Photo: Formula Motorsport Limited
The last season with the Dallara F2 2018 was also the first since its introduction not to have an F1 graduate
The growth of Formula 1’s digital footprint continued in 2023, and Formula 2 benefited with more eyeballs on it worldwide and a lot of anticipation on which of its stars would be heading up to the top level in the future. At present three of them will be, but two are headed to Super Formula and one to Formula E.
F1 fans who followed F2 avidly this year won’t be rewarded with seeing their favourite names on the F1 grid in 2024, which is a bad look for Formula One Management even though it’s the teams who make these decisions.
How many of this year’s F2 racers did Formula Scout think deserved to make the step up, and who else impressed with their performances over a lengthy 26-race campaign? We decided to rank the 2023 grid, and here’s our top 10:
The composition of this year’s top 10 was unusually consistent among Formula Scout’s correspondents. Only one other driver came close to inclusion, Dennis Hauger. Having joined the champion team from 2022, Hauger was expected to challenge for the title and, despite some strong race performance, including two sprint race wins, his lack of qualifying pace put paid to his chances. He did score almost twice the points of team-mate Jehan Daruvala whose season fell apart after Jeddah.
After three races, Ralph Boschung looked like a title contender, but his season then disintegrated, taking just four more points and generally being outshone by Kush Maini at Campos. The only other feature race winner was Clement Novalak, who emerged triumphant from a chaotic race at Zandvoort as the top runners were eliminated by a variety of problems. Alas for Novalak and Trident team-mate, Roman Stanek, the rest of the season was something of a struggle, with Novalak being replaced by Paul Aron before the end of the season.
Jak Crawford fittingly took his maiden F2 win in the sprint race at the Red Bull Ring. Aside from a pole at Zandvoort, he struggled in qualifying, but was often able to convert that weakness into Saturday points. Though he edged team-mate Isack Hadjar by two points in the championship, it is the French driver who retains the support of Dr Marko for 2024, switching to Campos while Crawford moves to DAMS for his sophomore season. With two rookies, Hitech was unable to match its 2022 showing, although had Hadjar’s engine not given up while leading at Monaco, maybe his season would have developed differently.
Another F3 graduate, Arthur Leclerc was not far off team-mate Ayumu Iwasa on race pace, but rarely put it together in qualifying. A strong weekend in Melbourne proved a false dawn as he scored only eight points for the rest of the year.
Key Percentage of team’s points scored (TP), Average qualifying position (QA), Feature race points (FR), Sprint race points (SR), Laps led (LL)
10. Enzo Fittipaldi BRAZIL Rodin Carlin
7th in standings, 124 points (1 win, 1 fastest lap, 5 podiums) – TP 56.4%, QA 10.5 (9th), FR 95 (6th), SR 29 (7th), LL 23 (12th)
Photo: Red Bull Content Pool
Ida Wood (9th): Enzo Fittipaldi improves year on year, but only rising one spot in the championship standings from his 2022 position can more easily be seen as disappointing rather than something to celebrate. Was it a reflection of Rodin Carlin’s form? He took the team’s only win, but that helped it come third in the standings. Regardless, Fittipaldi consistently performed in qualifying – his pace being the sixth best on average – he was outscored in feature races by only five drivers and he was one of seven drivers to get two podiums in a weekend. He wasn’t one of the stars of the season, so seventh in the points can be considered ‘best of the rest’.
Roger Gascoigne (10th): With Red Bull backing and having switched from Charouz to 2022 teams’ runner-up Rodin Carlin, this was Fittipaldi’s chance to show his true potential. He continued his development from the year before, with regular top 10 finishes which he topped off with his maiden race win in the series at Spa, without ever looking like a title contender. He qualified and finished second in both Baku and Barcelona, headed only by Bearman on each occasion. That he finished the season in seventh, just six points short of Bearman, is testament to his impressive consistency and racecraft. On occasions his progress was unobtrusive as he managed his stints and his tyres, while avoiding the penalties incurred by others. As he moves to Van Amersfoort Racing for a third full season in F2, his ability to gather strong points finishes routinely continues to make him a valuable asset.
9. Zane Maloney BARBADOS Rodin Carlin
10th in standings, 96pts (1 fastest lap, 4 podiums) – TP 43.6%, QA 10.9 (11th), FR 88 (9th), SR 8 (17th)
Photo: Red Bull Content Pool
Peter Allen (7th): Maloney’s four feature race podiums represented a strong haul for a rookie: it was the same as Victor Martins managed and one more than Ollie Bearman (whose were all wins). These results seemed to be made possible by particularly strong pace in certain races, especially in Bahrain when he went from 18th to third. Lacklustre qualifying results made things too difficult at other times, and would have contributed to his lowly sprint race tally, although he rarely benefitted from the reversed grid either. He did qualify fourth three times in the last four rounds, and remaining with Carlin for a second season in 2024 should help him iron out the inconsistencies.
IW (n/r): There may have been three teams whose drivers ended the season closer together on points, but given they were further down the order and fighting for fewer points then that makes sense. The Carlin drivers meanwhile both took home big points hauls, enough to put the team third in the standings, and for rookie Maloney to trail Fittipaldi by only 28 points was a strong showing. The gap wasn’t created at the start of the year when Maloney was learning F2 though, as he made the podium in remarkable fashion in his first feature race, but instead in the middle of the campaign when finishing runner-up in the Silverstone feature race was Maloney’s only points score in nine races. The general trend was he scored strongly in feature races, or not at all.
8. Richard Verschoor NETHERLANDS Van Amersfoort Racing
9th in standings, 108pts (1 win, 1 fastest lap, 3 podiums) – TP 89.3%, QA 11.3 (13th), FR 88 (8th), SR 20 (12th), LL 16 (14th)
Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd
RG (7th): Verschoor was a model of consistency in 2023, taking points home from all but one round, a feat only matched by Hauger. Indeed, he scored in eight of the first nine feature races including a win in Austria, a year after a few litres of fuel cost him victory at the same track. Admittedly this result owed much to a fortuitous safety car period allowing him a late run on soft tyres to snatch the win, but he still had to pass Martins, Pourchaire, Doohan and Vesti to do it. His win was VAR’s first in the category, as he almost single-handedly dragged it to seventh in the teams’ standings.
PA (10th): This was another good underdog campaign from Verschoor, this time helping his compatriots at VAR to become more established in F2 after a slightly turbulent 2022. He was a consistent scorer in feature races for most of the year and won again at the Red Bull Ring – this time holding onto the victory after his disqualification in 2022. Unfortunately, team and driver didn’t really kick on from that in the second half of the season, which might go some way to explain why Verschoor now seems set to return to Trident.
7. Kush Maini INDIA Campos Racing
11th in standings, 62pts (1 podium) – TP 62.6%, QA 8.8 (6th), FR 38 (13th), SR 24 (10th)
PA (8th): Maini was the surprise package of this year’s F2 grid. Sure, he had shown some promising moments previously in a career that had not always offered him the greatest opportunities, but few would have bet that – joining Campos after a single year in FIA F3 – he could end his rookie season as the sixth-best qualifier. He was immediately consistently strong out of the blocks, and perhaps his extra maturity compared to some of the rookie crop helped him quickly adapt to F2’s demands and capitalise on the step forward that Campos seemed to have made at the beginning of the year. That performance seemed to drift as the year went on, especially on race days, but he still qualified third in Abu Dhabi to prove that the recent spike in interest around him – from Alpine, Mahindra and even Mika Hakkinen – was somewhat justified.
IW (10th): Campos Racing knew how to make their car quick in qualifying, and Maini made the most of it to be one of the best in the field in those Friday afternoon sessions, even though his best qualifying result – a third place – did not occur until the last round. And this contrasted strongly with what he and the team were capable of in races, with just four points finishes in the last 16 races of the campaign.
His best race result was third in the Melbourne sprint race, during a spell where he got five top-five finishes in the first eight races. To earn his podium he had to hold off a lot of drivers, and when doing the same from eighth on the grid in the feature race he could only finish ninth. So lower grid positions almost automatically meant less points in the races for Maini, and therefore it was no surprise that his best feature race result was a fifth.
6. Ayumu Iwasa JAPAN DAMS
4th in standings, 165pts (3 wins, 1 pole, 3 fastest laps, 6 podiums) – TP 77.1%, QA 8.9 (7th), FR 125 (4th), SR 38 (5th), LL 62 (4th)
Photo: Red Bull
Alejandro Alonso (1st): The season started strong for Ayumu Iwasa. He even led the drivers’ standings after an excellent round at Melbourne, where he claimed the pole position and won the feature race. At that point, it looked like it could be a three-way battle for the title, with DAMS back among the every round front-runners. Building on what was already created in 2022 was Iwasa’s plan heading into the season, but it did not work out as expected as the season progressed. Qualifying was again DAMS’ achilles heel, and the Red Bull junior — who was only classified four times in the top five — was often forced to come back on Sunday from outside the top 10. In spite of that, he came into Abu Dhabi’s season finale with a slim shot at the title. However, third place would slip away from him by three points.
IW (7th): Iwasa managed to remain in title contention until the final round, but that job became harder as the season went on as DAMS became less competitive. He was still a go-to name for top-five finishes in feature races during the season’s second half, finishing second in two of them, but his wins came early on in Jeddah, Melbourne and Monaco.
The strong start to the season, and he was points leader nine races in, should have put him on Red Bull’s radar for F1 opportunities but instead he was overlooked for other juniors. However the lack of an F1 distraction on F2 race weekends should have played into his hands while title rivals had to juggle the two, but he didn’t maximise that.
5. Victor Martins FRANCE ART Grand Prix
5th in standings, 150pts (3 wins, 3 poles, 6 fastest laps, 8 podiums) – TP 42.5%, QA 3.5 (1st), FR 94 (7th), SR 50 (2nd), LL 31 (8th)
Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd
IW (4th) It felt like Martins spent his rookie season setting up a title challenge for 2024. He had rookie errors, sure, but ticked all the key boxes that a would-be champion needs to. First off is consistency, and Martins smashed that out of the park with a 12-race scoring run. When it came to nailing qualifying he quickly managed that, taking three poles (the joint most of anyone this season) and he was the fastest driver on average when it came to single-lap pace. Heading into the final round he was in contention to finish second in the standings, and his race pace and sprint race points haul were the second best in the field. That contrasts however with feature race struggles that lasted way into the season and cost him a higher placing in this list.
RG (5th): Victor Martins was arguably the quickest driver in F2 in 2023, with three poles and the fastest average qualifying pace. On speed alone he had the edge on team-mate and champion Pourchaire. But in the feature races, it all seemed to fall apart with a combination of over-aggression and mistakes. His spin in Jeddah, having fought it out with Bearman and his collision with Hauger in Melbourne before the restart cost him dearly, while he was fortunate to escape with just a time penalty for ignoring yellow flags at Monaco. “Incident involving car number 6 under investigation” seemed a common note on our screens. Even his one feature race win at Silverstone came after incurring an admittedly harsh five-second penalty. If he can convert his qualifying speed, he should start 2024 as one of the title favourites as he jostles for position among the Alpine juniors.
4. Ollie Bearman BRITAIN Prema
6th in standings, 130pts (4 wins, 3 poles, 2 fastest laps, 5 podiums) – TP 40.4%, QA 7.3 (4th), FR 96 (5th), SR 28 (8th), LL 84 (2nd)
Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd
IW (2nd): F2 often has drivers who make a super strong impression in their rookie season but aren’t title contenders, then second-year expectations make them out as title contenders and instead they show little sign of improvement on what made them stand out first time around.
Bearman looks more like the kind of driver who will be able to raise his game when it comes to his second stab at F2, having already won four races and done the double in Baku. There was some typical first-year errors which limited him to sixth in the standings, but generally a new car, new tracks and new rivals were all challenges that Bearman took on with success. A season so impressive that Haas came calling with F1 practice runs.
RG (4th): On his day, and there were plenty this year, Ollie Bearman was the class of the field. His peaks seemed so high as to be completely beyond the rest. His double win in Baku was certainly the highest, taking pole with an awry steering wheel and chasing down victory twice. Monza was a master class in leading from the front at a circuit favouring the tow. Adding Barcelona, his tally of three feature wins was matched only by Doohan. But there were weekends when he was close to anonymous – Monaco and Abu Dhabi spring to mind. When he was off form he was too low even to benefit from the reversed grid, and only scored half his team-mate’s points on Saturdays. Winning in F2 requires consistency, but impressing the F1 bosses demands moments of brilliance. On that score, Bearman’s year was hard to match.
3. Jack Doohan AUSTRALIA Virtuosi Racing
3rd in standings, 168pts (3 wins, 2 poles, 3 fastest laps, 5 podiums) – TP 95.5%, QA 7.6 (5th), FR 139 (2nd), SR 25 (9th), LL 41 (5th)
IW (1st): The numbers tell a down-then-up story for Doohan, who was 70 points off the top after six rounds. In the next seven rounds he scored 128 points, 23 more than anyone else could manage. He won features races and took poles at the Hungaroring, Spa-Francorchamps and Yas Marina, demonstrating he had pace everywhere, and he scored more than 95% of his team’s points.
AA (2nd): In one word, resilient. Jack Doohan spent a big part of the 2023 season battling mechanical gremlins. Nevertheless, he stayed calm and collected, worked tirelessly and eventually had his reward in the form of three feature race victories. However, third in the standings is not what the Alpine junior was aiming for when he decided to continue with Virtuosi Racing for his sophomore Formula 2 season. After all, he might even have had a shot at the title without the driving mistakes he made at Monaco and Zandvoort feature races. Those were costly for his aspirations, but that is part of racing in the end. His fighting spirit stands out.
PA (5th): Doohan was a late charger after losing so much ground in the early stages while trying to resolve what were evidently some fairly fundamental issues. His late-season form better showed his true performance level: he scored more feature race points over the year than Vesti and wasn’t even far behind Pourchaire on that metric – though it’s important to note that he didn’t have the championship pressure they had to manage at the end of the season. There were still some costly mistakes on his part, as there were for all the drivers, and arguably a bit too much frustration heard over the radio waves even once his year was on the up.
2. Theo Pourchaire FRANCE ART Grand Prix
1st in standings, 203pts (1 win, 2 poles, 2 fastest laps, 10 podiums) – TP 57.5%, QA 5.2 (2nd), FR 155 (1st), SR 44 (4th), LL 36 (6th)
Photos: Formula Motorsport Ltd
PA (1st): More than any other driver, Pourchaire achieved what he set out to at the beginning of the season. So it’s hard to rank anybody else ahead of him, even if others might have been more spectacular. Modern F2 is full of pitfalls and Pourchaire navigated these pretty expertly, and was clearly a more mature character than in past years. One can’t help but feel there’s more speed in him, but that those last tenths have been held back in order to achieve the consistent point-scoring that won him the title. But while Abu Dhabi was an underwhelming conclusion, his performance at Monza almost three months earlier was a demonstration in how to win a championship.
RG (2nd): Undoubtedly a worthy champion yet there is something unsatisfying about Pourchaire’s season. But was anything less than swashbuckling, Drugovich-style dominance always likely to be insufficient to quell the critics? Is it enough to win the F2 title or do you have to crush the opposition with multiple poles and wins to deserve an F1 opportunity? In truth, he executed the perfect approach to winning the championship – consistent points-scoring. He scored comfortably more points in feature races than anybody else, despite only winning once. He stood on the podium 10 times, seven of which were in Sunday’s main event. His team-mate, Martins, may have had the edge on outright pace but failed to turn speed into points. In fairness, Pourchaire simply had to make sure of the title, almost certainly sacrificing some aggression to achieve the objective. But was it one year too late to impress F1’s team bosses?
AA (6th): Third time lucky! After two strong years in the series, Theo Pourchaire became Formula 2 champion, but like his predecessors Oscar Piastri and Felipe Drugovich he won’t be stepping up to Formula 1 right away. He shone in qualifying, where he finished within the top five positions in 10 out of 13 sessions in 2023. In the races, despite winning only once, he was consistent enough to outscore his rivals in the standings. Improvements were definitely made from previous seasons, especially mindset-wise. However, one would expect a more dominant season from a driver aiming for F1 who has loads of experience and hasn’t had to adapt to a new team.
1. Frederik Vesti DENMARK Prema
2nd in standings, 192pts (6 wins, 1 pole, 1 fastest lap, 10 podiums) – TP 59.6%, QA 5.7 (3rd), FR 134 (3rd), SR 56 (1st), LL 146 (1st)
Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd
RG (1st): To be frank, it is hard to find any F2 driver who unequivocally deserves to top this year’s ranking yet with a little more fortune Vesti would have been a clear choice. He won six times, more than anybody else, but only twice in feature races. Having said that, he was imperious in claiming pole at Monaco and keeping calm to take victory after a lengthy red flag. Losing both rear wheels at Zandvoort and being punted off at Monza cost strong points finishes while in Austria an ill-timed safety car ruined his strategy when cruising to victory. He can be marked down for his spins at Spa (on the way to the grid) and Zandvoort but none of his rivals were faultless. And, even allowing for recency bias, his gutsy performance at Yas Marina will long stay in the memory. It’s just a shame that there appears very little chance of an F1 opening, Mercedes backing or not.
PA (2nd): Vesti took the biggest step forward of any returning driver. Reuniting with Prema finally brought out the sort of form seen in his previous years with the team – and the sort of form you would expect from a Mercedes junior with this much experience. He was particularly effective in sprint races, though his three wins in those in the second half of the year all came from the top three on the reversed grid. There were some missed opportunities in feature races, and although he suffered bad luck at times, it also doesn’t feel like an injustice that the title eluded him. Vesti showed this year that he will make an excellent professional in racing for years to come, but probably not enough sparkle to force his way into F1.
AA (5th): Vesti’s sophomore F2 season consisted of an expected step forward in performance and consistency. At Prema, he feels at home, and his achievements with the Italian team over the years prove so. He was undoubtedly the best driver during the first half of the year. He maximised his package and scored points while others failed to do so. Although he was not at fault, Silverstone’s feature race retirement marked a change in trend. Mistakes at Spa-Francorchamps and Zandvoort followed, but it was the overtake attempt on Roman Stanek at Monza that really punished his title charge. He rushed the most when he had to be the calmest. Also the need to emphasise how crucial his race engineer Pedro Matos has been over the course of the season leaves one wondering what would have been without him.