Every Formula 2 driver linked to Formula One
- Liam Ploetner
- Mar 5
- 7 min read
Written by Liam Ploetner, edited by Rohan Brown
Rafael Câmara - Ferrari
The first driver on this list is reigning Formula 3 champion Rafael Câmara, (from Recife in Brazil) is a member of the Ferrari Driver Academy, being partnered with the prancing horse since 2022.
Câmara’s junior career has been very successful, with a fast rise through the feeder series ladder. He started out in Formula 4, where he finished third in the Italian championship behind Kimi Antonelli and Alex Dunne. Two seasons of European Formula Regional followed, winning the championship in his sophomore campaign.
Then the Brazilian moved up to Formula 3 with Trident. Câmara would dominate the first half of the season, winning pole for four of the first five feature races and winning three. He scored a total of three wins, five podiums and 12 points finishes in 19 races, winning the title by 42 points from Nikola Tsolov.
Now with Invicta Racing, who have won the last two Formula 2 driver’s championships, Câmara will look to fight for the title.
Joshua Dürksen - Mercedes
Paraguayan Joshua Dürksen joined Mercedes this month as a Development Driver, making him Mercedes’ sole representative in both Formula 2 or Formula 3 respectively.
Dürksen’s junior career path is different to most others, as he began racing in F4 in 2019. He remained at that level for three seasons, winning six times combined in the ADAC and Italian championships. The best finish he had in either championship was a sixth in 2021 in Italian and in 2020 in ADAC.
Two seasons followed in European Formula Regional, but neither season was successful - with only one podium.
Despite not competing in F3, Dürksen moved up to F2, following Kimi Antonelli to F2 in 2024. Like Antonelli, Dürksen had success, winning twice in his rookie season and finishing 10th in the standings. The Paraguayan was the surprise of the field. The following year he finished ninth in the standings and will race for Invicta in 2026 after leaving AIX Racing.
Ritomo Miyata - Toyota (Haas affiliation)
Ritomo Miyata is a member of the Toyota Driver Challenge Program, and thanks to a partnership between Toyota and Haas, is involved with the latter’s F1 team.
Similarly to Dürksen, Miyata’s career has been rather different to the traditional feeder series path.
Miyata, from Kanagawa in Japan, began racing professionally in 2015 in Japanese F4, winning the championship in his second season.
He moved up to Japanese F3 and was immediately competitive, finishing fourth in his first season, then second twice before finally winning it when it was rebranded to Super Formula Lights. He was promoted to Super Formula in 2021, where he slowly made a name for himself as one of Japan’s best drivers.
In 2023, Miyata won Super Formula and earned a move to Europe competing in F2, but success has been hard to come by for the Japanese driver with one podium in two seasons.
This season, he will be partnering Colton Herta at Hitech TGR.
Colton Herta - Cadillac
A member of Cadillac’s F1 programme, Colton Herta is the team’s Test and Development Driver for the 2026 season. He is already a well-known name to many, especially those in North America.
Herta, the son of ex-IndyCar race winner Bryan Herta, raced in Europe in 2015 and 2016. He had success, finishing third in British F4, but moved back to America where he competed in Indy Lights for two years, scoring six wins during his time in IndyCar’s top feeder series.
From 2019-2025, Herta raced in IndyCar full-time and became one of the series’ leading drivers. During his seven seasons in North America’s top single-seater series, he took nine race victories and finished runner-up to Alex Palou in 2024. His finest drive came in the 2022 Indianapolis road course, where he won in wet conditions from 14th on the grid.
Herta will race for Hitech TGR in his first season in Europe since 2016, and will partner Ritomo Miyata.
Nikola Tsolov - Red Bull
Red Bull’s sole F2 driver for 2026 is Nikola Tsolov, who will be driving for Campos this season, a team who previously had Arvid Lindblad and Isack Hadjar in their seats. Tsolov was originally in the Alpine Academy from 2022 to 2024, but left their junior team to join Red Bull’s.
Tsolov’s career in single-seaters began in 2022, when he dominated the Spanish F4 Championship, winning 13 of the 21 races in that championship. He moved up to F3 the following year, but success was slow initially, winning only two sprint races and a feature race in his first two seasons with ART. A third season in F3 came with Campos and he was strong, taking three poles, two wins and six podiums to finish runner-up to Rafael Câmara.
He also made his F2 debut at the end of 2025, racing in two rounds, scoring points on two occasions including a podium in the Abu Dhabi sprint.
Dino Beganovic - Ferrari
Swedish-Bosnian driver Dino Beganovic has been with Ferrari’s Driver Academy since 2020, Beganovic made his debut in single-seater racing that year.
Beganovic began in Italian F4, finishing third in his sole season in the championship with a win in Imola and podiums in Misano and Mugello. Two seasons in European Formula Regional came with eventual success. And after a difficult rookie campaign with only one podium, Beganovic won the championship in his sophomore campaign, scoring four wins.
Two consistent seasons in F3 followed where he finished sixth in both seasons, taking two wins and a further five podiums. At the end of 2024 he made his F2 debut with DAMS and impressed, scoring a podium in only his third race in the Yas Marina sprint, similarly to Tsolov a year later.
A strong rookie season came with Hitech where he finished seventh in the standings with four podiums including a win, as well as 15 points finishes.
For 2026, he will race for DAMS alongside Roman Bilinski.
Gabriele Minì - Alpine
Gabriele Minì joined Alpine’s academy in 2023, but began his single-seater career three years earlier in 2020.
Instant success came for the Italian, winning the Italian F4 championship with wins in Misano, the Red Bull Ring, Mugello and Imola.
Minì’s consistency over the following four seasons was nothing short of outstanding. In his first season of European Formula Regional he scored four podiums, finishing seventh. His second season was more successful, finishing runner-up behind Dino Beganovic. F3 was Minì’s next challenge and he scored identical results in his two seasons, finishing seventh - with four podiums again - and then finishing runner-up, losing the championship to Leonardo Fornaroli at the final corner.
A difficult rookie season came for the Italian in F2 with three podiums, despite scoring a podium in one of the two races he did in 2024 whilst covering for Ollie Bearman. For 2026 he moved from PREMA to MP Motorsport.
Mari Boya - Aston Martin
Mari Boya joined Aston Martin’s Driver Development Programme in November 2025, being their only representative in either F2 or F3.
From Catalonia, Boya began his single-seater career in F4 in 2020, finishing runner-up in the Spanish F4 championship.
A mixed few years would follow for the Catalonian, with only two podiums in two seasons of European Formula Regional, with a best finish of 10th in the drivers’ standings in his second season.
Despite this he moved up to F3, but also struggled in his first two campaigns in the series with two podiums, however one of them was a home win in the sprint race in Catalunya,
His third season of F3 would be the standout, as Boya took five podiums including a brilliant win in torrential rain at Silverstone.
For 2026, he will race for PREMA alongside Noel León in F2, earning a promotion after a successful third campaign.
Kush Maini - Alpine
Indian Kush Maini is the sole representative of his country in both F2 and F3, and has been with the Alpine academy since 2023.
Maini followed in his brother Arjun’s footsteps, debuting in single-seaters in 2016 in Italian F4. In his two seasons in the category he scored three podiums, finishing eighth in his second season. Strong form in GB3 came, racing in the series in 2018 and 2020, finishing third and second respectively.
In 2022 he stepped up to F3, racing with MP Motorsport. He took one podium in his sole season in the series, finishing 14th in the standings. He moved up to F2 the following year and had a successful maiden campaign with a podium in Melbourne. However, his last two seasons have not been as successful, despite taking two race victories including in the Monaco’s sprint race,
ART is Maini’s new home for 2026 in F2, a team he has never raced with before in his career.
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