As dusk begins to settle upon 2022, here is a look at the top five drivers of a thrilling F2 season.
In a season which provided 12 different individual race winners plus plenty of enthralling breath-taking action across 28 races over 14 rounds, there is plenty to saviour in regard to the talent on display throughout the grid this year.
Some drivers however were able to shine brighter than others in different ways so here is a look at my take on the top five drivers of the 2022 F2 season.
5) Richard Verschoor (Trident)
Despite only finishing 12th overall in the driver standings, Richard Verschoor has quietly done a solid job in a below-par team at Trident as he not only delivered their first race win in the modern F2 era in Bahrain but also their highest-placed championship finish for a single driver.
Amidst a mid-season slump between Imola and Hungary with just three points finishes, we shouldn’t forget that Verschoor showed excellent racecraft when given a strong car, as he executed a fine gamble to win the Austrian Feature Race only to be disqualiefied for a breach of fuel regulations.
Verschoor also finished the season in fine form as the only driver to finish each of the last nine races inside the points-paying positions, of which he was in the top eight finishers in eight of those nine races despite his Trident car not being the most competitive car across this season.
It is therefore fair that he gets the credit that he deserves and following his move to Van Amersfoort Racing for next season, this 22 year-old Dutchman hopefully can continue to grow and push for more success in 2023.
4) Ayumu Iwasa (DAMS)
Having enjoyed a steady 2021 season in F3 during which he claimed just one win, Ayumu Iwasa has certainly made a huge step forward this season in both one-lap and race pace to earn himself a quality top-five finish on merit.
On one-lap pace, Iwasa outqualified his more experienced teammate, Roy Nissany, in 11 of 13 rounds this season (Nissany was suspended for Monza but Iwasa outqualified Luca Ghiotto at that event), which underlined his huge progress after outqualifying teammates just twice in F3 last season.
Iwasa’s race pace meanwhile has been a brilliant upward curve across the season from his memorable drive from 22nd to eighth in the season-opening Sprint Race, to two deserved Feature Race wins in France and Abu Dhabi – even though the latter victory was a gutsy hard-fought fight.
Now Iwasa’s task is to continue progressing forward if he wants an AlphaTauri seat in F1 in 2024 because he will have the continuity of staying with DAMS next season, although he will need to raise his game because Arthur Leclerc won’t roll over like Nissany often did this season.
3) Logan Sargeant (Carlin)
Following F3 title heartbreak with PREMA in 2020, Logan Sargeant showed a different side of his skillset as he demonstrated his leadership skills as he effectively guided Charouz almost single-handedly to fifth in the 2021 F3 team standings.
F2 though could of easily proven a different beast for Sargeant in his first full season in the category – especially as a Williams F1 junior, yet he just found his feet quickly with some strong consistent drives in the first half of the season to put himself on course for his FIA Super License and a F1 seat.
Inconsistency though crept into his race performances during the last 11 races of the campaign, with four of his five retirements during that period mainly caused by his own mistakes and collisions, yet his Qualifying form still remained consistent as he ultimately secured fifth and his FIA Super License.
With his FIA Super License, Sargeant now will race in F1 with Williams next season but needs to cut his mistakes, otherwise he could be another Nicholas Latifi in motorsport’s top-tier, because he has shown that his racecraft can be excellent with a superb defensive drive to win at Silverstone.
Nevertheless, Sargeant showed incredible raw talent in his single F2 campaign which earned him the Anthoine Hubert Award for rookie of the season, with two wins to boot – albeit by luck in Austria – but he now needs to continue his upward progress and find consistency to do well in F1.
2) Theo Pourchaire (ART GP)
All eyes were on Theo Pourchaire back in March as this season’s highest-returning driver as he looked to fight for the title at minimum, of which the Frenchman certainly didn’t disappoint.
An oil leak in the season-opening Sprint Race in Bahrain could of served as an ominious sign of bad luck but Pourchaire quickly corrected that with a brilliant Feature Race win, albeit by luck after clipping Jack Doohan’s front wing as the latter exited the pit lane in their fight victory.
Inconsistency throughout the season though summed up Pourchaire’s campaign because despite finding himself in a competitive title fight against Felipe Drugovich, Pourchaire just lacked the consistent punch needed to get close for much of the season especially when the Brazilian went off boil.
Luck in two of his three race victories and misfortune for other drivers across all 14 rounds though meant that Pourchaire drove a brilliant season to finish as vice-champion, whilst we can’t forget the part that he played in some of the closest race results this season.
Pourchaire’s strongest highlight for me personally this season is easily his epic Feature Race duel against Drugovich around the Principality of Monaco, which had the feels of classic F1 as in Senna v Mansell esque style between the two title contenders.
With no plans for next season firmed up, I am intrigued as to what Pourchaire will do because if he stays in F2, he will have a chance to atone for his inconsistency with another title fight – yet spending a year as Alfa Romeo reserve in F1 with FP1 runs could on the cards with view to a F1 seat in 2024.
1) Felipe Drugovich (MP Motorsport)
‘Consistency’ is the only word to sum up Drugovich’s title winning campaign because he has simply been another class above the rest of the field.
Having spent the entire season within top five contenders from the conclusion of the opening round onwards, Drugovich showed incredible consistency across one-lap pace in which he qualified in the top ten for all but one race, underlining his raw speed with average Qualifying position of 4.7.
Drugovich’s race pace also was extremely consistent with the least non-points finishes of the entire grid, whilst his victorious Spanish masterclass across both races will live long in the memory because a double-win at one round is rare and proof of immense driver talent.
That success in Barcelona also acted as a crucial launchpad which Drugovich beautifully controlled across the remaining races to clinch the title, albeit sat on the pit wall in bizarre scenes at Monza after he was eliminated in an unavoidable collision.
His race-winning duel against Pourchaire in Monaco also deserves praise because it isn’t easy to be the ‘hunted’ driver, yet he calmly showed incredible maturity in his car positioning to keep the Frenchman at bay in a heart-stopping fight to the checkered flag.
His pole position to victory conversion also has been impressive with three wins from four Feature Race poles, plus one of two Sprint Race pole positions, underlining just how consistent this Brazilian has been across the entire season.
Now part of Aston Martin’s new driver development scheme and reserve driver for next season in F1, Drugovich faces an interesting crossroad in his career because he will either go on and do well in F1 if he secures a race seat in 2024 or fizzle out due to spending a year on the sidelines.
Honourable Mentions
- Liam Lawson (Carlin) – Amidst spells of slightly more inconsistency than teammate – Sargeant, Lawson has quietly impressed without much splash as four impressive wins ultimately saw him snatch third place in the championship at the final race.
- Jack Doohan (Virtuosi) – Having demonstrated his raw pace with three pole positions and victories, luck simply has evaded Doohan for much of the season but he will be a serious contender in 2023.
- Enzo Fittipaldi (Charouz) – After failing to produce much in F3 across two seasons, Fittipaldi has been a huge surprise with six podiums and eighth in the driver standings.
- Frederik Vesti (ART GP) – Struggled to deliver at ART GP despite claiming pole and win apiece plus four further podiums, yet managed ninth overall but should be stronger with PREMA in 2023.
- Juri Vips (Hitech GP) – Possessed strong one-lap pace with two pole positions and four fastest laps but often struggled to convert into race performances with some sloppy mistakes.
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