The 2011 FIA Formula Two Championship season was the third year of the FIA Formula Two Championship. The championship began on 17 April at

Silverstone Silverstone is a village and civil parish in the West Northamptonshire unitary authority area of Northamptonshire, England. The village is about south-southwest of Towcester and northeast of Brackley, both accessed via the A43 road, A43 main ...

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 ...

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 auto racing, racing driver from Trento. He has won the Italian Formula 3 Championship in 2008, the FIA Formula Two Championship (2009–2012), FIA Formula 2 Championship in 2011, the Eurocup M� ...

(finished fourth in

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

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 w ...

. 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 Racing, legally known as Williams Grand Prix Engineering Limited and competing as Atlassian Williams Racing, is a British Formula One team and constructor. It was founded by Frank Williams (Formula One), Frank Williams (1942–2021) ...

team in the home race at

Monza Monza (, ; ; , locally ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the Lambro, River Lambro, a tributary of the Po (river), River Po, in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capital of the province of Mo ...

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

Andy Soucek Andy Christian Soucek (; born 14 June 1985) is a Spanish- Austrian professional racing driver. Career Soucek was born in Madrid, Spain. His father is an Austrian of Czech descent and his mother is French. He holds dual Austrian and Spanish nati ...

record and with win in 2009 at

Brno Brno ( , ; ) is a Statutory city (Czech Republic), city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava (river), Svitava and Svratka (river), Svratka rivers, Brno has about 403,000 inhabitants, making ...

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 Ramón Piñeiro (born 29 October 1991 in Barcelona) is a Spanish racing driver. Career Formula BMW Piñeiro began his formula racing career in 2008 in Formula BMW Europe with Fortec Motorsport. He finished twentieth in standings, taking five ...

, who scored three wins. The fourth place went to Piñeiro compatriot and winner of the

's race Miki Monrás.

Drivers

Driver changes

; Entering/Re–Entering FIA Formula Two Championship *

José Luis Abadín José Luis Abadín Iglesias (born 13 March 1986 in Ourense Ourense (; ) is a city and the capital of the province of province of Ourense, Ourense, located in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), G ...

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 Alexander Brundle (born 7 August 1990) is a British racing driver and broadcaster. He was the 2016 European Le Mans Series champion (LMP3) and is the son of Formula One driver-turned-commentator Martin Brundle. He attended Oakham School in Rutla ...

and

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

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 sea ...

. * 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 The Formula Renault Northern European Cup (formerly Formula Renault 2.0 NEC) was a Formula Renault 2.0 championship originally held in Northern Europe (Germany, Netherlands and Belgium), but has expanded over the years to the whole of Europe. Th ...

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. * Miki Monrás switched from GP3 Series to compete in the championship. * Sung-Hak Mun joined the championship after racing in Formula BMW Pacific in 2010. * Thiemo Storz 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 Unite ...

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 24 July 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 competed ...

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 ...

in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series in

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

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

Jolyon Palmer Jolyon Carlyle Palmer (born 20 January 1991) is a British former racing driver, broadcaster and journalist, who competed in Formula One from to . Since retiring from racing, Palmer has been a pundit for the BBC, Channel 4 and F1TV. Prior to ...

graduated to GP2, signing with the

Arden International Arden International, competing as Arden Motorsport, is a multiple formula racing team created and run by Christian Horner and Garry Horner. It currently competes in the GB4 Championship, and formerly ran in the FIA Formula 2 Championship, Formula ...

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 Grand Prix motor racing, Grand Prix race track built in 1984, and a long configuration, built in the 1920s ...

, in order to gain track time ahead of the GP2 races at the circuit later in the season. * Sergey Afanasyev, 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. He is currently the reserve driver for the Mahindra Formula E Team, for whom he made his Formula E debut at the 2024 Berlin ePrix. Previously, King has been a race wi ...

Jon Lancaster Jon Francis 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 from the age of three and always li ...

and Fabio Gamberini joined the series during the season. Lancaster contested the Magny-Cours round, after racing in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series 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 ge ...

. 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 sing ...

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) is a type of Open-wheel car, open-wheel formula racing category first codified in 1948. It was replaced in 1985 by Formula 3000, but revived by the FIA from 2009 FIA Formula Two Championship season, 2009 to 2012 FIA Formula Two C ...