F2: Who is best placed to be the next Formula Two champion?

Formula One has seen an explosion of young talent enter its ranks over the past few years, and with the likes of Charles Leclerc and George Russell having made the jump from Formula Two to the big stage as series champions. The next question will be who can step up and take that next leap into Formula One, and while we’ve seen a championship doesn’t always end up in a Formula One seat, who is best placed to get themselves noticed by the current F1 paddock?

Utilising a full re-brand in 2017, the former GP2 series which itself was a phoenix from the ashes of Formula 3000, was renamed the FIA Formula Two Championship and with exposure on the likes of Sky Sports F1, ESPN3 and Fox Sports Asia and equally being added to the Formula One support package, Formula Two has become one of the most exciting single seat racing series currently running.

The two race format with the longer Saturday ‘Feature Race’ and Sunday’s ‘Sprint race’ with a reversed top-8 has given us some incredible racing over the past few years, and with all cars using the Dallara F2 2018 chassis and a V6 Turbo Mechachrome engine, the championship has seen which drivers can truly get the most out of their equal machinery.

The long awaited 2020 season is due to get underway in Austria, and the grid this season will see five former Formula Two racers in Charles Leclerc, George Russell, Alexander Albon, Lando Norris and this seasons rookie Williams driver Nicholas Latifi.

However, as proven by the omission of Dutch driver Nyck De Vries, winning the Formula Two championship is not a golden ticket into Formula One. The academy drivers make up a significant amount of talent inside the Formula Two paddock, so with teams already invested in them, who will make that step up and grab the proverbial brass ring.

Let’s take a look at a few drivers best placed for a championship run in Formula Two over the next few seasons.

First up you have to look at Ol’ faithful, and that’s ART Racing.

ART have had large success in the past with both drivers champions in 2017 and 2018 along with nurturing stars to championship glory in the former GP2 series on multiple occasions. We can’t forget that the likes of future F1 World Champions Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg both won at ART, but 2019 was a strange year for the French constructor.

It took Nyck De Vries to a championship in his third year in the series, but F2 rookie and Formula Three graduate Nikita Mazepin struggled for pace, consistency and often to keep out of trouble, as the Russian only managed five points scoring finishes last year, only taking ART to third in the constructors championship, which for a team so used to winning, was not good enough.

De Vries missed out on a seat in F1 and moved to Mercedes Formula E team and Mazepin joined new Formula Two team Hitech Grand Prix leaving two open seats. The French team decided to fill them with two Formula Three graduates, Dane Christian Lundgaard and New Zealander Marcus Armstrong.

On the surface it may look like a risk having two brand new drivers in the team, but ART have always been able to sign championship ready calibre talent and hold a high standing in the junior formula. When they come knocking, it would be wise to answer.

However, looking at it you have two drivers very well prepared for life in the fast-lane. Marcus Armstrong is a Ferrari driver academy hope who pushed title rival and Prema team mate Robert Schwartzman all the way, until a dreadful Monza weekend effectively ended his title hopes before securing second in the championship in Sochi.

Whilst new team-mate Christian Lundgaard had a mixed season with a podium in the first race of the year in Catalunya, before not scoring over the next two race weekends. He then enjoyed a mid season recovery including a win in Hungary and consecutive fourth’s in Belgium, before once again not scoring over the final two weekends as he just missed out on fifth to Pedro Piquet who equally follows him to F2 with Charouz.

His affiliation to Renault as part of their academy has given the Dane the opportunity of a championship contending seat, and if he can maintain consistency could be a real threat for a championship push and peak the interest of Renault, if Daniel Ricciardo left the team.

The pair are very well thought of in the paddock, and while Armstrong is looking more likely to be the main man. I wouldn’t discard ART being a real force in both championships.

Italian outfit Prema was the home for Charles Leclerc in his sublime Formula Two championship season. It enjoys very strong ties with Ferrari, and has seen several Ferrari academy members find a seat in the F2 and F3 grids.

It’s an interesting season for Prema as they come off the back of a disastrous season in Formula Two, yet superlative season in Formula Three. They retain the services of Mick Schumacher who came into the sport with a hype train that seemingly weighed down the young German to a crawl. However, a win in Hungary’s sprint race showed a glimpse of his capabilities, but too often he was involved in incidents or caught out by strategy to be effective.

He will look to be much improved this season, as with the high hopes of the Tifosi and many Formula One fans clamouring to see a Schumacher back in the sport, Mick needs a much better outing if he’s to find a seat at Alfa Romeo, with the possibility of Kimi Raikkonen’s seat in 2021 free.

The German is joined by reigning Formula Three champion and standout Robert Schwartzman. The Russian blew the field away last year in sensational style, and with 11 podiums in sixteen races including three wins he was able to wrap up the title in his home country, as a double podium in Sochi wrapped up a great year for the 20 year old.

Another Ferrari academy product, the Prema team have now got the eyes of Maranello and the majority of Italy on them to deliver. Its rookie protegee Schwartzman will be coming off a high after last seasons Formula Three title, but he now goes toe-to-toe with a Schumacher. It was a season where Mick acclimatised and got used to a much increased spotlight, but hopefully now we will see a reinvigorated driver and potentially the most explosive pairing on the Formula Two grid.

Unsurprisingly, Carlin has an interesting line-up for 2020 and much like ART they have dipped into Formula Three and have signed two rookies that have the potential for real wildcard title runs this season.

The pair of Yuki Tsunoda and Jehan Daruvala make up a fascinating garage with the marketability of the two very strong in this era of drivers needing top tier sponsors to continue moving up the ladder.

Tsunoda, a member of the much talked about Red Bull Junior team, but more importantly Honda Formula Dream Project. It has been known for a long time that Honda has been desperate to get a Japanese driver back into Formula One, and not since Kamui Kobayashi moved out of Caterham F1 in 2014 has Japan seen a driver capable of being the next hopes for a nation which adores its Motorsport.

Pairing up with Red Bull would suggest that regardless of championship or not that Tsunoda would be in line for a move to Alpha Tauri in 2021 or 2022, and will be using this time in Formula Two as a stepping stone before making that move and re-lighting Honda’s aspirations of a Japanese driver on the podium in Formula One in a Honda powered car.

Daruvala on the other hand has returned to Carlin after a semi-successful season at Prema which saw him take third in the title with two wins and six podiums. He certainly hasn’t seen as much success in his young career, but signing with the Red Bull Junior team in 2020 has given him the chance at fighting for the Alpha Tauri seats in future seasons.

India is another market which is yet to see a competitive Formula One driver. Narain Karthikeyan and Karun Chandhok both spent their careers in backmarker  teams, but with sponsorship available, could we see Daruvala be an interesting prospect for a sponsor hunting team? He may have had the car in 2019’s F3 season, but now with Tsunoda alongside, will he be able to keep up the competitive momentum?

Away from the ‘big’ Formula Two teams, perhaps Uni-Virtuosi can continue their good form with Ferrari academy driver Callum Illot and Renault academy hopeful Guanyu Zhou. Zhou was very impressive in 2019, and won the inaugural “Anthoine Hubert Award” for highest placed rookie by adding five podiums to his points tally. The Chinese driver could be a dark horse in the championship, while Ilott needs to increase his race consistency after qualifying well, but often falling down the order come lights out.

Formula Two stalwarts such as Jack Aitken (Campos), Luca Ghiotto (Hitech) and Artem Markelov (BWT HWA Racelab) are all back and capable of stealing wins with experience, and Markelov’s exceptional talent of looking after the fragile Pirelli rubber.

A team that may struggle are last seasons Constructors winners, DAMS. The French team add F2 journeyman Sean Gelael with controversial British driver Dan Ticktum as they look to retain their place at the top table in Formula Two.

What you can expect is that when Formula Two returns to the circuit that it will be as frenetic, exciting and fun as ever. The feeder series often out-shines Formula One for on track action and unpredictability, and I for one cannot wait to see it back.

I would like to make one addition, and that’s just to remind all of the talent that Anthoine Hubert was becoming. The popular Frenchman was improving race on race for Arden. It seemed with his ties to Renault, along with his support after his wins in Monaco and Le Castellet meant that we should have been adding his name to this list as one of the favourites for the title in Formula Two and a race seat in Formula One.

His legacy will never be lost, and although his young career was ended too soon, he will forever be remembered as a driver who gave everything and did it all with a smile.