Should F2 introduce a maximum stay for drivers?

Formula 2 CEO Bruno Michel recently confirmed that the Formula 1 feeder championship has no desire to introduce a limit on the number of seasons in which a driver can compete.

With the question raised in a post-season media round table – Richard Verschoor’s entry for a fifth year the catalyst – Michel said: “It’s a very good question.

“We are part of a pyramid, so normally, you go up at the end or you do something else. On the other hand, we have 22 cars and not all of the drivers are going to go to Formula 1 – we know that.

“We are very happy because this year we will have quite a lot of them going there, but it is not going to be the same every season, and I am quite happy to see drivers we have had in the past – some drivers that have done many as many races as Richard will do next year. We had Ralf Boschung who spent four or five years in F2, and I don’t see an issue in that.

“I would see an issue if those guys were taking places of really bright talent that had to come up.”

While Michel certainly makes a valid point, other series such as Euroformula Open and F1 Academy limit the number of campaigns in which a driver can compete, with this number three for the former and two for the latter.

Explaining why this is important to F1 Academy, a spokesperson told Autosport: “To encourage progression and support rising talent, the Sporting Regulations specify that drivers may only compete in two seasons of F1 Academy.

“This rule ensures that every year there are opportunities for the most talented young women coming through the karting and single seater ranks to compete in the series.”

The driver’s view

When climbing the ladder, there are fewer and fewer drivers competing for space the higher you get; a natural process as the wheat is sorted from the chaff. This means that while categories lower down the order may require a cap on participation, the risk of a driver becoming a roadblock lessens in the higher rungs. But if a driver reaches a ceiling and is unable to progress higher, it must be conceded that this could become an issue.

While it can be tempting to snipe from the sidelines at a driver perceived to be creating such a block, the differing situations of those behind the wheel should always be considered.

Ralph Boschung is one such example. With a record 120 starts in the second tier to his name, the Swiss driver featured in F2 between 2017-23 but completed just two full campaigns due to financial difficulties.

With his high bar set to be bettered by Verschoor this year – his total potentially set to rise to 130 starts – Boschung explained to Autosport why he kept battling against the tide.

“I was always struggling with budget – that was the main reason I was always trying to come back and compete a full season with a team I wanted which, in the beginning, was always quite tough to do,” he said.

“If a driver struggles to get the sponsors and actually race in F2 and it is his dream to do F2, I don’t think that there should be a limit really. Obviously, at some point as a driver, you need to be realistic and say ‘OK, if this doesn’t work out then I might just try something else’.

“From my side, I was always really driven to actually get a full season and show what I am capable of when the whole funding situation has finally cleared up, which then was the case towards the end.

“Obviously, if you have some drivers that have the full budget available and stay there for many years but don’t actually bring any sort of result, I think that is a sign that maybe they should actually go somewhere else.”

Conceding that F1 teams often look less favourably on drivers who remain in F2 for longer than a year or two – champions Theo Pourchaire and Felipe Drugovich being prime examples of this after winning the title in their third full years respectively but remaining out of the picture for F1 race seats – Boschung believes a continued push and the mental strength shown through this can attract the attention of other “professional” teams.

Referencing Verschoor again, he added: “His case is very similar and I do think that he’s chasing – not disregarding the F1 dream – but still showing lots of podiums and wins in F2 will open up some opportunities potentially in a professional seat, whether it’s in GTs, Formula E, Hypercar, IndyCar…so I think that’s what he’s trying to do.

“On the other side, he only managed to get all of the funding secured across the last two years instead of the last five years, so I think he’s trying to maximise that with the sponsors he’s got and also himself in terms of results.”

The merits of a long F2 stay

Richard Verschoor, Trident

Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images

While there is a risk of a roadblock being created by having drivers remain on the grid potentially beyond their sell-by date as far as F1 teams are concerned, it does not mean that they are a waste of space.

“At the end of the day, it’s not an issue and I think it’s very important for a bright driver who wants to achieve Formula 1, to have to fight with drivers with this kind of experience, because it gives a very important and precise level of where they are when they race with a driver like Richard Verschoor,” said Michel.

Adding his thoughts on experienced hands acting as a “barometer” for success for rookies, Boschung added: “I believe what Bruno says is true, that when you do have one or two highly experienced drivers in the series, they can actually get that a little bit as a reference.

“And also potentially for F1 teams or other professional teams, if they see a certain rookie consistently beating a guy that has been there for a couple of years and actually has won races or been on the podium a lot, it can also be an indication of how fast that rookie can be.”

Motorsport.com says

This is a matter that is far richer in colour than the black-and-white lens that it could easily be viewed through. Given the sheer volume of drivers that fall off the ladder following a spell in F3, it is natural to want to see more of these aspiring talents given a shot at a higher level rather than seeing a handful of the same old faces returning year after year.

But even with the additional background citing the benefit for the drivers who remain in situé for an extended period, it is difficult to see how a three-term maximum stay – discounting an end-of-year appearance or two for F3 graduates – would be a net negative.

Rookies would still face rivals with around 60 races of previous experience, and the risk of a roadblock would be removed. Yes, it would mean that drivers like Boschung and Verschoor would be forced to move elsewhere, but this could be somewhat of a blessing in disguise, forcing an uncomfortable lead of faith on them and removing them from a setting in which they have potentially become comfortable.

Also, as previously said by Michel, F2 exists to ensure drivers are ready for F1 when their time comes. So as admirable as the side quest of ensuring drivers that fail to make the cut have a future in series away from F1 is, if it potentially comes at the expense of bringing through a promising junior, it becomes a problem. Removing this risk before it becomes an issue and not after, is the main thread here.

It should be said, that drivers are aligned in there being little wrong with F2 in its present guise, but here is an example of a tweak that could work to benefit the overall product.