The official start date of the Formula 2 championship is 2017, but the principal training category of future F1 drivers can be considered a continuation of the GP2 Series that ran between 2005 and 2016. After all, F2’s first modern champion Charles Leclerc was crowned after a season in the Dallara GP2/11 that had been used in the previous six seasons of GP2.
Of GP2’s 12 champions, Lewis Hamilton, Nico Hulkenberg and Pierre Gasly remain on the F1 grid, while inaugural title winner Nico Rosberg joined Hamilton in becoming a world champion before retiring from racing at the end of 2016. But beyond its most famous alumni, GP2 helped develop numerous drivers who came close but did not quite manage to clinch the title.
