This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Formula 2 championship’s inception (then under the GP2 mantle), but there’s another reason why it represents a landmark for the series: F2 has four drivers graduating directly to Formula 1 – something that had not happened since 2010, when the F1 grid expanded from 20 to 24 cars. In other words, this is rather unprecedented in normal circumstances.
As a consequence, the much-renewed field of nine returnees and 13 rookies has much to prove to have a chance to grab an F1 seat in 2026, especially as teams may bank on experience in the first season of F1’s incoming technical rules with a new engine formula.
