Written by Meghana Sree, Edited by Tarun Suresh
Is it really worth becoming a Formula 2 World Champion currently? The entire premise of Formula 2 is to act as a direct stepping stone to Formula 1. Logically, a championship win in this feeder series should lead to a slam-dunk seat in F1.
However, if we look at the evidence, the last F2 Champion who scored a much-coveted seat in F1 was Oscar Piastri. Even in this case, the Australian had to wait a year after his F2 title to secure a drive for the McLaren F1 team. All things considered, Mick Schumacher is the last driver to make the direct leap from F2/GP2 to F1 without an interim arrangement.
The most recent F2 champions, Théo Pourchaire (2023) and Felipe Drugovich (2022); are left floating between reserve driver roles and other motorsport series as they continue to dream of joining F1 in the future.
On the other hand, drivers who have yet to even complete their rookie season in F2, who haven’t won the F2 or Formula 3 championship, or aren’t even close to leading the standings as of now are being promoted to the pinnacle of racing.
Although these drivers are immensely talented and have proven why they deserve to be in F1, it begs the question, what then is the point of winning the F2 championship if it doesn’t guarantee an immediate place in F1?
Alpine recently announced that Jack Doohan, who has two years of experience in F2 but no champion titles, will be completing their lineup of 2025 drivers, an announcement that had been apparent yet was divisive. Many felt that drivers like Schumacher or even Victor Martins were more deserving of the Alpine seat.
Similarly, Oliver Bearman and Kimi Antonelli were promoted to F1 for 2025, and the latter is only in his first-ever season of F2.
This isn’t to discredit either Doohan, Bearman, or Antonelli of their performances and talent, but it again raises a doubt – is the F2 title not worthy enough of an F1 seat?
With teams leaning more towards nurturing young talents of their own as a part of junior driver academies, directly promoting them to their respective F1 teams once these young drivers start showing potential, some drivers’ hard work in the F2 seasons is left under-appreciated.
Amidst the undeniable hype around those such as Antonelli or Bearman, it’s easy to forget the likes of Isack Hadjar, Paul Aron, or Gabriel Bortoleto, the current frontrunners of the F2 Championship, with the former the lead.
These drivers are currently far from conversations regarding the remaining F1 seats for 2025 and beyond despite being as experienced as Logan Sargeant was when he was being considered for the Williams F1 seat towards the end of 2022.
Another frustrating case is that of Liam Lawson, who, despite having proven himself numerous times as worthy of an F1 drive, is still only the reserve driver for Red Bull Racing and the RB Formula One Team.
With Sergio Perez’s performance in Red Bull not up to par and a seat still vacant next to Yuki Tsunoda, it remains to be seen whether Lawson will finally land a permanent spot on the F1 grid or not.
All these instances go on to show that it’s a driver’s internal ties with a team combined with that team’s close monitoring and personal judgement of a driver’s abilities that ultimately matters more than their level of performance in F2 or even F3.
Somewhere down the line, this ebb in the value of an F2 title changed the way rookies were inducted into F1, making it much more difficult for drivers without the unanimous support of junior driver academies to challenge for a seat.
Furthermore, the rule of F2 champions not being allowed to return for another season creates another bottleneck in the careers of these drivers, who then have to branch out to other racing series. Pourchaire stands as an example, who dipped his toes into the NTT IndyCar Series with Arrow McLaren after his 2023 F2 title win.
Fundamentally, teams must restore the merit of winning an F2 title. One way to address this situation is to ensure that teams with an open seat must automatically promote deserving F2 champions for their team if they know these rookies can be relied upon, given the risk of cost caps and fewer testing opportunities.
After a debut season or a decent number of races, if they feel the driver is not performing as required, they can be allowed to drop that driver in favour of other options.
This way, F2 champions at least get the sense of reaching the final rung in the ladder to F1. They get their chance, and if it doesn’t work out in any case, they know they tried.
Another solution to accommodate fresh talent without compromising on existing drivers is the introduction of new F1 teams such as Andretti, which can help even out the disproportionate number of F2 champions or standout junior drivers who have yet to secure a seat at the top.
Finally, F1 is exploring the idea of a rookie Sprint race to be held after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, which could massively help young drivers and junior series champions showcase their skills in a bid to enter F1 long-term.
If this plan is followed through, it could help F2 champions acquire more incentives and would definitely be an opportunity for them to stand out.
Looking at the bigger picture, this influx in the number of contenders for an F1 promotion can only bode well for the future of the sport.
With plenty of new blood to choose from and more drivers in F2, F3, and F1 Academy aspiring to reach F1 by proving they’re the best of the best, we’re in store for a dynamic driver market and even more exciting racing on track.
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