Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd
Trident’s Roman Stanek has admitted that it is “50-50” whether he will compete in the final three rounds of the Formula 2 season.
The series sophomore is currently 21st in the standings with 14 points from the first 10 rounds, having won the sprint race in Melbourne back in March but scoring only twice more since then. He is 31 points behind team-mate Richard Verschoor.
There is a month until the next round at Monza, which could be his final F2 outing.
“Basically, we had a contract only for 11 rounds, so it looks like I’m not going to race after Monza,” the Czech explained to Formula Scout in the Spa-Francorchamps paddock last weekend.
While discussions are ongoing with the team about an extension, he is not optimistic.
“Now it’s fully open. I don’t know. It’s up to my management also, so in this period of summer break, we will try to decide.”
The situation is not a new one for Stanek. In his rookie season in 2023, he had feared that budgetary concerns would put a premature end to his season at the same point.
“Going to Spa, we had some financial issues, because obviously the season was not going as we were expecting,” he explained at the time. “But luckily with my family we found a way how to keep going.”
Over the winter, Stanek attracted additional funds through a crowdfunding scheme but it was “not enough; we had to add more funds”. Additional sponsorship reduced his dependence on funding from his father.
Spa was another disappointing weekend as “a problem with the brakes” prevented him from getting in a flying lap in free practice, while the same issue in qualifying left him on the back row of the grid for both races.
“It’s challenging with a new car. We keep finding set-ups, but they seem to not work so far. For example, Hitech has always been up there, but for us, it’s tough. Let’s say it like this.”
There have been flashes of pace, but not on a consistent basis, he says. “Some moments were good. But now, sadly, we are not in the good moments, and we are trying to recover.”
With the Formula 3 season ending at the same Monza weekend as Stanek’s contract expires, there may be no shortage of potential replacements for the Trident seat for the remainder of the season.
“In F2, there are no options [for me] because all the seats are booked,” he says. “And I have no plans for next year yet.”