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🛣️ F2, F3, WSeries 2022: The long road to the top

We’ve had around half of the season now, so it’s a good time to start looking at the driver market, and while the drivers here may not end up moving up in 2023, all of the drivers I’m going to talk about - except for one - are linked to a Formula 1 driver academy, which gives them a recognised pathway to the top step of the open-wheel ladder.

Before working all that out though, you need some context and the pathways that drivers might have to proceed. That means one of five driver pathways really - linked via the four engine manufacturers in F1 and then a wildcard. We’ll start with Red Bull and Alpha Tauri, who both use Red Bull Powertrains in their vehicles.

Red Bull will line up with Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez, after the Mexican driver reupped until 2024. No room to move up then for Pierre Gasly and Alpha Tauri, so he’s still there next season. Japanese driver Yuki Tsunoda - without the Honda safety net - doesn’t yet have a contract for 2023.

But there are a slew of junior drivers in F2 and F3. I’ve picked one from each respective series, with current F3 champion Dennis Hauger and Jonny Edgar.

Dennis Hauger has been impressive in Formula 3, and Italian F4 before that. He took five consecutive podium finishes in 2021, but the step up to Formula 2 has been a challenge, not always of his own making.

Those challenges aside, Hauger is building his own portfolio of results while he auditions in the Red Bull Junior Team - a championship within a championship almost. I almost picked Prema teammate Jehan Daruvala - an excellent defensive driver - who has been given F1 experience with a McLaren test, but Hauger’s age (19 vs 23) gave him the edge here. A step up to Alpha Tauri next season feels unlikely for either driver, but with Hauger focused on learning, he might be one to watch in the future.

"It’s just about keeping the progression going. We got the Sprint Race win in Monaco and now the Feature Race win so there’s definitely progression there. We just have to keep building that up. - Hauger, speaking after winning in Baku, reported by The Checkered Flag."

Jonny Edgar has eight points so far this season, so why am I spotlightling a driver who is 18th in the Championship, especially as his Isack Hadjar and Jak Crawford, his Red Bull Junior Rivals, are ahead of him? Edgar missed four races over two rounds after being diagnosed with Crohn’s disease and took his first points of the season at Silverstone before adding another points finish in Austria. If he can stay healthy, his smooth driving style sticks out in the F3 mixer.

As a sidenote, he also gets a different shade of blue on his car and I’ve no idea why.

Ferrari are both settled, with Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz both on long-term deals, and that might have knock-on effects further down the grid, with Haas, who would have perhaps wanted to see more progress from Mick Schumacher. Despite scoring his first F1 points at Silverstone, the German has cost his team financially - he will need a strong second half of the season to retain that seat alongside Kevin Magnussen. 

As for the other Ferrari-powered team, Alfa Romeo have Valtteri Bottas and a dilemma. On the one hand, you’ve got Zhou Guanyu, China’s first Formula 1 driver, an alleged $30m of money behind him and a home Grand Prix awaiting him in 2023. The dilemma comes from Frenchman Theo Pourchaire.

Pourchaire was the first F3 driver who caught my eye when I started watching the junior series properly, winning the feature race in Monaco before he could legally drive an actual car around the place.

The French driver wouldn’t bring as much sponsorship money as Zhou, and if there isn’t a critical (i.e. podium-achieving) difference between the drivers, the continuity and financial security might buy another year, and there might be an world championship level opt-out too.

  

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At the start of the year, Pourchaire helped Nissan test their Gen3 Formula E car. He seemed super happy with the opportunity and it might be a different step on the way to Formula 1. But that comes with a note of caution. Only one driver has competed in an ePrix before a Grand Prix and that was Pierre Gasly. He stepped in at one race weekend for Sebastian Buemi a few months before his eventual F1 debut. If Pourchaire does have Formula 1 ambitions, he’ll need to break that streak.

The F1 team who supplies the most teams probably has no driver issues in its own team. Mercedes have Lewis Hamilton and George Russell, and while the legendary Hamilton might or could walk away from the sport, it’s probably too soon at the moment for Frederik Vesti. McLaren have “mechanisms” where they’re not committed to Daniel Ricciardo while Lando Norris isn’t going anywhere. 

Speaking of drivers not going anywhere, Lance Stroll has arguably the safest seat on the grid, while four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel has an expiring deal, and while Nico Hulkenberg could be a candidate to replace his countryman on a permanent basis, there is the potential of a wildcard.

Felipe Drugovich currently leads the Formula 2 standings. As a pro tip for any writer, it isn’t imaginative to mark out the championship leader as someone to watch. But in this case, the Brazilian doesn’t have a driver academy and so either doesn’t have a pathway… or in fact, has a completely open route to the top. With age on his side, Drugovich had a fairly poor time in F3, but has made the step up well, breaking the 100-point barrier in all three of his seasons at the F2 level. 

A return to MP Motorsport in 2022 seems to be the making of the 22-year-old, who has won four races so far this season, and scored points in every round, with the exception of the Monaco sprint. He’s the top of the tree at the moment, and on the surface, it does seem odd that an F1 outfit hasn’t at least tried to tie him down to their team with a contract and financial support for what is a very expensive sport.

That leaves Williams, and it seems Nicholas Latifi is playing out the season, with Oscar Piastri or Nyck de Vries the most obvious replacements. It might be just one reason too soon for Logan Sargeant, although there is some obvious marketability points for the American if he made it to the elite level.

Discounting a surprise Andretti entry to be the eleventh team on the grid, Alpine are the team left, with a double world champion who is showing no signs of stopping and Esteban Ocon - no slouch himself. They also have Oscar Piastri in reserve, and have a formidable driver academy. There are a couple of drivers worth looking at beyond F2’s Jack Doohan and Victor Martins, showing the potential bottleneck that’s building at the French team.

Caio Collet is a driver I’ve long been a fan of - I wrote a little about him in one of the very early issues of this blog. The Brazilian has an unconventional, aggressive driving style which sometimes acts as a bit of a curse, but also helped him score in seven consecutive races in 2021 - not an easy feat in the 30-car Royal Rumble that is Formula 3. 

As he develops, and maybe gets a step up next year, the 20-year-old should eventually control that aggression and develop his racecraft to be a more well-rounded driver.

The other driver that’s worth keeping an eye on has demonstrated some great racecraft in W Series and is an Alpine Affiliate - a step below the Academy. Abbi Pulling has a record of finishing in the points whenever she drives in the series. Pulling is currently second in her first full W Series season. She’s one to watch, and Alpine obviously agree. 

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