheless, the peloton went to the formation lap, and at that time the decision of the race management became known: it is impossible to start, it is too dangerous. Red flags were posted and the peloton returned to the pit lane. The weather radar showed that the rain of this intensity would last for at least another half hour.

      And then a strange incident occurred: Alex Dunne, a Rodin Motorsport racer and a member of the McLaren youth program, stopped at the entrance to the pit lane, his car stalled, blocking the way for the others who were driving behind him. After a while, these drivers had to turn off their engines, and the marshals had to push these few cars to get them back to the pit lane.

      Since it was not clear when the start might be given, or at least an attempt to start, most of the riders got out of their cars, but some chose to stay in the cockpit. For example, Arvid Lindblad, a participant in the Red Bull youth program, decided so, and watching what was happening around, he said on the radio: "I don't know if you saw ducks in the 2nd turn of the track? This kind of weather suits them perfectly."

      The race management announced its decision: the formation lap starts at 12.04 p.m. local time, i.e. more than half an hour later than originally expected. At the same time, it did not seem that the rain had become lighter, i.e. the track was completely flooded with rain, but the riders returned to the cockpits of their cars.

      But no one was surprised when it became known that the launch was postponed for another 10 minutes. On the radar screen, it was clear that the highway was almost at the epicenter of the storm, although the rain front seemed to be gradually shifting to the side.

      Meanwhile, a green Aston Martin crossover, the FIA medical vehicle, continued to drive along the track to get a more accurate picture of the condition of the surface. And this condition did not bode well, so the start was postponed once again.

      At the same time, it was also impossible to postpone it indefinitely, since this could disrupt the rest of Sunday's schedule, and this could not be allowed unless absolutely necessary.

      Another decision of the race management became known that if the start is still given, the race distance will be reduced to 12 laps. The peloton finally went to the track for the safety car, and it happened about an hour after the initial start time.

      And then Oliver Goethe's car turned around on the track, even at a relatively low speed, at which the peloton went for the safety car, and this also spoke about the difficult conditions in which it was necessary to pilot. Therefore, red flags were posted on the track again and the peloton moved towards the pit lane for the second time. After all, safety comes first.

      And almost immediately it became known that the race was finally canceled. Presumably, to the chagrin of some of its participants, first of all Victor Martin, who, when starting from pole position, could well bring the race to victory in any conditions.

      How the Formula 2 management is going to compensate for the cancellation of the main race of the first stage of the season is not yet clear, we will wait for additional information. But according to the plan, the next stage should take place only in four weeks, on April 12-13, in Bahrain.