Long read | Van Amersfoort Racing in F2 and F3: 'Fairly nice start'

For Van Amersfoort Racing, 2022 is totally unlike last season. Since this year the Dutch race team are also active in Formula 2 and Formula 3 and that means a lot of organisational changes. The first Grand Prix weekends are behind us and so GPblog spoke with Frits van Amersfoort about how he has experienced the past months.

"It's busier than ever of course. Rob (Niessink, CEO) and I have to manage five teams. That's not easy," explains team owner Frits. Until last season Van Amersfoort Racing was only active in the Formula Regional, Euroformula Open and the Italian/German Formula 4, but in the meantime, the portfolio has expanded considerably.

Van Amersfoort Racing grows considerably

The Dutch racing team has gone from fifty to eighty staff members and there is a lot involved in that. "In general, there are always some problems with that. Personnel are a problem in the normal economy and it's no different in motor racing. We're talking about completely new teams, a number of people are brought in and of course, it takes a while for them to get used to each other and really form a team. With such large groups of people it's normal," says a sober Van Amersfoort.

VAR has taken over the license from HWA Racelab in both race classes. Some former employees of theirs are now employed by the formation based in Zeewolde. "The people we thought were the best, we took out. But we also have new ones and our own staff. You throw that into a mortar, so to speak, then you pound a few times and it should be a team. That never works out, especially at the beginning of the season. Then you have some tensions here and there when mistakes are made, but that's normal."

Teamwork is 'key' within Formula 2 and Formula 3. That takes time, says Frits van Amersfoort

Formula 4 takes "quite a beating"

Although Van Amersfoort Racing is new to Formula 2 and returned to Formula 3 after years of absence, most of the team's work is currently in Formula 4, a class where they have more than earned their stripes in recent seasons. Several Red Bull juniors like the promising Jak Crawford and Oliver Bearman (now a Ferrari junior) were still racing for VAR in 2020.

"We're getting quite a few hits there," Frits says honestly. It's partly to do with the Russian invasion of Ukraine in early February. "That's where it started because we lost our best driver with Nikita Bedrin from Russia. He seemed to be well on his way to breaking through this year, but we had to let him go. We have two big names with Badoer and Fittipaldi, but they can't yet match the qualities of their fathers."

No F4 cars to race with

The second, even more important, reason that Van Amersfoort and his team are having serious start-up problems is that car manufacturer Tatuus did not deliver the car on time. VAR decided not to race the first race of the year in Abu Dhabi. "You have to make choices, we already had quite a lot on our plate with F2 and F3. That choice ended up coming back pretty hard. The teams that did participate in those just got their cars, but for the European season we didn't get the cars delivered."

Of necessity, Van Amersfoort Racing had to miss the first race of the F4 championship. "That's not nice for your customers either, pitiful actually. You're running a lot of test kilometres behind. We are not fast enough yet. Now the whole team has to test like crazy. Those guys are on the road for over five weeks and that's only because of a lack of cars. Tatuus may have made too much hay. They had to build 400 cars in one winter, and they made a hopeless mistake," says Frits.

Little preparation time for VAR

Back to Formula 3. At the Dutch formation, they are mostly satisfied. "We've done pretty well so far. In Bahrain we had pole and in Imola we won the sprint race. In F3 you have few kilometres to practice, so the drivers have to be spot-on in qualifying. If you qualify top-five, then you are in a good position and then it depends on how you handle your tyres."

Also for Formula 2, with one free practice session on the track, there is limited time to prepare for the weekend. Testing outside the race weekends is also not allowed. "You need a lot of experience, but we don't really have that," says Frits about the F2 adventure. "We have two compounds and you only have forty minutes to build up your complete know-how for the rest of the weekend. You don't get enough chances to build up that know-how, basically just not. I think it's an exciting class, but it's tough."

Van Amersfoort Racing enjoys the adventure in Formula 2 and Formula 3 every day, but experience comes with time.

Simulation work is especially important, but Formula 2 logically requires a very different simulator than Formula 4. "We are just still working on that. It takes a while to catch up with that." Analysing the Pirelli rubber is incredibly difficult. "You can analyse that tyre very poorly because you never have it in your hands. On Sunday you have to hand everything back in, you don't get a single tyre. Laboratory analysis is not possible, it's difficult."

Cordeel has to get used to it

Next to Jake Hughes, Amaury Cordeel sits in the F2 car of Van Amersfoort. The Belgian is only nineteen years old, which makes him a lot younger than many other drivers in Formula 2. Where Hughes already managed to gather fourteen points, Cordeel is one of the three F2 drivers who are still without points. "The experienced guy is of course Jake, but he is not super experienced either. Cordeel brings in quite a lot of sponsor money and as a team you have to be in the black, but I think Cordeel is undervalued. F2 is also just a class where you have to drive for two or three years, you have to start once."

In Imola, Cordeel experienced a lousy weekend, as in one fell swoop he is only three demerits on his license away from a race suspension. "He got a couple of track limits, so he received a lot of penalty points at once. He's on the penalty spot in that respect, but Cordeel is very focused, and very serious. You just see that if you don't have that experience, then it's definitely not easy," said Van Amersfoort, who of necessity is already looking at what his team will do should Cordeel be suspended. "We're kind of making a reserve list though, we're not quite there yet. "

Monaco GP was a disaster

In any case, the Monaco Grand Prix was one to forget quickly for Van Amersfoort. "That was a nightmare of course or rather: we didn't even have time for a nightmare. The team saw very little of the bed." Jake Hughes seemed quick on his feet in qualifying, but he took a big hit."Surprisingly, Jake was pretty fast, but unfortunately, he thought he could do more and that went horribly wrong. I think everyone saw the footage. The result was a whole new car. We had to build the monocoque, engine and gearbox in 24 hours. And with such a complex car, that's quite a challenge."

Jake Hughes wrote off his entire VAR car after a hard crash in qualifying!

Van Amersfoort is proud that his team was able to appear at the start with two cars. "The guys worked like animals and it worked out." Points were unfortunately not scored. "There's not much time to lick the wounds. This morning both cars and all other equipment are on their way to Milan to be shipped to Baku.

Zandvoort, but no F1 for Van Amersfoort Racing

Van Amersfoort is curious about the highlight of 2022: the first weekend of September. Then both Formula 2 and Formula 3 will be in action during the Dutch Grand Prix. "It is of course a special weekend. On the one hand, we are looking forward to it, on the other hand, it is also quite exciting. It's going to be a challenge," he says. "It's going to be something. For the first time, we are performing [in F2 and F3] there as well. We all still have last year's Grand Prix in our minds. To be part of that, of course, is super cool. To be honest, it's also very exciting."

Recently a rumour appeared that a Formula 2 team might be interested in an F1 entry. Does Van Amersfoort Racing have any bad dreams? "No. I do know that we are not," Frits immediately breaks into laughter. At Van Amersfoort they are going to try to become a top team in both entry classes in the coming years, further, expansion is not being targeted. "For an F2 team it is a bridge too far I think. But ultimately it has to do with money and in motorsport, you can open any door that is still closed."