Junior Formula. Discussion of F2, F3, F4, Formula Renault, TRS, W-Series, Indy Lights, etcOpen Wheel 

  • Thread starter Thread starter twitcher
  • 657 comments
  • 84,029 views
2024 Formula 3 champion Leonardo Fornaroli has just won his first F2 race with the Sprint Race at Silverstone.

It's his first race win since the 5th June 2021 in Italian Formula 4. Consistency is key, but a race win must be nice!
 
First win at F2 level for Luke Browning. Very consistent this year, up to 2nd in the championship. Overshadowing his more hyped countryman Lindblad, who spent the race ramming other drivers off the track with boneheaded moves.

Much like Fornaroli who leads the championship, these 2 don’t get as much attention as some of the others in the field but they get results.
 
Last edited:
Does anybody know a good app or website to get results for these kind of racing series? I have tried a view but was usually appalled by the terrible user experience.

The one app/site I usually love (Flashscore) is quite lacking in motorsports unfortunately.
 
Alex Dunne and McLaren have parted ways. He'll have to get his F2 car repainted for the final couple of rounds.
Seems like he's off to another F1 academy with a clearer path to a race seat, as there is obviously no chance of a seat with the papayas.

EDIT - Sounds like he’s joining the Red Bull juniors. Staying in F2 for 2026, chance of moving up the following year.
 
Last edited:
Colton Herta to drive for Hitech in the 2026 F2 season. They currently have Luke Browning 3rd in the championship - if he wins that automatically vacates a seat. He might be moving on anyway. Other driver this year is Ferrari junior Dino Beganovic.
 
Last edited:
I'm very surprised that Herta is still only 25. Still kind of an odd move. Similar to Miyata coming over from Super Formula.
 
Wilsonson
I'm very surprised that Herta is still only 25. Still kind of an odd move. Similar to Miyata coming over from Super Formula.
Click to expand...

Cadillac want him in F1, he wants F1, makes sense entirely.

Will be interesting to see if he can hit the ground running.
 
Pepe Marti ending his F2 season/career early and heading to Formula E

www.fiaformulae.com

Pepe Martí joins CUPRA KIRO

CUPRA KIRO is excited to announce that Spanish racing star, Pepe Martí, will join the team for the upcoming 2025/26 FIA Formula E World Championship season.
www.fiaformulae.com www.fiaformulae.com
 
This win and you're banned rule for F2 is dumb imo. Talents like Drugovich go to waste because there is no opening for them at F1. Let's hope Fornaroli gets a fair shot. With all the impressive rookies this year it is going to be tough though.

But surely these two guys must be a better bet for a team than Lawson or Colapinto.
 
Wilsonson
This win and you're banned rule for F2 is dumb imo. Talents like Drugovich go to waste because there is no opening for them at F1. Let's hope Fornaroli gets a fair shot. With all the impressive rookies this year it is going to be tough though.

But surely these two guys must be a better bet for a team than Lawson or Colapinto.
Click to expand...
Leo is joining McLaren as test/development driver. Very likely taking part in FP1 for the F1 finale this weekend.
 


Edit: video is blocked to view outside of YouTube for me. Therefore screenshot here:
1000022043.webp


One seat less for Fornaroli. But still deserved for Lindblad I guess. Even though that statement could be true for many F2 drivers.

The level of talent of the recent years (at least in depth, maybe not peak generational talents) is unprecedented I would guess.

It feels like there's easily 10 guys that would have a realistic shot of making a career in F1. The recent performances of Hadjar, Bortoleto, etc is a testament to that.

And then we have another random 18 year old new kid on the block pop up every year on top of those it seems.

And of course Freddie was a topic in this thread many times already when it comes to potential prodigies.
 
Last edited:
Freddie is supposedly close to signing up with Audi, so he’ll have a path to F1 if he does well in F3 & F2.
 
Wilsonson
Isn't he already at McLaren?
Click to expand...
Freddie Slater? No. They held talks earlier in the year but he didn't sign.

McLaren on the mens side now have Leo Fornaroli & Richard Verschoor from F2 this year and a couple of promising younger drivers - Dries Van Langendonck (15) and Matteo De Palo (18).
 
Kalle Rovanpera will particpate in the New Zealand Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Trophy for Hitech as preparation for his Super Formula tilt in 2026. He will also be present at the Super Formula test at Suzuka next week.
 
Ist there any precedent for rally drivers trying the switch to open wheelers? I'm really intrigued to see how his attempts go. Being exceptionally good at one motorsport definitely translates into being at least competitive in another (compare Valentino Rossi in GT3) but what about being world class?
 
Wilsonson
Ist there any precedent for rally drivers trying the switch to open wheelers? I'm really intrigued to see how his attempts go. Being exceptionally good at one motorsport definitely translates into being at least competitive in another (compare Valentino Rossi in GT3) but what about being world class?
Click to expand...
There almost was, Sebastien Loeb had an F1 race contract for Toro Rosso back in 2009 to race in the Abu Dhabi GP and then a full 2010 campaign. His testing times were competitive in the tests he did and was reportedly very in tune with the car feel and setups.

Some say it was all a publicity stunt and would never have happened, but it was all allegedly signed off and the only stumbling block was Loeb not having a super license. FIA didn't grant him one via exemption (as a 5 time WRC champion at this point) and the idea was never revisited as he was already 35 by the point of the 2009 season.

Outside of that, none come to mind. Plenty of rally drivers have done various different circuit racing series' but no open wheel ones. Ogier has done a few WEC appearances, Loeb of course came 2nd at Le Mans and was pretty handy in WTCC with multiple wins and podiums, Colin McRae raced at Le Mans and came 3rd in class.

It's more common for Open Wheel drivers to move to rallying, Kimi Raikkonen did WRC for 3 season, only 1 stage win to his name. Kubica did it for 4 years, winning the WRC2 title in 2013, Heikki Kovalainen races in the Japanese Rally Championship.
 
Last edited:
Fezzik
Leo is joining McLaren as test/development driver. Very likely taking part in FP1 for the F1 finale this weekend.
Click to expand...
Unfortunately not. Pato O'Ward got another shot.

A total of 9 alternate drivers got a chance today. Is that a record? The only one somewhat keeping up with their team mates was 31 y/o ( 😮 ) WEC driver Ryo Hirakawa in the Haas (compared to Bearman). All others were quite off the pace.

This Cian Shields fella must be hella rich. I have no idea how this guy has an F2 seat let alone F1 seat time.

1000022135.webp
 
Wilsonson
This Cian Shields fella must be hella rich. I have no idea how this guy has an F2 seat let alone F1 seat time.
Click to expand...
Rich dad. It's just the way for motorsport. Very hard to get a seat without family money or personal sponsors.
 
Yeah. Hamilton making his way with his parents 'only' being middle class was quite the sensation iirc.

Motorsports is insanely expensive and to even get to a point where a young talent could get noticed you have to have the means to facilitate even getting that far.

Super GT once talked about this. He was a promising karting driver. UK karting is the most accessible in the world by a huge margin and his parents are reasonably well off (upper middle class small medium business owner iirc) but he still had to quit because it was too expensive.

It wouldn't be far fetched to call every single F1 driver a nepo baby but on the other hand making motorsports accessible to all kids like regular sports just simply is impossible. But that's pretty off topic. Sorry.

What I mean is that this guy just seems to be on another level of nepotism. His F2 results and pace are absolutely terrible. Understandable that he has his seat in F2 if the team is well compensated.

What I don't understand is why billionaire Lawrence Stroll wastes this opportunity to put Shields in his car when the guy has absolutely no business being there. It can't be for the money because Aston Martin doesn't need it. And it surely can't be because they actually think he could have a shot at F1. That's what baffles me.

Edit: from Reddit 😂

1000022137.webp
 
Last edited:

Similar threads

ART Haighy
ARS International Formula Series: Closed.
Replies
24
Views
3K
ART Haighy
ART Haighy
aceboy127
A.R.S. Indy Lights Season 4 | Dylan wins the MX-5 Cup and Aceboy wins the Indy Lights Series
2 3 4
Replies
119
Views
11K
aceboy127
aceboy127
The Bman
X2014 Junior Cup Series - Race 2/12 @ Monza - *DELAYED INDEFINITELY *
2 3 4
Replies
117
Views
8K
Michelin
Michelin
Eh Team
VRR Repsol Touring Car World Series Season 4 - The End of the GT Sport Era
Replies
12
Views
4K
Mindaugas
Mindaugas
Matty
GTP Indy Lights Series | Room Open!
5 6 7
Replies
186
Views
62K
Chqr
Chqr

Latest Posts

Back