French junior outfit DAMS has hit out at the FIA Formula 2 Championship over ‘unacceptable’ reliability issues which have plagued the cars throughout the 2020 season.
F2 moved to a new engine and chassis combination for the 2018 campaign, but since the switch reliability of the new 3.4L V6 Turbo engine has been a major issue for all the teams.
In the maiden season for the Dallara F2-18, several drivers encountered clutch issues, before efforts were made to rectify this during the season.
However since that inaugural campaign the Mecachrome engines have been highly unreliable.
“These issues cannot continue in such a championship, with the budgets required to participate and be competitive. It is simply unacceptable,” said DAMS Managing Director François Sicard.
“Every team on the grid has had far too many problems out of their control since the beginning of the season. Overall reliability is urgently needed.
“This is a very competitive championship which has the potential to be great, but it is now up to the organisers and their suppliers to solve all these issues once and for all.”
DAMS’ Dan Ticktum won the Italian F2 Sprint Race but pulled over to the side of the track on the cooldown lap just after the first chicane with concerns over fuel left in the tank.
The British driver was subsequently disqualified for not having enough fuel in the tank at the end of the race, only being able to provide a 0.05kg sample instead of the 0.8kg required by the regulations.
“This fuel tank problem has been known to the championship organisers and their suppliers for several races,” added Sicard.
“The tank in Dan’s car was serviced three races ago, but we still had an issue. We had the right quantity of fuel for the race, in fact we put too much in as a safety margin and it’s a miracle we finished.
“Over 12 races, the #1 car had six DNFs due to engine-related issues and now, like many other teams, we have problems with the fuel tank and our case has been the most extreme.
“We finished the race but the fuel leak meant we failed scrutineering for something that is totally unrelated to the driver, the team and the engineers, who did their jobs well and properly calculated the fuel quantity.
“This has deprived Dan and DAMS of a great victory having dominated the entire race, and I understand why he is as gutted as we are.”
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