IT HAS been a tough start for Olli Caldwell as he gets to grips to life in Formula 2 motor racing.

The Farnham driver’s debut in the ultra-competitive grade of racing was beset by mechanical problems at the Bahrain International Circuit.

Olli, who has been signed by the Alpine Academy, experienced the softer compound tyre for the first time. In free practice he was in the top ten, but was 17th in qualifying for the sprint race.

In the race itself he managed his engine and kept his nose clean but having fought his way to what would have been a strong finish, he was dealt some last-lap heartbreak as his engine gave out in the final moments, causing him to pull up beside the circuit in a plume of smoke.

He finished 17th in the feature race and admitted: “Overall it was not our weekend – but we can take positives from the way we were running as high as tenth place, which is better than we anticipated.”

The F2 paddock moved to the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in Saudi Arabia for the second round of racing, on a 6.174km street circuit in the Corniche coastal resort overlooking the Red Sea, and boasting tight walled straights and fast-paced corners.

Practice was cut short as drivers made errors and collided heavily with the wall, and he finished the session in sixth place.

In qualifying under the floodlights, Olli was extracting the most out of his Campos machine but a number of red flag periods just came at the wrong time for the 19-year-old as his opportunities to improve were cut short.

With a few penalties handed out for drivers deemed to impede laps, his 17th grid spot for Saturday’s sprint race was demoted to 19th.

The race was hampered by a series of collisions and the pack was bunched together behind the safety car for much of the race. Crossing the line in 16th place, he was later promoted to 14th.

In the feature race the strategy was to maintain his tyres for as long as possible, holding out hope that a safety car would gift him a free pit stop.

But surprisingly the race was largely uneventful – and when he took to the pit lane for fresh tyres, his position slipped to 16th.