F2 Chasing The Dream

1. F2 Chasing The Dream Episode 4
2. F2 Chasing The Dream Movie
3. F2 Tv
4. F2 Chasing The Dream Youtube
5. F2 Chasing The Dream Book

Formula 1 (F1) has announced the release of a brand-new behind the scenes five-part docuseries titled ‘F2: Chasing the Dream’. The series, which is currently available through F1TV, invites fans into last season’s 2019 FIA Formula. F2 Chasing the Dream. F2 Chasing the Dream. Is season 2 going to be a thing or was that a one off? Links to all 5 episodes of F2: Chasing The Dream will be available to watch from midnight on the morning of 2nd of January.

Taking a page from the successful documentary series “Formula 1: Drive to Survive” on Netflix — which Circuit of The Americas cited as a driving force behind increased ticket sales for its U.S. Grand Prix last year — F1’s principal support series now has a docuseries of its own. “F2: Chasing the Dream,” a five-part series offering a behind-the-scenes look at the 2019 FIA Formula 2 Championship, is available for a limited time starting today exclusively on F1 TV Pro and F1 TV Access, F1’s streaming subscription service.

The series features all 10 Formula 2 teams and their drivers in a season full of dramatic highs and tragic lows. Like “Drive to Survive,” the new show’s focus is on the personalities of the sport rather than the racing itself.

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At the end of August, I set off from Newcastle to London, from London to Brussels, and then more kilometres by coach to visit my first European Grand Prix, at the Circuit Spa Francorchamps in Belgium. I’d specifically chosen Spa because of the pull of having not only the Formula 1 racing at such a beautiful and exciting track, but also two feeder series that weekend – F2 and F3. Both categories fiercely competitive, some incredibly close wheel-to-wheel racing, and always the chance of seeing the next future F1 star in the making.

You likely already know the tragic events that happened during the Formula 2 feature race, on Saturday 31st August 2019. The race start was delayed from 16:45 local time to 17:00 due to some red flags in the F1 qualifying. I was sat in the free grandstand at the fan zone, high enough in the block that I had a perfectly clear view of the top of Raidillon. 17:00 came, the race started without any hitches. Lap one came and went very quickly. During the second lap, from Eau Rouge to Raidillon and towards the Kemmel Straight a series of incidents happened, ultimately leading to the crash between BWT Arden’s Anthoine Hubert and the Charouz of Juan Manuel Correa. Neither driver able to do anything to avoid the impact. The race was stopped at 17:07 local time, Hubert later declared to have succumbed to his injuries at 18:35. Correa’s media team released a statement a few hours after the accident confirming that he had suffered fractures to both of his legs and a minor spinal injury. Around a week later, he had to be placed into an induced coma due to respiritory distress, and for a while it looked bleak for him. Thankfully he was strong enough to pull through, although he faces a long while on the sidelines and many more surgeries before it is known if he will race again.

Being at this event and seeing the impact it had on the racing community really hit me hard. When I heard some months later that Formula 2 were making a docuseries covering the paddock, drivers, community and the loss of Hubert, I knew this was something I needed to watch, no matter how painful. The success of F1’s Netflix series Drive to Survive had created a buzz, and everyone wanted to see how these young drivers were pushing themselves to the limit, to achieve their ultimate goal of being a F1 driver.

On January 2nd 2020 the docuseries was released via F1’s own streaming platform, F1TV (a subscription is required, but access level is sufficient to see the episodes). In five parts, each around 25-30 minutes long, it covers all 10 teams, 20 drivers (to varying degrees) – showing behind the scenes footage, interviews with drivers, team managers and paddock staff amongst others.

Episode 1 starts with a an explanation of what the series is about, as well as explaining for those unfamiliar with a F2 race weekend what the format is: qualifying, feature race, sprint race, reverse grid pole and points system all covered. The importance of feeder series to Formula 1 is reinforced by Ross Brawn, as they show a variety of drivers who have won the series in its various formats and gone on to race for F1 teams.

A heavy focus on Mick Schumacher (son of 7 time F1 World Champion Michael) and the media frenzy around his promotion from F3, Campos Racing’s Jack Aitken also a regular throughout the series as he explains that drivers have to do much more that simply turn up and get in the car. Nicholas Latifi and DAMS show early on that they are out to win championships with a feature race win in Bahrain. The feature race clips show a spectacular win for Luca Ghiotto for UNI Virtuosi in their first race, after taking over from Russian Time. We visit Sneek in Netherlands, as the cameras follow ART driver Nyck De Vries home as he explains that he is gunning for the championship.

As we move to Baku, we see Jack Aitken win the feature race – fending off De Vries and Jordan King of MP Motorsport. For the sprint race, Nikita Mazepin (ART) and Juan Manuel Correa (Charouz) lined up on the front thanks to the reverse grid, Correa eventually hanging on to take second place behind Latifi. A brief interview with Correa shows him talk about support he’s had from people hoping he’s the next American F1 star, as well as how he hopes to pick up good enough results to qualify for a FIA Super Licence. Knowing what happens a few short months later, this filled me with a wave of sadness.

A focus on UNI Virtuosi sees Luca Ghiotto and Chinese rookie Guanyu Zhou introduced, team owner Declan Lohan saying how impressed they are that Zhou has been able to catch up to the more experienced drivers so quickly into his first season, Zhou explaining that he’s aiming to the the first Chinese F1 driver with the help of his team and the Renault Sport Academy he’s a part of – and in Barcelona he scored his first podium finish in third place. The episode ends as we head into the Monaco race weekend, the focus being on Hubert and Zhou as rookies.

Episode 2 personally was a difficult one for me to watch, with much of the focus being on Anthoine Hubert and his sprint race wins in Monaco and at his home race in France. We are introduced to his girlfriend Julie, his mother and father, as well as brother Victhor. After a feature race disqualification for Ghiotto, Hubert would start the sprint race from reverse grid pole. If you’ve not been fortunate enough to see the race in full, or extended highlights, I would highly recommend trying to find it on Youtube. The pressure he absorbs from Louis Deletraz over time was unbelievable. Side by side over the line, a drag race to the finish line! Seeing Anthoine’s family watching on a TV at the track, the stresses, the relief and celebrations at the end… beautiful. Victory by less than a tenth of a second, his first win in Formula 2. His celebration stoood on top of his car, arms aloft now forever etched in my mind as one of the greatest photos I’ve seen. His victory in Le Castellet’s sprint race, with people waving drapeau français and La Marseillaise playing he said was a really proud moment for him. I thought it was the start of something really special.

Watching this episode I learned a lot about Guanyu Zhou, including his love of shoes! He says he picks which shoes he wants to wear first, and then builds the outfit around that. He says it’s good to see Lewis Hamilton displaying an interest in fashion also and bringing his fashion ideas to the F1 paddock.

During Episode 3 the championship battle intensifies as the season approaches the summer break. Silverstone is the first race covered, a home race for Jack Aitken. Zhou gets his first pole, and a huge boost from his team who are massively impressed with his performances. The Silverstone feature race was a brilliant one, another to watch if you can find it online. We get a potted history of Jack Aitken, complete with childhood photos from when he started karting at the age of 7. Jack tells us about the support he’s had from Renault, and how they held faith with him when he was having some difficult times around 2017 by giving him access to the F1 car for the rookie test. He goes into detail about the thrill of racing, the adrenaline rush and the ‘need for speed’ – but confirms that everyone knows the risks involved, and that ‘it could all end badly’, they’ve all had bad accidents at one point or another in their careers. This would go on to be a tale heard over and over after the accident at Spa, following the summer break. Although everyone is aware of the risks, I don’t think anyone expected to see their worst nightmare manifest itself.

At the other end of the drivers’ championship the focus moves to BWT Arden’s Tatiana Calderon, and her dream of wanting to be the next female star of Formula 1. She knows the odds are against her as there’s only 20 places, and it’s been 45 years since the last female driver in a race, but she explains that it motivates her to work towards that goal.

Hungary is the last section of the episode prior to moving into the summer break, watching Mick Schumacher win his first F2 race,

Episode 4. Where to start. Before watching, I’d recommend you get some tissues and a glass of water, for the inevitable tears you’ll shed, and to ease your dry mouth. This is an intense, raw, incredibly well made tribute to the late Anthoine Hubert. Starting reflectively, with footage of commentator Alex Jacques on board with the drivers’ parade around Spa Francorchamps. Chatting to Hubert, who is laughing and smiling, Alex asks Anthoine what he thinks of the atmosphere around the track. Anthoine replies “everything is amazing here, the fans, the place… the track itself… everything is nice. I’m really enjoying it, really happy to come every year back to Spa.” Anthoine grins when Alex suggests he may be able to work some reverse grid magic.

Formula 2 CEO Bruno Michel says that the weekend in Spa was the toughest weekend he’s had. Alexa Quintin, F2 Head of Communications says that it felt like everything went quiet at the point of the accident – and that time stopped. I can say that this is something I also felt, the atmosphere at the track changed in seconds and suddenly the seriousness of what we’d just seen began to sink in. I felt like I was walking in quicksand or cement when I was trying to get back to the coach. Everyone was silent, everyone was in disbelief.

While there’s obviously no footage of the crash, or the damage to the cars (thankfully), there’s high emotion throughout the episode as they show the paddock surrounding Hubert’s distinctive pink helmet, with his mother and brother present. An outpouring of grief I hoped I’d never have to witness. Interviews which were filmed earlier in the year with Anthoine’s brother and father confirm they first bought him a babykart at age 3. We hear from Anthoine that his hero and inspiration was Alain Prost – what is jarring is that the next comment is from Prost himself, about how shocked he was and how he remembers him as a ‘clever, intelligent and nice kid’. Renault F1 team boss Cyril Abiteboul speaks highly of Anthoine. At one point, we find out from Prost that only on the day of the crash that Renault had agreed to help Anthoine with a plan to get him to F1.

BWT Arden team boss Kenny Kirwan tells us that Anthoine used his intelligence to think of all kinds of things outside of the box – even down to advising the mechanics on better foods to eat for performance.

As we’re brought back to the present, we see the five lights come on, then go out for the start of the feature race at Spa. We hear Kenny Kirwan over the tv footage say that “everyone expects to send a car out and recieve a car and driver back, it’s a given”. Lap one footage continues as Alex Jacques and Alain Prost speak, and then we see the start of the second lap. I should explain at this point that I had to pause the episode for a short while following this part. We see footage of Esteban Ocon, Renault’s 2020 driver and friend of Anthoine’s, watching the race on TV in what I believe is the Mercedes motorhome with Martin Brundle. Ocon’s mouth falls open as he says “…oh my god. The car is in two parts… holy shit”. Brundle says that there’s more than one car in there… Esteban asks in French if it’s Anthoine, and he recieves confirmation that it is. The camera pans away from Ocon and shows a shot of Brundle looking over towards Ocon, full of concern. He would know from racing years ago of the dangers, and experienced deaths and injuries to others in his career. It appears to be the face of a man who knows what he has just witnessed is likely to be fatal. The widely circulated clip of Lewis Hamilton in the media pen following F1’s qualifying session is shown, where Lewis sees the crash on the big screens around the paddock and exclaims “ay ay ay… I hope that kid’s good.” He ends all media commitments, clearly shocked from the impact of what he’s seen.

The next sentence is what broke me… from Kenny Kirwan. “Pepe, his engineer was trying to communicate to him on the radio, and you don’t get a response.”

Tatiana Calderon, Hubert’s friend and team mate, is asked what she remembers of the accident – she recalls that she was behind him. In doing so, her voice cracks, and she breaks down in tears as she recalls seeing the whole thing happen.

Juan Manuel Correa recalls events from his perspective, how everything happened so quickly he couldn’t process what was happening. As we see ambulances driving up the track, I recall the chilling feeling I had seeing ambulance after ambulance go up Eau Rouge, into Raidillon and disappear further down around the corner, out of my line of sight. There must have been at least five, maybe more, just in the time I was there. When they announced that the session would not be restarted, I think everyone realised the severity of the situation. I waited in the grandstand for news, probably knowing in the back of my mind that we wouldn’t hear anything for ages. I didn’t know what to do with myself. I wanted to stay to listen to the announcements, for the few that had been in English, or that I could understand bits of in my poor French. Part of me wanted to just get out of there because I was panicking.

Alexa Quintin recalls that she was stopped in the paddock by Victhor, Anthoine’s brother, who she tried to reassure. Victhor was trying to find a way to the medical centre. Kenny Kirwan bravely states that he had to gather everyone in the team together, on Anthoine’s side of the garage, they closed the door and it was his responsibility to break the bad news to everyone. The outpouring of grief for the loss of such a bright young talent was monumental.

F2 Chasing The Dream Episode 4

The silence held before the F3 race was incredibly difficult. I recall ugly crying throughout and for a while afterwards. I had actually contemplated whether I would return to the circuit for the Sunday, I didn’t feel as though I could. I knew in the back of my mind that if I didn’t go I would regret it, as a chance to pay my respects, but going through that gate on Sunday morning was one of the hardest things I’ve done. I almost missed my coach from Brussels to the track because I was sat on my hotel bed, wondering what to do. The applause on lap 19 of the Grand Prix, for Hubert’s race number, was special. Race winner Charles Leclerc, a good friend of Hubert’s, dedicated his first Formula 1 victory to Anthoine. Around the paddock, you saw people displaying ‘Racing for Anthoine’ stickers on cars, helmets and steering wheels. It was an incredibly emotional day, one which I am now proud to have attended to pay my respects.

I cannot even begin to imagine how hard it was for the teams, drivers and paddock staff to go straight from that tragic weekend to Monza, just a few days later. Alexa explains that she sent some messages to teams and drivers saying the door to her office was open, for a shoulder to cry on or just some quiet time. She sounded quite taken back that she recieved replies saying that they were also here for her, because they realised it was not easy for her to lose a driver. Calderon states that it was difficult to get back in the car, a feeling I’m sure many of the drivers shared. It was a beautiful gesture by the drivers on the podium at Monza who wore Renault caps displaying Anthoine’s signature, taking a French flag to the podium and as I recall from TV footage the French anthem was played.

F2 Chasing The Dream Movie

Focusing on the recovery of Correa, we see videos of him trying to stand and walk for the first time following major surgeries to try to repair his foot. His tenacity is incredible.

F2 Tv

Finally, for this episode, we are reminded that when the season ended, Hubert was the only rookie to have two race wins. He scored 77 points, all of the points HWA Arden achieved for the season, and finished the season in 10th place on the drivers championship. I feel incredibly proud to say that I was a fan of Anthoine Hubert (was? still am?). Whilst I had known of him only towards the end of his GP3 championship, when he entered F2 he immediately won me over with his sense of humour, his obvious talent and the clear respect he had for his fellow drivers. I will always miss him.

Episode 5, the final episode, focused on the final two rounds of the season in Russia and Abu Dhabi. The title battle between De Vries and Latifi was still ongoing, although De Vries was ahead by a margin and eventually won the championship in Russia following a victory in the feature race. Luca Ghiotto reveals that he won’t be continuing further in F2 for more seasons. Nicholas Latifi is confirmed as a Williams F1 driver for 2020, along side George Russell. Nobuharu Matsushita’s scary crash in the Russian sprint race features, the impact of which left him in hospital but thankfully with no serious injuries. De Vries confirms that he will be taking a different route for his career, moving to Mercedes EQ in Formula E. Wrapping up the season, we return to speak to Juan Manuel Correa again for an update on his recovery, and he attributes much of the strength shown in his fight for his life to wanting to fight because he knew his parents were by his side. Guanyu Zhou is confirmed to have won the newly created F2 ‘Anthoine Hubert Rookie of the Year’ award, handed to him by Hubert’s brother Victhor at a ceremony in Monaco.

F2 Chasing The Dream Youtube

Thoughts? I feel like the episodes could potentially have been longer, as some drivers were barely shown or not shown at all (Callum Illot and Louis Deletraz were barely in it, others like Guiliano Alesi not at all, and nothing mentioned of the driver changes mid season). It could have benefitted from some explanation perhaps of why drivers had changed mid season, be it for personal reasons, financial reasons, sponsorship reasons etc. However, that’s just my personal opinion. The way it was filmed was excellent, I really enjoyed the small pieces away from the track where drivers and others were interviewed in their homes or other locations. I really warmed more to Luca Ghiotto, who I knew very little of and he tends to come across as a very serious guy – however, after seeing this I know that he’s funny and seems like a lovely person. I just want to give both Alex Jacques and Alexa Quintin a massive hug, the weekend at Spa was incredibly difficult for all concerned but their professionalism at this time was a credit to themselves. And Kenny Kirwan… what a lovely guy.

F2 Chasing The Dream Book

Have you seen it yet? What did you think?