The new format may not be a hit in my books, but the driver line up this season is particularly exciting for Championship contenders. There are 10 Rookies and two Formula 3 Champions in the ranks, and of the 22 drivers, half of them are in the junior academies of F1 teams. Unfortunately, much like F1, most of the teams have blue liveries so apologies for new fans, it might be quite difficult to distinguish some of the cars this season. Anyway, here is an overview of the drivers involved and expectations of them this season:
Prema Racing (ITA) – #1: Robert Schwartzman (RUS) & #2: Oscar Piastri (AUS)
Prema have arguably the best line-up on the grid, comprising of the 2019 and 2020 F3 Champions. Having just also guided Mick Schumacher to the F2 Driver’s Championship in 2020, momentum is with the Italian outfit. Mick’s title was largely due to a run of 15 consecutive points finishes, including a run of 5 races where he scored podiums between the Spanish and Monza Sprint Races. Schumacher ended up with 2 victories (Monza and Russia Feature Races) and 8 further podiums overall to win the title by 14 points.
Fellow Ferrari junior, Robert Schwartzman, was Mick’s teammate last season and led the Championship after 3 rounds following back-to-back Feature Race wins at the 2nd Austrian round and Hungary. His season stuttered in places from a strong start with the Russian eventually finishing 4th, taking 4 victories and a further 2 podiums in 2020.
With Schumacher earning his promotion to F1, Schwartzman remains with Prema for a second bite at the cherry, and is joined by Alpine junior, Oscar Piastri. The Australian sneaked his F3 Championship by just 3 points, taking two victories and four podiums on his way to the title, which was only sealed after crossing the line in the Sprint Race at the season ending round at Mugello.
For this season, I expect Schwartzman to be the man to beat, with a year in the series under his belt he will iron out the poor qualifying form in the second half of the season that cost him in the Championship fight. With how well Prema ran last season, I can also see Piastri being in Championship contention too, albeit amongst the outsiders.
Expectations: Both to be Championship contenders, Schwartzman to be favourite of the two
UNI-Virtuosi (GBR) – #3: Guanyu Zhou (CHN) & #4: Felipe Drugovich (BRA)
The British team had another strong season, guiding Callum Ilott to 2nd in the Championship with 3 wins and a further 3 podiums. The British driver would take it down to the final race on the Bahrain Outer Ring, but fell just short of Champion, Mick Schumacher. For Ilott’s teammate, it was a season of what could have been for Guanyu Zhou, the Alpine junior driver took pole and was comfortably leading the first Feature Race in Austria until his car broke down, Ilott went on to win that race.
From there onwards it was a game of catchup for the Chinese driver, who had to wait until the shortened Sochi Sprint Race for his only victory of 2020. Guanyu would finish a disappointing sixth and will be raring to go this season, he will stick with the team for a third campaign. Ilott moves on to be Ferrari junior driver and with a lack of budget, has left F2 after two seasons, he will be replaced by 2020’s surprise of the season, Felipe Drugovich.
The Brazilian scored just 8 points in F3 in 2019 and finished 16th in the Championship, yet looked so comfortable in F2 with the new 18-inch tyres playing to his strengths. Driving for MP Motorsport, Felipe took 3 victories, including the first Sprint Race of the 2020 season in Austria, and a pole position at the first Silverstone round to finish a highly respectable 9th in the Championship.
For 2021, I fully expect both drivers to fight for the Championship, they certainly have the speed, talent and experience to do so, and have a capable team to push them towards that goal of reaching F1.
Expectations: Both to be Championship contenders
Carlin (GBR) – #5: Dan Ticktum (GBR) & #6: Jehan Daruvala (IND)
Carlin had a really strong 2020 as a de-facto Red Bull junior team, guiding Yuki Tsunoda to 3rd in the Championship and the Anthoine Hubert Award for the highest finishing rookie. Yuki’s F2 results secured promotion to F1 with AlphaTauri after three victories and a further four podiums in 2020.
Indian driver, Jehan Daruvala, had initial struggles but 8 points finishes in the last 5 rounds, including a Sprint Race victory on the Bahrain Outer Circuit, saw him finish 12th overall. Daruvala stays for another season and continues with Red Bull backing, he is joined by Williams junior driver, Dan Ticktum, for his second full-time season in F2.
This driver line-up is an interesting combination because Dan had a pretty acrimonious split from the Red Bull programme in 2018, so expect Ticktum to go all out to prove them wrong. Both of them have a full season under their belts and with Trevor Carlin’s support, I expect both to regularly challenge for podiums.
Expectations: Both to be podium contenders
Hitech Grand Prix (GBR) – #7: Liam Lawson (NZL) & #8: Jüri Vips (EST)
Hitech’s debut season was a success, guiding Nikita Mazepin to 5th in the F2 standings and promotion to F1 with Haas after 6 podiums, including 2 victories. Series veteran Luca Ghiotto also played a key role with four podiums and a single victory at the Hungary Sprint Race, meaning that the team finished 3rd overall in the standings.
Ghiotto has elected not to do a sixth season in F2, meaning that Hitech have an all new line-up, and it’s duo of Red Bull juniors leading the charge. New Zealand driver, Liam Lawson, gains promotion after finishing 5th in F3 in 2020, taking 3 victories and a further 3 podiums.
He is joined by 2019 F3 4th place driver, Jüri Vips. The Estonian’s 2020 was difficult because of the pandemic and having Red Bull place him in Japanese Super Formula, with the country having stringent travel restrictions that saw Vips miss multiple races. Jüri filled in four rounds of F2 in 2020 with DAMS for the injured Sean Geleal, scoring 16 points, including a podium in the Mugello Sprint Race.
I am anticipating big things again for this line up and whilst the overall lack of experience may cost them a Championship fight, the two should be regular contenders on the rostrum.
Expectations: Both to be outside Championship contenders
ART Grand Prix (FRA) – #9: Christian Lundgaard (DEN) & #10: Théo Pourchaire (FRA)
After guiding George Russell and Nyck de Vries to Driver’s titles in 2018 and 2019 respectively, 2020 didn’t quite go to plan for the French outfit. Alpine junior Christian Lundgaard featured on the fringes of the Championship fight for large parts of the season, but ultimately fell short of mounting a concrete challenge. The Danish driver ended up 7th in 2020 with 2 Sprint Race wins at the 2nd Austrian round and at Mugello, and a further five podiums, including a double podium at Monza.
Ferrari junior Marcus Armstrong had a solid start in Austria with a 2nd place finish in the first Feature Race. The only other highlight of his season would be a 3rd in the second Austrian Sprint Race as the New Zealander could only finish 13th. For this season, the team sticks with Lundgaard whilst Armstrong moves across to DAMS, his replacement is Sauber junior and 2020 F3 runner-up, Théo Pourchaire.
The 17-year-old impressed in his rookie season, taking 2 wins and a further 6 podiums to lose out on the Championship by just 3 points. He also had two rounds filling in at HWA in F2 last season, for the purposes of this article I still consider him a rookie.
This is a really exciting line up for ART yet again and I expect the team to finally banish the second seat curse. Lundgaard has the talent and the speed to be in the Championship fight, and had some bad luck last season that prevented him from fighting the likes of Ilott and Schumacher. Pourchaire definitely has the potential to be a podium contender, even could pick up a win or two in spite of his relative youth compared to most of the grid.
Expectations: Lundgaard to be a Championship contender, Pourchaire to fight for podiums
MP Motorsport (NLD) – #11: Richard Verschoor (NLD) & #12: Lirim Zendeli (GER)
2020 was MP’s strongest season to date, 6th in the Championship matched 2017 but the team took four victories compared to 1 in 2017. Felipe Drugovich was a revelation having struggled in F3, taking only one points finish in the series back in 2019. Yet, the Brazilian looked comfortable immediately, and won the Sprint Race in the season-opening round at Austria.
He would take a further two victories, including the Feature Race at the first Bahrain round, whilst series veteran Nobuharu Matsushita would take a spectacular win at Barcelona having started 17th on the grid. The Japanese driver departed after 9 rounds and was replaced by Guiliano Alesi, who only scored one points finish in six races.
The team has an all new line-up and both of them are rookies. Richard Verschoor steps up from F3 after finishing 9th in 2020, taking a single podium at the Sprint Race in the first Austrian round. He is on a one race deal but expect it to be extended, having joined the team ahead of pre-season testing.
Verschoor is joined by Lirim Zendelli, who finished one place above him in the 2020 F3 season. The German driver scored three podiums, including a stellar victory in the Belgian Feature Race. Both drivers have a few seasons in F3 under their belts but F2 is a new environment, MP are on an upward trajectory so this should aid them to scrap for points.
Expectations: Both to be fringe points scorers
Charouz Racing System (CZE) – #14: David Beckmann (GER) & #15: Guilherme Samaia (BRA)
The Czech team had a respectable 2020 season at the hands of veteran Louis Delétraz, scoring 134 points with 5 podiums, although the Swiss driver failed to break his winless streak in F2. Rookie Pedro Piquet took his time adjusting and only took home 3 points.
Charouz will be fielding an all-new line up this season with Delétraz and Piquet leaving the team. German driver David Beckmann secured promotion to F2 after finishing 6th in F3 last season, taking two victories and a further four podiums. Incredibly, Beckmann scored points in all but 1 of the 16 races in F3 last year.
He is joined by Brazilian driver, Guilherme Samaia, for his second season in the series. Guilherme was the only full-time driver who failed to score points last season when he drove for Campos, his best finish was 14th, however he has shown decent pace in Bahrain testing so I expect better results this season.
The line-up is clearly not as strong as last season but they do have more overall experience than some of the teams further down the grid so they should be able to nab a few points.
Expectations: Both to be fringe points scorers
DAMS (FRA) – #16: Roy Nissany (ISR) & #17: Marcus Armstrong (NZL)
For DAMS standards 2020 was pretty disastrous considering they were Team’s Champion in 2019. Dan Ticktum did score 4 podiums on his way to 11th in the Championship but the other car only scored 19 points between Sean Geleal and sub-driver, Jüri Vips.
The French team will have an all new line-up with Williams academy driver Roy Nissany and Ferrari junior driver, Marcus Armstrong. Nissany had a mediocre season but a lot of it is down to the team he drove for, scoring just 5 points. Armstrong was ART’s 3rd victim to the second seat curse after Jack Aitken and Nikita Mazepin, although the Kiwi did pick up 2 podiums in the Feature Race at the 1st Austrian round and Sprint Race of the 2nd Austrian round. He has also shown incredible pace in Bahrain testing and topping the final day of running, showing signs of that confidence that guided him to runner-up in the 2019 F3 Championship.
I am expecting a better 2021 for DAMS with more consistent points being scored by both cars.
Expectations: Nissany to challenge regularly for points, Armstrong to be podium contender
Campos Racing (ESP) – #20: Gianluca Petecof (BRA) & #21: Ralph Boschung (SUI)
The team enters this season with a sombre atmosphere after the sudden passing of team founder, Adrián Campos, in January. Their 2020 season was a step back after a reasonably successful 2019, which saw Jack Aitken finish 5th in the Championship. The Anglo-Korean driver could only finish 14th in last season’s standings with a pair of 3rd places at the 2nd Silverstone round being the highlight.
Meanwhile, Guilherme Samaia failed to score at all meaning that Campos finished 9th overall in the Team’s Standings. This season, Campos have a new line-up, taking a gamble on Brazilian driver, Gianluca Petecof. The 18-year-old won the hotly contested 2020 Formula Regional European Championship against Arthur Leclerc and Oliver Rasmussen, but jumping straight in at F2 is a massive step for Petecof, and the Brazilian has also just left the Ferrari academy, who could have provided some helpful guidance.
The other team’s driver is Ralph Boschung, who filled in for Aitken on the Bahrain Outer Circuit whilst he was on F1 duty for Williams, finishing 14th in the Feature Race. This will be the Swiss driver’s 5th season in F2 with a best finish of 18th in the Championship, but he has never completed a full campaign to date. I fear with this line up, Campos are going to be quite anonymous this season.
Expectations: Both to struggle for points
HWA Racelab (GER) – #22: Matteo Nannini (ITA) & #23: Alessio Deledda (ITA)
HWA had a really disappointing 2020 in spite of having series veteran Artem Markelov part of their line-up. It would be Giuliano Alesi who scored their best result in the very first race of the season with 6th, with the Frenchman departing for MP Motorsport after nine rounds. Jake Hughes and Théo Pourchaire saw the season out for the team, but neither scored points.
The team would only score 17 points overall last season, so have a lot of catching up to do. This season they have an all-rookie line-up, and having lost their BWT sponsorship, revert to their traditional grey/teal livery. The German team have signed Matteo Nannini to dovetail F2 and F3 campaigns. Nannini, nephew of former F1 driver, Alessio Nannini, scored a 10th and 3rd in the Feature and Sprint races in Barcelona, which were his only points in F3 to finish 18th in the Championship.
In terms of their other driver, Deledda, I never want to hear a motorsport fan say women should only get a drive if they have a talent. Finishing 34th in last season’s F3 standings with 0 points, despite it being his second season, is clearly not the standard that deserves an F2 seat. If HWA struggled with experienced drivers last season, this pair are in for a long season with their lack of F2 exposure.
Expectations: Both to struggle for points
Trident Racing (ITA) – #24: Bent Viscaal (NLD) & #25: Marino Sato (JPN)
The Italian team are the definition of back of the grid, having finished last in the Team’s Standings in every F2 season since its rebrand in 2017. Last year was yet another struggle, with just 6 points scored by Roy Nissany and Marino Sato.
The former has moved up to DAMS whilst Sato remains for a second, looking to improve on a solitary 8th place in the Sprint race at Mugello. The Japanese driver will be joined by 2019 Macau GP winner, Bent Viscaal. The Dutch driver finished 13th in F3 last year with 2 podiums, including victory in the Sprint Race at the 2nd Silverstone round. He is currently signed up on a 1 race deal so this seat may be filled by other drivers across the season.
With this line-up, 2021 may be an unwelcomed 5th year at the rear of the grid for the Italian team.
Expectations: Both to struggle for points
Predictions:
Driver’s Champion: Robert Schwartzman
Team’s Champion: Prema Racing
Anthoine Hubert Award Winner (Top Rookie): Oscar Piastri
With this in-depth look of the grid there is clear split between the drivers at the front at the back, predicting a winner is so tough because there are plenty of candidates. Based on performances from last year and the team’s overall momentum. I’ve gone for the Russian, Robert Schwartzman, which will certainly give the Ferrari team a bit of a headache for 2022.
If this two-part preview has perked your interest, I would highly recommend tuning in. Yes, I have been a bit cynical about the new format but there are so many talented drivers who are destined for F1 seats in the near future, this is an early opportunity to find out who will make it. Check out the F2 website for official session times and catch the 22 drivers in action in Bahrain between Friday 26th and Sunday 28th March.
