Is Formula 2 Failing?
Formula 2 originally formed under the name GP2 in 2005, established by the ‘famous’ Flávio Briatore and Bruno Michel (who’s still the current managing director), with the backing of then F1 boss, Bernie Ecclestone. In 2017 they rebranded to F2, but the idea remained unchanged. The purpose of GP2 / F2 was to act as a stepping stone to F1, preparing drivers for the higher speeds, tougher competition and the challenging circuits.
Since its inception, champions of GP2 have propelled their way into Formula One, with names such as Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton, both triumphing on their way to F1 success and since 2017, F2 champions such as Leclerc, Russell and Piastri have all made the step up to the top tier. Since 2005, 15 / 20 champions of the series have made it to F1 (Gasly, Maldonado, Grosjean…), but in the last 5 years, only 3 have made it, with 2025 rookie Gabriel Bortoleto the only champion in the last 3 years to earn a race seat, with former champions Drugovich (2022) and Pourchaire (2023) being seemingly ignored.
In my opinion, there’s two ‘unwritten rules’ in F2.
The first being, ‘if you win the championship in your first year, you’ll be promoted to F1’. This is true for Leclerc, Russell, Piastri (who admittedly had to wait a year) and Bortoleto who all won the championship as a rookie.
The second rule is, ‘if you spend more than 2 seasons in the championship, you won’t make it to F1’. Both Drugovich and Pourchaire won the championship in their 3rd season, so it clearly shows they’re fast, but neither has earned the chance of a drive in F1. So is there more to it than just being fast?
It isn’t even as if you need to win the championship to be promoted. Since 2017, 20 drivers have graduated to F1, with 5 being for the 2025 season. But the likes of Norris, Albon, Tsunoda and Antonelli didn’t clinch the title, but earned moves in either their first or second year in the championship, and they have proven that they can be lightning fast. Yes, they all had strong associations to F1 teams and were potentially ‘lucky’ with their timing, but it feels wrong that two F2 champions’ careers can be decided by luck.
There is a significant flaw in the F2 system. As a very talented band once sang “Money, Money, Money”, they clearly had the motorsport world in mind. The expected cost of a season in F2 for the drivers is roughly $4 million, without any damage expenses. This means more often than not, money talks over talent. This is evident from two examples, the first being Nikita Mazepin.
Mazepin finished the 2020 F2 season in 5th place and for 2021 he signed to drive for Haas F1, beating 2nd place finisher Illott, because his funding was significantly more. Mazepin would join 2020 F2 champion Mick Schumacher (Michael’s son) for an all rookie lineup at Haas. He managed to beat Schumacher twice across the whole season and spun an impressive 24 times!
Nikita’s dad, Dmitry, was a major shareholder in URALKALI, a Russian Fertiliser company, and for the 2021 season they were the title partner of the team. They reportedly paid $13 million for the deal on a multi-year contract. Haas quite frankly wouldn’t have picked Mazepin as their first choice, but the truth is they needed the money to help keep the team going.
Mazepin was signed on for the 2022 season as well, but due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Haas removed him from his seat. You may think this is a bit harsh, but it was a more polite way of firing him as he was seen on video (posted on his own instagram) being inappropriate with a woman, which cannot be tolerated in any capacity. As well as this, in 2022, Dmitry Mazepin sold his major stake in the business as the conflict with Ukraine was escalating. Unfortunately for Haas, the drama didn’t stop there. URALKALI took the team to court due to their contract being terminated as they felt they were owed compensation. This resulted in the Swiss Banks ordering the team to pay back $9 million of the original $13 million deal.
The whole Mazepin saga was a gamble Haas made which, quite literally, didn’t pay off.
Another driver who brought significant financial backing to the sport was Nicholas Latifi, thankfully in much less controversial circumstances. Having finished the 2019 F2 season in 2nd place, Latifi showed the talent required for F1. Unlike Mazepin, he did manage to pick up the odd point in a car that was a consistent back-marker. At this time, Williams needed a driver with his financial backing, with the team close to bankruptcy. Latifi’s dad (Mr Latifi) is the founder and owner of Sofina Foods, a company that is worth just shy of 10 billion euros, with close ties to Lavazza coffee and the Royal Bank of Canada. As a result, Latifi’s rumoured yearly input was $30-40 million a year.
The fact of the matter is, as proven by these examples, no matter how much money you have, or the sponsors you have, if you aren’t quick enough, you’re out (unless your dad owns a team which races in green).
If you look at it more closely, F2 doesn’t actually guarantee any success in F1. Before 2005, the category didn’t exist, so the likes of Prost, Senna and Michael Schumacher didn’t have this series to further develop their craft. Between them they only managed 14 world championships, so they were clearly struggling without having F2!
But you don’t have to go back to the 80s and early 90s to prove this point, just look at Vettel and Verstappen. Sebastian Vettel competed in the Formula Renault 3.5 series, as well as European F3 before he became a reserve driver, then full time driver, for the BMW Sauber Team. Verstappen meanwhile had only been racing in single seaters for one year (!) in European F3 before he earned a promotion to Toro Rosso. Again, both of these drivers didn’t compete in F2 and went on to do okay in F1.
They don’t even have to be world champions to show that F2 can be an unnecessary step. Carlos Sainz Jr, like Vettel, honed his craft in Formula Renault 3.5 before jumping in to the Toro Rosso for the 2015 season, making him the last driver to bypass both F3 and F2 on their way to F1. As for the last driver to not compete in F2 and be promoted to F1, that honour goes to Lance Stroll. I don’t think I need to explain why that happened, but he joined the Williams Team from the Prema F3 Team for the 2017 season.
I’d argue F2 in 2024 became even less representative than it has ever been before. Ollie Bearman is a rookie driver for Haas in 2025, but also made some appearances in 2024, standing in for both Haas and Ferrari, displaying impressive speed. He consistently delivered strong race pace, as well as proving to be a match for his teammates in qualifying. Yet in 2024, he finished the F2 season all the way down in 12th. Granted he did miss several rounds, but he was still 21 points behind Colapinto, who missed half the season after being called up to Williams.
Colapinto is also a perfect example of F2 not being particularly representative of true ability and pace, as he was doing well in F2, but he wasn’t catching the attention of many. Yet as soon as he was given an opportunity in F1, he was just as quick as his teammate Albon, just very prone to a crash or two. His turn of pace was unexpected not only to me, but a large portion of the F1 community and he captured the hearts of South American F1 fans.
F1 hasn’t had a non-European champion since Canadian Jacques Villeneuve in 1997 (who also didn’t need F2). The F2 championship is accessible to those from North and South America, with the most recent champion, Bortoleto, from Brazil. But the drivers are finding it harder to breakthrough in Europe, with F3 and F2 teams keen on sticking to drivers from Europe or Asia. So, why don’t they set up a championship similar to F2 in America as well to help more drivers be discovered?
Oh wait…there is.
IndyNXT is the F2 to IndyCar, with a similarly impressive roster, driving cars of similar speeds to F2 as well. Yet you never here of them or the championship.
Yes, America may have less drivers interested in F1, but it is also down to F1’s failure to promote from outside of their beloved F2 / F3 tier system that is restricting the progress of a very talented group of drivers.
GP2 / F2 was purely created as a springboard for young talent to be able to better prepare themselves for the world of F1, but to me it feels like a hindrance. Two out of the three drivers who dominated the sport in the last 15 years didn’t compete in F2, so now, more than ever, it just feels like another opportunity for money to be injected into the sport.
My opinion is that F2 is becoming an unnecessary evil. It’s making the sport even more exclusive to the wealthy and doesn’t guarantee champions a chance in F1. Which I thought would be the whole point of the championship, but clearly I’m wrong!