Photo: Prema
Prema went podium-free through the first 12 races of the Formula 2 season, but its drivers have since delivered three wins in the last six races.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who was dominant in a wet Silverstone sprint race and then romped to victory in last weekend’s Hungaroring feature race, credits a strong working relationship with team-mate Ollie Bearman for both his own and the team’s improved form.
“My team-mate, he’s a really good driver, really strong. It was really helpful to have such a team-mate because you can learn a lot from him,” said Antonelli to media including Formula Scout after taking his second F2 win.
“Actually jumping Formula 3 [in the single-seater ladder], I can learn a lot in terms of tyre management and warm-up [from Bearman], which is key in F2. So obviously it’s great to have him.”
Antonelli has 85 points to Bearman’s 34, and the pair sit sixth and 14th in the standings. On the matter of beating his Formula 1-bound team-mate, who has a Haas seat for 2025, Antonelli believes the gap is not entirely representative.
“He also missed a round in Jeddah, so definitely I think the gap would be a bit closer. But I think the main thing that is really important is that we’re working well together and we’re trying to help the team to improve, and that’s what we’re doing.”
The Hungaroring weekend was also the first time since May in which neither driver reported engine issues. Bearman had an issue that “cost me a position” in the feature race at Barcelona, Antonelli had “engine issues since lap one, quite a big loss of power” in the sprint race at the Red Bull Ring and Bearman “suddenly lost power” in the feature race, then at Silverstone there were multiple engine issues for Antonelli in qualifying while Bearman “lost the engine again” in the sprint race.