2023 FIA Formula 2 Season Preview
The final step on a drivers road to Formula 1 is competing in the FIA Formula 2 Championship. This gruelling series has seen many fantastic drivers graduate to the main stage including 2021 champion Oscar Piastri, George Russell, Lando Norris and the list goes on.
This edition of the series is built to be another exciting year with plenty of academy drivers, those seeking to right the wrongs of previous campaigns and hungry rookies looking to catch the eyes of important figures in the paddock.
Here is my preview of the 2023 FIA Formula 2 season.
Calendar
The 2023 Formula 2 season will be another long and gruelling 14 round calendar stretching three continents. With the Formula 1 circus say Au revoir to Le Castellet after not being renewing its contract. For the first time, Formula 2 is heading off to Melbourne in a deal that will see the second tier of formula racing down under until 2035.
Formula 2 will continue to run the same 2018 Dallara chassis it has done since the rebranding from GP2. Powered by a 3.4 litre turbo charged Mecachrome engine, this powerful open-wheeler produces 620 horsepower at 8750 rpm. At full-tilt on the long straights of Monza, this Formula 2 can reach a top speed of 335 km/h with DRS open. This will be the final year Formula 2 runs the 2018 chassis with a new package set to debut in 2024.
Teams & Drivers
MP Motorsport
2022 was the best season in MP Motorsport’s history, securing the drivers and the teams championship. A lot of the heavy lifting was done by now Aston Martin reserve driver Felipe Drugovich who won the title by a resounding margin. With Drugovich and Clement Novalak not renewed, it’s an all new but familiar pairing driving for MP this season.
As he did in 2022, Dennis Hauger will be driving in car #1 but this time he’s traded PREMA for MP Motorsport. This is a bit of a theme as mentioned by Callum Ilott and Marcus Armstrong on their podcast “The Side Pod”.
Hauger had an up and down first campaign in Formula 2, 2 race wins at the Monaco sprint race and Baku feature race were the highlights for the Norwegian. Racing for team champions could be the switch that ignites Hauger’s chance at a seat in Formula 1.
Like last season, Hauger will be partnered by experienced Formula 2 driver Jehan Daruvala. This will be Daruvala’s fourth campaign in Formula 2 and there is certainly a feeling of if not now, when?
Daruvala’s first campaign with PREMA since winning the Formula 3 championship in 2019 was ok, 8 podium finishes and a single victory at the Monza sprint race saw the Indian driver finish 2022 in 7th.
Rodin Carlin
Carlin have a new title sponsor for 2023 in New Zealand car brand Rodin, two super talented Red Bull juniors and the hunger to claim top spot in the drivers and teams championship.
Last season was very positive for the Surrey based, Liam Lawson and Williams’ Logan Sargeant helped Carlin finish 2nd in the teams championship scoring 13 podiums and 6 victories. Can they go one step further in 2023?
Could we see our first Barbadian in Formula 1? That’s what the ultra talented Zane Maloney will be hoping to achieve. Maloney had an excellent first season in Formula 3 scoring 3 wins on his way to finishing runner up to eventual winner Victor Martins.
His 3 victories came in the final three feature races of the season. The 19-year old Bridgetown native joins Carlin on the back of being signed up for the Red Bull junior program.
Joining Maloney at Carlin is Brazilian Enzo Fittipaldi. The grandson of the former Formula 1 World Champion Emerson, Enzo had an impressive first full season in Formula 2 with Charouz Racing System scoring 6 podiums on his way to the 8th in the standings.
Whether it was luck or brilliant strategy, Fittipaldi more often than not, found himself in the mix for a victory. Can he get his first race win with Carlin?
ART Grand Prix
ART Grand Prix is a well established name in the Formula 2 paddock, however, despite the name recognition the French outfit still seeks to repeat its 2019 campaign which saw Nyck de Vries win the title. The biggest thing plaguing ART is the conspiracy that one car seems to get preferential treatment over the other. In a spec series where drivers race for a team, but ultimately race for themselves one would hope this isn’t the case. Let’s meet the drivers.
Returning for a second full season of Formula 2 is Alfa Romeo Sauber reserve driver Theo Pourchaire. The Frenchman was mightily competitive scoring 7 podiums and 3 wins on his way to a runners up spot behind Felipe Drugovich.
Despite what was a good season as a whole, Pourchaire did have a horror end to the campaign, finishing in the points twice in the final 8 races of the season. The pressure is on Pourchaire, a race seat could be available in F1 for 2024, if he wins the Formula 2 championship.
Making it an all French affair at ART is the reigning Formula 3 champion Victor Martins. The 21-year old had a fantastic campaign last time out, finishing the season with 6 podiums and 2 race wins. Whilst that doesn’t seem all that impressive, in the 18 races as part of the 2023 Formula 3 Calendar Martins failed to score points in only 4.
Accumulating points and being consistent is how you win championships in this formula and Martins has this skill. This will be a great test for Martins and if anything, a fantastic measuring stick against one of the best in Formula 2.
PREMA
PREMA had one of its worst seasons since the Formula 2 rebranding with a teams finish of 4th, only the season of 2019 season with Mick Schumacher and Sean Geleal was worse. With key personnel departing for the likes of MP Motorsport, PREMA faces an uphill task to climb back to the top of the F2 table. A new driver pairing provides new hope for the team from Grisignano di Zocco.
In his second Formula 2, Frederik Vesti hopes that a return to PREMA will ignite a tilt at the Formula 2 championship. The Mercedes junior scored 5 podiums in his inaugural Formula 2 season at ART, which included his one and only victory at the Baku sprint race.
What Vesti seeks at PREMA is consistency, despite finishing 9th in the championship Vesti suffered with a poor car and periods with a lack of points. Can PREMA give the great Dane a chance at Formula 2 glory.
Partnering up with Vesti at PREMA is the youngest driver on the Formula 2 grid, Oliver Bearman. Affectionately known as Ollie, this 17-year old racer is mighty quick and perhaps not a surprise to most that he won a seat with PREMA for Formula 2 this season.
In his first and only campaign in Formula 3, the Ferrari Academy driver scored 8 podiums and 18 races including scoring victory at the Spa sprint race. In my opinion, Bearman is the real deal. Some will compare him to the likes of Lando Norris and George Russell, and if Ferrari can get his development right with PREMA…he could be better than them both.
Hitech Pulse-Eight
Hitech is a consistent midfield runner in Formula 2, and perhaps with a little more reliability and luck the Silverstone based team could be in the top 3.
They are very much on the outside looking in. 2022 was once of gremlins and bad luck, both Juri Vips and Marcus Armstrong were victims of mechanical failures at the worst possible time. With the youngest driver lineup on the Formula 2 grid, what do the fortunes predict for Hitech in 2023?
Piloting car #9 and the hopes of the USA is 17-year old Jak Crawford. Crawford is only 6 days older than aforementioned Ollie Bearman, and like Bearman this American has the need for speed.
In his last campaign with PREMA in Formula 3, Crawford managed to finish 7th in the championship scoring 5 podiums in the process and victory in the Austrian Grand Prix sprint race.
Making the jump with Hitech from Formula 3 is Frenchman Isack Hadjar. The 18-year old Parisian did all the heavy lifting with Hitech on his way to 4th in the standings. Hadjar’s podium to race win conversion was 60%, 5 podiums with 3 of those being on the top step.
It almost feels unjust that there isn’t enough hype around Hadjar, especially when you consider how comprehensively he beat his teammates Kaylen Frederick and Nazim Azman last season.
DAMS
It’s been an up and down few seasons at DAMS with plenty happening off the track. With former Formula 1 driver Charles Pic now leading the charge at DAMS, it’s a new era for the French team.
Last season was an improvement from 2021, although it has to be said the heavy lifting was done by Ayumu Iwasa who scored 141 of the 161 points for DAMS’ 6th place finish in the teams championship. With Iwasa retained and Roy Nissany dropped, there is greater hope that DAMS can be a challenger once again.
Many were surprised at how quick Iwasa got up to speed in Formula 2 last season, and it got the paddock talking of a potential future in Formula 1. As part of an ultra competitive Red Bull driver program,
Iwasa is one of five in Formula 2 alone this season, putting the pressure on Yuki Tsunoda and Nyck de Vries. In his first F2 campaign, Iwasa scored 6 podiums and 2 victories, both coming in feature races at Silverstone in Abu Dhabi. If DAMS gives Iwasa a strong car, the Japanese driver is a serious underdog for the title.
Joining DAMS in the first season of Formula 2 is Ferrari Academy driver Arthur Leclerc. The brother of Charles does carry extra weight, the weight of expectation that is. Leclerc has shown glimpses of his potential in Formula 3 with PREMA, finishing 10th and 6th in the standings over his two-year spell in the category.
The jump to Formula 2 is an important one for Leclerc, his brother managed just one season in the series, can Arthur do the same?
Invicta Virtuosi
For the first time in the teams history of Virtuosi, Andy Roche’s team failed to finish 2nd in the teams championship, succumbing to 7th in the standings.
Hampered by reliability and perhaps not the strongest driver pairing available, Virtuosi will be hoping to be at the pointy end of the field this season. They have one driver especially who is on the precipice of Formula 1, but how reliant will they be of his exploits.
Leading the charge for Virtuosi once again will be Alpine Academy driver Jack Doohan. Son of legendary MotoGP rider Mick, Jack is mighty quick and some have the Australian as the favourite to claim the Formula 2 championship.
In first campaign in Formula 2, it was a slow start for Doohan with only 2 points finishes in the opening 3 rounds. However, in Spain, his seasons turned where Doohan would score 6 podiums and 3 race victories on his way to 6th in the standings. If the pace is there, Doohan will be a serious threat.
Joining Doohan at Virtuosi this season is Belgium’s Amaury Cordeel. There was plenty of scepticism about Cordeel’s signing with Van Amersfoort heading into 2022, especially considering his pointless 2021 Formula 3 campaign with Campos.
In the early going, Cordeel did nothing to detract these thoughts where he often languished in the lower midfield. But, towards the end of the season Cordeel started to turn the screws, with 4 points finishes in the last 5 races helping the Belgian driver finish level on points with early season teammate Jake Hughes. The question on the mind is which Cordeel will we see?
PHM Racing by Charouz
2022 was an improvement for Charouz Racing System, largely due to the 126 points scored from Enzo Fittipaldi. But without Fittipaldi to produce the bulk of the scoring, can the newly named PHM Racing by Charouz repeat and improve on the previous campaign. A new driver lineup that hasn’t exactly set the world on fire, let’s meet them.
Roy Nissany is maligned by many. There is a serious argument that the 28-year old is perhaps too old for the feeder series. And, in fairness they would be right. Nissany’s Formula 2 career has been extremely underwhelming with stints at Campos, Trident and DAMS. Just a single podium during that time and one must question, why?
Partnering the Israeli at PHM Racing by Charouz is 21-year old Florida native Brad Benavides. The American makes the step up from Formula 3 where he was largely unimpressive. 23rd in the standings and only one points finish to his name, that came in the Spa sprint race. Benavides’ racing career to date has been largely unassuming so far, we will see if the upgrade to Formula 2 is one too many.
Trident
There is an element of familiarity with the new driver lineup at Trident for 2023, and one hopes with drivers who know the environment, better fortunes will come for the Formula 2 minnows. In 2022, Richard Verschoor did the bulk of the heavy lifting, out-scoring teammate Calan Williams by a score of 103 to 5. Can Trident overachieve this season?
Making his Formula 2 debut and becoming the first Czech driver since Josef Kral to race in the category is Roman Stanek. The 19-year old was part of Trident’s Formula 3 team in 2022, alongside Zane Maloney (Carlin F2) and Jonny Edgar (MP F3) where he finished a more than respectable 5th.
Along the way, Stanek scored 4 podium finishes and a race win at the Imola feature race. Stanek won’t be competing for the title, but could score some surprise results throughout the season.
Joining Stanek at Trident is the returning Clement Novalak. The 22-year old enters his second full season in Formula 2, with his first full campaign being largely in the shadow of his MP Motorsport teammate and F2 Champion Felipe Drugovich.
Novalak did score a podium in the Zandvoort sprint race, and by coming back to Trident perhaps Novalak could be a force in the midfield.
Van Amersfoort
Van Amersfoort’s first crack at Formula 2 was trying, and unfortunately for the Dutch outfit it didn’t weld the same success as their Formula 3 campaign. Led by Jake Hughes and Amaury Cordeel, Van Amersfoort were only good enough to finish 10th in the teams standing. Hughes, who now races for McLaren in Formula E managed the team's best result with 4th at the Jeddah feature race. With a new driver lineup, will Van Amersfoort progress into the midfield or suffer from second season syndrome?
Leading the charge for the Dutchman is the flying Dutchman himself Richard Verschoor. The 22-year old has had a turbulent time during his Formula 2 career, in his first season he scored a race victory at the Silverstone second sprint race.
But despite his solid performance he lost his seat before driving for Charouz. His last campaign was with Trident where he opened the 2022 campaign with a sprint race win in Bahrain en route to a 12th placed finish in the standings.
Joining Verschoor at Van Amersfoort is American Juan Manuel Correa who returns to Formula 2 for the first time since 2019. Correa has spent the last two seasons with ART in Formula 3 where he finished 21st and 13th in the standings.
The highlight of Correa’s time in Formula 3 was his 2nd place finish in the Zandvoort sprint race. Back in Formula 2, let's see what Correa can do.
Campos
The last team on the Formula 2 grid is Campos. It was a difficult 2022 season for the Spanish outfit who really missed the leadership of Ralph Boschung who succumbed to injury and missed significant time. Despite this, the Swiss driver scored 40 of the 67 points for Campos with Olli Caldwell and Roberto Mehri scoring the remaining points. With Boschung back for another season, can Campos claim out of the basement.
The newest member of the Campos team is Indian driver Kush Maini. The 22-year old makes the jump up from Formula 3 where he managed a 14th place finish in the standings.
Maini showed glimpses with MP Motorsport, a 3rd place in the Hungarian sprint race and a 4th in at Silverstone were the highlights in what was otherwise a tricky season. Let’s see if Maini can get up to speed quickly in Formula 2.
This will be Ralph Boschung’s 7th season in Formula 2, and whilst that’s nice it’s worth asking if the Swiss driver is going to be in position to race in Formula 1?
It’s unlikely, but what Boschung can provide is a stable hand and a team leader who can help get Campos back to challenging for points. Last season, Boschung scored two podiums at Catalunya and Spa in an interrupted 2022 campaign.
Prediction
For several drivers in the field, 2023 is a particularly important season in their quest to get onto the Formula 1 grid next season. The likes of Pourchaire, Vesti, Doohan and Iwasa are serious threats for the title this season, but we can’t count out the rookies such as Bearman, Maloney and Hadjar.
The last time an ART driver won the Formula 2 championship was current AlphaTauri driver Nyck de Vries, and he won in dominant fashion. I don’t expect dominance, but I’m backing Theo Pourchaire to be crowned Formula 2 Champion.
When it comes to the teams, there are multiple strong lineups that catch the eye including PREMA, Carlin and ART. In what should be one of the closest team championships in years. I’m backing the exciting Carlin team to score their first team title since 2018.