Photos: ACI Sport

Ahead of Italian F4’s 11th season, Formula Scout looks back at the first decade of one of the most popular and highly rated junior single-seater championships in the world to rank its impressive list of champions

Key Percentage of possible points scored (PP), percentage of team’s points scored (TP), Average qualifying position (QA), Laps led (LL)   Roger Gascoigne (RG), Ida Wood (IW), Alejandro Alonso Lopez (AA), Peter Allen (PA)

10. Enzo Fittipaldi BRAZIL Prema
2018: 7 wins, 9 poles, 5 fastest laps, 12 podiums   PP 75.8%, TP 45.4%, QA 2.6 (2nd), LL 113 (1st)   AA: 8th, PA & RG: 10th

IW (9th): Fittipaldi started his car racing career in Ginetta Junior, but his adaption to single-seaters after that was made easy by joining Prema in Italian Formula 4. He failed to make the podium in his rookie season and came ninth in the standings, but his sophomore campaign in 2018 was a huge improvement. Part of that down to the experience he gained by doubling up in the ADAC F4 championship, meaning he totalled 41 F4 races over the year.

His title-winning Italian F4 season started in excellent style with two wins, a third place and two poles at Adria, but then he only made the podium once over the next two rounds and against opposition that wasn’t particularly strong in depth. He retained the points lead through round two, but after losing it he did not reclaim it until race 12 of the season. That came after his third win in a row at Misano. But he then lost it again a race later, not reaching the front either in the race results or points table until he won the 20th and penultimate race of the campaign at Mugello. Victory from pole in the race after secured him the title by 21 points after dropped scores came into play.

9. Lance Stroll CANADA Prema
2014: 7 wins, 5 poles, 7 fastest laps, 13 podiums   PP 77.7%, TP 95.3%, QA 2.0 (2nd), LL 116 (1st)   IW: 7th, PA: 8th, AA: 10th

RG (9th): Stroll was a dominant victor of the inaugural season, a history-making feat since Italian F4 was the first championship run using the new FIA-spec F4 cars the federation saw as the future of the bottom rung of the junior single-seater ladder. There were high expectations on karting graduate Stroll, having been a Ferrari junior since he was 11 years old.

Racing with junior single-seater powerhouse Prema, Stroll comfortably won the title despite missing the final round, although he was helped by “over-age” team-mate and closest rival Brandon Maisano’s being ineligible for points. Stroll took seven wins to Maisano’s six, two of which were claimed in Stroll’s absence, and championship runner-up Mattia Drudi’s four.

In qualifying, however, Maisano had the edge, taking six poles to Stroll’s five in the rounds they both competed in.

While being the first champion ensures a place in the record books, with the benefit of hindsight the 2014 field was probably the weakest in Italian F4’s history.

With a billionaire father pushing his career, finding a budget has never been something Stroll has had to worry about. Success in the FIA European Formula 3 championship followed in 2016 after a winless rookie season, although suspicions over the ease of some of his victories have never gone away. He was in Formula 1 the year after, and remains there today.

8. Marcus Armstrong NEW ZEALAND Prema
2017: 4 wins, 6 poles, 13 podiums   PP 70.8%, TP 59.5%, QA 4.4 (3rd), LL 85 (1st)   PA: 6th, AA: 7th, RG: 8th

IW (10th): By the time Armstrong arrived in F4, he had already done 18 races in sportscars and three in Formula Ford, as well as tasting higher-level single-seaters in Formula Renault 2.0, BRDC British F3 and the Toyota Racing Series. And taking three wins on home soil in TRS upped the expectations for Italian F4.

Armstrong duly delivered, but not in the most convincing fashion possible. His four wins came in four different rounds, but at three tracks, while he did take pole position at four different venues. Driving for Prema, while his most exciting rivals were not entered for points and only part-time entrants, meant only a lack of circuit knowledge really stood in the way of the title.

But a messy season opener left Armstrong sixth in the standings after three races, and it took until nine races in for him to reach the championship summit. At that point he had one win from pole to his name and four other podiums. Although his form wasn’t imperious, he stayed on top through the season’s second half and from rounds three to seven he only finished lower than fourth twice.

7. Marcos Siebert ARGENTINA Jenzer Motorsport
2016: 4 wins, 4 poles, 1 fastest lap, 9 podiums   PP 57.8%, TP 58.3%, QA 4.5 (2nd), LL 60 (2nd)   IW: 4th, PA & AA: 9th

RG (7th): At the start of the 2016 season it was Siebert’s rival Mick Schumacher who was unsurprisingly the focus of attention. With a season in ADAC F4 with Van Amersfoort Racing behind him, Michael’s son had moved to Prema for a dual campaign.

Siebert spent 2013 in the FR2.0 Eurocup with Jenzer Motorsport, then a lack of budget forced him to take a year out. He returned to racing, and Jenzer, in Italian F4 and came fifth in the standings with two wins while on a shoestring budget.

Staying with the team for a second season proved to be the right decision (for budget and results) as Siebert won in each of the first four rounds. Prema’s Schumacher took three wins in that time, and the young German was quicker but more error-prone. Although he claimed two more wins in the last three rounds as Siebert only got two podiums, the latter secured the title with fifth in the penultimate race at Monza, passing Schumacher after he damaged his front wing battling for the lead.

F4 had been intended to provide an opportunity for smaller teams to compete on an equal footing. In some ways, Siebert’s triumph represents a victory for the ‘little guy’ over a big-name driver and team. He was the only non-Prema champion in Italian F4’s first five seasons.

Siebert’s single-seater career fizzled out after spells in GP3 and Euroformula with Campos Racing and a final throw of the dice in the inaugural Formula Regional Europe season with US Racing. He has maintained links to Jenzer, where he acts as a driver coach, and races sportscars in Europe.

6. Ralf Aron ESTONIA Prema
2015: 9 wins, 7 poles, 6 fastest laps, 13 podiums   PP 66.6%, TP 72.9%, QA 2.1 (1st), LL 133 (1st)   AA: 5th, RG: 6th, PA: 7th

IW (8th): Teams in the paddock hoped Prema’s domination of the inaugural season would not continue into 2015, but their fears were realised as 12 out of 21 races were won by Ralf Aron and his team-mate Guayu Zhou. They finished one-two in the standings, with a gap of 108 points between them. Best of the rest was a further 11 points behind.

Remarkably Zhou only spent 32 laps in the lead all season, trailing Mucke Motorsport’s David Beckmann (44) and Robert Shwartzman (47) as well as Aron’s colossal tally of 133. The champion spent 41% of the season’s laps in first place.

Stroll had managed to pull off a two-win weekend twice in 2014, and Aron achieved the feat four times but never came near to a triple win in an era where Italian F4 had reversed-grid races. He did become champion with a round to spare though.

5. Gabriele Mini ITALY Prema
2020: 4 wins, 9 poles, 2 fastest laps, 12 podiums   PP 71.0%, TP 48.8%, QA 2.6 (1st), LL 93 (1st)   PA: 3rd, AA: 4th, IW: 6th

RG (4th): Mini is the only car racing rookie to have become Italian F4 champion. Incredibly, he even won his first ever single-seater race in the season opener at Misano. Surprisingly perhaps, just three more victories followed but it was enough to take the title over Francesco Pizzi by 76 points.

Though never a dominant as some other champions, he was remarkably consistent in what was a strong field. His Prema team-mates included Dino Beganovic, Gabriel Bortoleto and Sebastian Montoya, two of whom he races against now in FIA F3.

Mini only took in two ADAC F4 rounds but did taste victory on his first appearance. Jonny Edgar and Jak Crawford, regulars from that championship, took revenge by also winning in Italian F4.

Mini was already under the watchful eye of Nicolas Todt’s All Road Management and resisted approaches from three different F1 academies after his title triumph, before finally signing with Alpine in 2023.

He showed pace, but ill-fortune and inconsistency cost Mini a title challenge in two FREC seasons, having departed Prema for ART Grand Prix. He returned to Prema this year for his sophomore year in F3.

4. Kacper Sztuka POLAND US Racing
2023: 9 wins, 9 poles, 8 fastest laps, 12 podiums   PP 78.8%, TP 59.2%, QA 2.6 (1st), LL 133 (1st)   AA: 1st, PA: 4th, IW: 5th

RG (5th): Sztuka became the fourth non-Prema driver to capture the Italian F4 title with his sensational second half run in 2023. And there was no doubt about the strength of the opposition from a Prema line-up packed with F1 juniors and fully on top of the second generation Tatuus T-421 car. In addition, Van Amersfoort Racing was back for a full season.

Sztuka had been eyeing a step up for 2023 after two years in F4 which had netted just two wins. However, lacking the budget to climb the ladder he stayed in F4 to lead US Racing’s entry in the Italian championship.

Sztuka won the season opener, although with entries exceeding the Imola circuit’s capacity it was in a race which many of his rivals were absent from. A couple more podiums followed but by the end of round four he trailed Prema’s Arvid Lindblad by 113 points.

What followed was nothing short of incredible. From the next round at Paul Ricard onwards, Sztuka would win eight of the last nine races, taking two Euro 4 victories too. From being seemingly out of contention, he stormed to the title by 35 points as Lindblad’s season collapsed.

With no ADAC F4 in 2023, Sztuka did not have the chance to prove himself outside Italy, although it was a disappointment that he did not complete the Euro 4 season, missing out on the chance of a double triumph.

His results earned him Red Bull junior status for 2024, and he’s now racing in FIA F3.

3. Dennis Hauger NORWAY Van Amersfoort Racing
2019: 12 wins, 7 poles, 9 fastest laps, 16 podiums   PP 92.3%, TP 65.8%, QA 3.4 (1st), LL 147 (1st)   AA: 2nd, IW: 3rd, PA: 5th

RG (3rd): Hauger completely dominated the 2019 season, cruising to 12 wins from 21 starts, including eight of the last 10 races. After a disastrous start to his campaign at Vallelunga he was only off the podium twice the remainder of the season, becoming champion by a massive 136 points, the most dominant margin in Italian F4 history.

The then-Red Bull junior came into the season after an impressive rookie season in British F4 and was hotly tipped for the title with VAR which was racing full-time in Italian F4 for the first time. The combination also raced in ADAC F4, where Hauger missed out on the title by just seven points.

Looking back, the F4 field in Europe back in 2019 was particularly strong. Alongside ADAC F4 champion Theo Pourchaire and his team-mate Arthur Lecler, Hauger’s rivals included Gianluca Petecof as well as rookies Paul Aron, Roman Stanek and Jonny Edgar.

Hauger moved up to FIA F3 for 2020, enduring a difficult season with Hitech GP, then became champion in 2021 after moving to Prema. He is now in his third season in Formula 2.

2. Ollie Bearman BRITAIN Van Amersfoort Racing
2021: 11 wins, 8 poles, 2 fastest laps, 15 podiums   PP 85.8%, TP 62.6%, QA 2.7 (1st), LL 158 (1st)   RG: 1st, PA: 2nd, AA: 6th

IW (2nd): Bearman focused on ADAC F4 in his rookie year racing cars, and in his three Italian F4 outings he took a win and a second place. For his second year he decided to tackle both, and moved from US Racing to VAR. The promise he’d shown with the former turned into outstanding form with the latter, as Bearman took 11 Italian F4 wins and had an unbeaten run of seven races. If not for a disqualification on technical grounds he would have had nine wins in a row, and he ended the season by winning all three races at Monza to ensure he ticked off the triple victory box twice.

There was plenty of talent in that 2021 field, but some of the drivers with plenty of potential only raced part-time and others lacked the advantage of driving for Prema or VAR and Bearman was champion by 111 points over a driver who missed two rounds. His closest full-time rival finished 145 points behind.

Six wins in ADAC F4 also carried Bearman to the title there.

1. Andrea Kimi Antonelli ITALY Prema
2022: 13 wins, 14 poles, 14 fastest laps, 15 podiums   PP 90.5%, TP 45.1%, QA 2.3 (1st), LL 214 (1st)   PA & RG: 1st, AA: 3rd

IW (1st): Since Max Verstappen bypassed F4 when he made his highly anticipated single-seater debut, it means Antonelli stands as possibly the most exciting talent to come through the category so far and certainly the one who had the most attention on him when  competing in entry-level car racing.

He preceded his romp to the 2022 Italian F4 title with three appearances in 2021, which culminated in three podiums at Monza and enough points to put him an impressive 10th in the standings.

Everyone expected him to win the title the year after, particularly as almost the entire field was classified as rookies. His outings with Prema the year before therefore put him at an advantage, even though he and the team had to learn a new car with the introduction of the T-421 for 2022.

A disastrous opening weekend at Imola suggested it may be harder than expected for Antonelli to meet the very high expectations surrounding him, but he immediately responded with two wins at Misano. He then went unbeaten at Spa and Vallelunga, took further wins at the Red Bull Ring and Monza before completing the triple a third time at Mugello to stretch his title-winning margin to 104 points.

Antonelli was even more dominant in qualifying, and on the side he claimed the ADAC F4 title as a part-time entrant and won the Motorsport Games F4 Cup.

The post Ranking Italian F4’s first 10 champions appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photos: Red Bull Content Pool

Every year, some of junior single-seaters’ top drivers are handed professional opportunities. Some lead to long-term careers in sportscars, while others try out the more cut-throat world of F1 and IndyCar

In addition to annually ranking the top 50 drivers in junior single-seater racing since 2011, Formula Scout also recognises the achievements of the very best of those who ‘graduate’ into the world of professional racing each year.

Logan Sargeant was the only driver to make it to Formula 1 at the start of 2023, joining Williams for a season in which he scored a single point but did enough to retain his seat for a second year, and during summer AlphaTauri called up Sargeant’s former Formula 2 and Formula 3 rival Liam Lawson to substitute for the injured Daniel Ricciardo.

IndyCar had five rookies who contested more than just the Indianapolis 500. Last year’s Indy Nxt runner-up Sting Ray Robb joined Dale Coyne Racing, and in a car co-run by Rick Ware Racing he took a best finish of 12th and came 23rd in the points. Benjamin Pedersen only came fifth in the 2022 Indy Nxt season but also earned an IndyCar graduation with AJ Foyt Racing. He finished no higher than 15th, leaving him 27th in the standings.

Joining the grid for the final two races of the season with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing was F2 graduate Juri Vips, who had been out of racing for several months after his F1 dreams ended in summer 2022 with the use of racial slur on a livestream. It was difficult to judge how well Vips did with his last-minute call-up, but RLLR has “a long-term plan” for him.

Esports star Cem Bolukbasi had a brief junior single-seater career, coming ninth in the Formula Regional Asian Championship and fifth in a part-time Euroformula campaign in which he claimed two wins in 2021, then racing part-time in F2 last year, but that was enough to get him a seat on the Super Formula grid with TGM Grand Prix for 2023.

Qualifying 20th for his debut at Fuji Speedway suggested he might be out of his depth, but it only took 10 laps for him to get into the top 10 and he eventually finished eighth. His qualifying form didn’t improve, with 14th being his best starting position, but he did score points with a ninth place at Suzuka and he came 18th in the standings.

Photo: B-MAX Racing

FRegional Japanese Championship race-winner Riki Okusa was his team-mate for the last two rounds, while FRAC and FRegional Americas champion Raoul Hyman stepped up with B-MAX Racing but could do no better than 18th in qualifying and 15th in races over the season.

Andretti Global had to call upon their reserve driver David Beckmann for the Jakarta E-Prix, and the F2 graduate finished 16th on his Formula E debut.

There were plenty of ex-junior single-seater racers who found success in LMP2 prototypes. Jota Sports’s Oliver Rasmussen did two FIA F3 Championship rounds alongside his World Endurance Championship programme last year, but for 2023 was able to focus solely on sportscars and he came sixth in the standings. He won his class in the Monza Six Hours.

Euroformula graduate Filip Ugran was 10th in the standings with Prema, and Alpine driver Olli Caldwell came 18th.

Marino Sato bounced back from four underwhelming years in F2 by joining United Autosports in the European Le Mans Series. He won three of the six races and was championship runner-up. Two places behind was Duqueine Team’s Nico Pino, who won the season opener, finished second in the next race but then didn’t visit the podium again.

David Schumacher drove in the DTM and FIA F3 in 2022, and swapped the latter for the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup this year. He drove a Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo to 17th in the standings there, topping the Gold Cup classification at the Nurburgring, and to 25th in the DTM.

Nicola Marinangeli came sixth in International GT Open in a AF Corse-run Ferrari, and team-mate Conrad Laursen was seventh in ELMS’ GTE class.

As none of these names could make the cut, here is Formula Scout’s Class of 2022… Key Wins (W), poles (P), fastest laps (FL)

10. Calan Williams AUSTRALIA 23y/o
9th in GTWC Europe Sprint Cup (29th in GTWCE [Gold Cup champion])   2022: 23rd in F2   2021: 19th in FIA F3 Championship

Photo: SRO/ Patrick Hecq Photography

Williams made the podium more times this year than he did in his last five years in single-seater racing.

A fourth place was his best finish from two seasons in Euroformula, and a sprint race podium at Paul Ricard was one of only three times in which he scored points in two FIA F3 Championship campaigns. It took just three races to earn a top-four finish when he stepped up to F2 last year, but did not score again after that and came 23rd in the standings.

Despite that lack of success, he was picked up crack GT racing team WRT for 2023 to drive one of their BMW M4 GT3s in GTWCE. He shared his car with Niklas Krutten, and the pair were entered into the Gold Cup classification.

They came ninth overall in GTWCE’s Sprint Cup, making the podium in the season finale at Zandvoort, and claimed the Gold Cup crown with four wins from the 10 races.

Jean-Baptiste Simmenauer joined them in the car for the Endurance Cup, and their best result was 12th overall in the Monza Three Hours. That equated to being the third best Gold Cup entry, and despite finishing in a lower position they were Gold Cup runners-up in the Spa 24 Hours and third in the Nurburgring Three Hours. That led to them being fifth in the Gold Cup’s Endurance standings, and combined with the Sprint results meant Krutten and Williams were 29th overall in GTWCE and the Gold Cup champions.

9. Alex Quinn BRITAIN 23/o
10th in IMSA LMP2 (2 FL)   2022: 17th in USF2000 (3 W, 2 FL)   2021: 9th in FRegional European Championship

Photo: PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports

Quinn actually graduated from British F4 to sportscars back in 2018, competing in British GT’s GT4 class and failing to score in his six races.

He then returned to single-seaters, coming fourth in the 2020 Formula Renault Eurocup with a win an a pole then moving across to the FRegional European Championship the year after and starting the season with two podiums in the first four races but later going on a long points-free run and ending up ninth the standings.

Last year he only made one race outing, but did an impressive job in his USF2000 cameo on Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s road course as he won all three races and set the fastest lap in two of them. It was enough to come 17th in the points table.

This year he stayed in America to join PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports in IMSA’s LMP2 class. It proved to be an inspired move from the off, with Quinn being in the class’s pole-winning car for the Daytona 24 Hours and Sebring 12 Hours. He was seventh and fourth in class respectively at the end of those two races, and less than seven seconds off victory at Sebring.

He finished third in his next two outings in the Six Hours of the Glen and Petit Le Mans, although the latter event didn’t quite go to plan. Although his car started on overall pole, both Quinn and his team-mate spun while at the wheel. Quinn’s mistake cost them the LMP2 lead.

8. Logan Sargeant UNITED STATES 22y/o
21st in F1   2022: 4th in F2 (2 W, 2 P)   2021: 7th in FIA Formula 3 (1 W), 19th in ELMS (1 P), 6th in Le Mans Cup – GT3 (2 W, 2 P, 3 FL)

Photo: Williams Racing

Sargeant’s two wins and two poles in his sole F2 season helped him come fourth in the standings, and earn a Williams F1 seat for 2023. Was it too soon?

He became the first American to race in F1 for over seven years, just as the world championship added a third race in the USA to its schedule, ticking a box several other teams in the paddock had tried but failed to.

Sargeant was thoroughly bettered by his team-mate Alex Albon, being outqualified by him at every single event and scoring one point to Albon’s 27. Fittingly Sargeant’s best results came on home soil, as he took his sole point in the United States Grand Prix and his best starting position was sixth in the Las Vegas Grand Prix. The only other time he reached Q3 was at the Dutch Grand Prix, where he qualified 10th.

Sargeant’s worse form tended to be on sprint weekends, with less practice time before qualifying, and he finished no higher than 16th in a sprint race.

In Japan he suffered a qualifying crash that required Williams to rebuild his car to enable him to race, and he only lasted a few laps before a lock-up and another crash. This time he kept going before the damage eventually led him to retire. The next event was the Qatar Grand Prix, where he failed to set a flying lap in sprint qualifying, spun out after two laps of the sprint race then retired from the grand prix itself due to heatstroke. It wasn’t a great end to the year, but ultimately he did enough to earn a second season with Williams.

7. Kakunoshin Ohta JAPAN 24y/o
7th in SF (1 W), 14th in Super GT   2022: 2nd in SF Lights (4 W, 6 P, 7 FL), 8th in Super GT300, Super Taikyu – ST-Z champion (2 W, 3 P, 3 FL)   2021: 14th in FRJC, 5th in Japanese Formula 4 (1 FL), 3rd in Super Taikyu – ST-Z

Photo: Super Formula

Ohta took two wins from three Japanese Formula 4 seasons, which didn’t suggest his single-seater career would amount to much, but he did make the podium in French F4 and FRJC cameos.

Then last year he stepped up to Super Formula Lights with Toda Racing and everything changed. The one-car entry was the winner of four races and six pole positions, with other impressive stats including seven fastest laps and 12 podiums. Ohta ended up being championship runner-up, and was only a few points short of becoming champion.

He stepped up to SF for 2023 with Dandelion Racing, and initially found the step up difficult. In the first four races, Ohta qualified no higher than 17th and finished no higher than 15th. But then his form started to improve, rapidly.

At Sportsland SUGO he qualified ninth, but finished 15th again, then at Fuji Speedway (the first track on the schedule he was visiting for a second time in his rookie season) he qualified third – just 0.268 seconds off pole – and finished sixth. He was 1.5s off fourth place at the chequered flag.

Ohta was even closer to the pace at Twin Ring Motegi, qualifying on the front row, then in the double-header Suzuka finale he was fourth in qualifying for race one and made the front row again for race two.

In race one he rose to second on the opening lap, then lost a spot on lap two and was still in third when the race was red flagged due to a huge crash. Half points were awarded, but Ohta earned a ‘proper’ podium in race two by snatching the lead on lap one then holding off Lawson throughout to win. The result put him seventh in the standings, a position nobody would have expected pre-season.

Having raced in Super GT300 last year and won the title in Super Taikyu’s GT4 class, Ohta was also promoted to Super GT’s top GT500 class for 2023 and he took one podium en route to 14th in the points.

=5. Linus Lundqvist SWEDEN 24y/o
31st in IndyCar (2 FL), 13th in Porsche Carrera Cup Scandinavia   2022: Indy Nxt champion (5 W, 7 P, 3 FL)   2021: 3rd in Indy Nxt (3 W, 3 P, 2 FL)

Photo: Joe Skibinski

Photo: Travis Hinkle

Sometimes waiting a little longer for your debut at single-seaters’ top level can prove more effective than stepping up straight after winning a second-tier title. F2 champion Oscar Piastri had to remain patient for a whole year, while 2022 Indy Nxt champion Lundqvist got to make his IndyCar debut this August rather than need to wait until 2024.

For a long time Indy Nxt had a prize money system that guaranteed the champion at least three IndyCar starts, including the Indy 500, the next year. But when IndyCar’s owner Penske Entertainment took over Indy Nxt in 2022, it reduced the size of the champion’s prize pot. Lundqvist couldn’t make the step up with the money he had.

He won three races as an Indy Nxt rookie in 2021, then romped to the 2022 title with five wins and six poles. Andretti Autosport gave him an IndyCar test at the end of his first season, then he had to wait until April of this year for another as Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing ran him on the Texas oval. Ed Carpenter Racing provided further seat time at Sebring in June, then at the end of July he got called up to race as Meyer Shank Racing needed a substitute for the injured Simon Pagenaud.

Just like Piastri, Lundqvist stunned a paddock with his adaptation and his reward is spending next year in a team he could win races with.

Lundqvist qualified 11th for his debut in Nashville, then ran as high as third and set the fastest lap in the race before crashing out. Negotiations with multiple teams about a 2024 seat began shortly after.

MSR called up Lundqvist two more times. He started and finished 12th on the IMS road course, then on the Gateway oval took another fastest lap. Only two other drivers got multiple fastest laps this year. Four days after that performance, Chip Ganassi Racing announced it had signed Lundqvist to race full-time next season.

=5. Robert Shwartzman RUSSIA/ISRAEL 24y/o
8th in GTWCE Endurance Cup (1 W, 1 P) (19th in GTWCE)   2022: no racing   2021: 2nd in F2 (2 W, 3 FL)

Photo: Ferrari

Photo: SRO

Shwartzman came fourth and second in his two F2 seasons, earning him sixth place in Formula Scout’s Top 50 in both years.

After that Ferrari promoted its junior to an F1 test role for 2022, then to being their reserve driver for 2023. He was also given a race programme for this year, joining AF Corse’s line-up in the GTWCE Endurance Cup.

The sportscar newcomer quickly got up to pace in his Ferrari 296 GT3 and contributed to the success of the car he co-drove with the far more experienced Nicklas Nielsen and Alessio Rovera. They finished eighth in the Monza 3H, seventh in the Paul Ricard 1000 Kilometres and then won the season-ending Barcelona Three Hours to come eighth in the standings. Despite missing all of the sprint rounds, they still came 19th overall in GTWCE.

Shwartzman was a valued member of Ferrari’s F1 squad too, and he drove in free practice at two grands prix. He then contested the WEC’s rookie test in Ferrari’s hypercar and topped the times, and is expected to race an additional third entry next season.

Away from his Ferrari work, Shwartzman took up two opportunities this year that may suggest he still has an eye on racing single-seaters even if he can’t find a way into F1. He did an IndyCar test with Ganassi and set a strong impression on the team, and drove for DS Penske in FE’s rookie test and also its more recent pre-season test.

4. Jake Hughes BRITAIN 29y/o
12th in FE (2 P)   2022: 16th in F2   2021: 18th in F2

Photo: Formula E

Photo: McLaren

After several seasons acting as reference driver first in FIA F3 then in F2, Jake Hughes finally earned a well-deserved drive in a professional series like FE.

McLaren took over Mercedes’ works team in the championship and promoted Hughes from development and reserve driver to a race seat.

The Briton was a rookie in terms of competing, but knew the team and the car well thanks to his involvement in previous years, and took advantage of it. He caused a sensation in the early rounds, where he impressed with his pace. He was third, second and first in the first three qualifying sessions, with his pole position coming in Riyadh, but dropped to fifth, eighth and fifth in the races as his McLaren powertrain was less competitive in the longer distance.

Hughes struggled to replicate his blistering pace of the opening rounds as the season progressed, but still scored points at several events. He was back on pole on the most famous street circuit of them all, Monaco, but the podium escaped him once again as he finished in fifth.

As a rookie, he edged his more experienced team-mate Rene Rast, and definitely proved he belongs in the world championship. Given teams know his skills for technical development as well as results on track, he could well become one of FE’s main contenders in the years to come.

3. Marcus Armstrong NEW ZEALAND 23y/o
20th in IndyCar, 18th in Macau GP   2022: 13th in F2 (3 W)   2021: 13th in F2 (1 W)

Photo: James Black

Photo: Chris Owens

On reflection it’s puzzling that Armstrong was 13th in all three of his F2 seasons, despite winning four races and driving for three top teams. He made the podium in two of his first four races, but that strong form then deserted him in his rookie year.

When title-winning IndyCar team Ganassi signed Armstrong for 2023 to drive on a part-time deal, with his schedule omitting all of IndyCar’s oval races, nobody thought that the Kiwi didn’t deserve it but the question was raised on how difficult would it be to measure his progress as a driver by starting his career at single-seater’s top level in one of the very top teams rather than proving himself at a smaller squad.

Armstrong qualified 13th and finished 11th on his debut, then in his next appearance came eighth in the Long Beach Grand Prix. There were four more top-10 finishes and no DNFs from his 12 starts, enough to beat three full-timers to IndyCar’s ‘Rookie of the Year’ honours. His scoring rate was strong enough to put him 13th in the standings had he done the whole campaign, ahead of several big-name drivers.

A trend that continued from his junior single-seater career was underperforming in qualifying, although this year his average finishing position was only very slightly higher than his starting average. He’ll need to improve in 2024, since Ganassi has given him a full-time ride and he’ll have two less experienced drivers as team-mates.

2. Liam Lawson NEW ZEALAND 21y/o
2nd in SF (3 W, 1 P, 2 FL), 20th in F1   2022: 3rd in F2 (4 W, 3 FL)   2021: 2nd in DTM (3 W, 4 P, 1 FL), 9th in F2 (1 W, 1 P, 2 FL)

Lawson impressed in his maiden season racing GT cars in DTM back in 2021, becoming vice-champion in a campaign he juggled with what was also his first F2 season.

In 2022, the Red Bull junior focused on F2 and finished third ahead of Carlin team-mate Sargent. However, those achievements and proving himself as a quick adapter were not enough to earn a F1 seat, and he had to content himself with a spot on the SF grid with Team Mugen alongside F1 reserve driver duties.

Like he had done several times in the past, the New Zealander won on his debut in the series from third on the grid, then was demoted from third to fifth because of a penalty in the second race of the season-opening double-header at Fuji.

Lawson took his inevitable first win in round three at Autopolis and then another in round five at Fuji, which left him one point off championship leader Ritomo Miyata with three races to go.

An unfortunate race at Motegi, where he finished 13th after an incident at the start, put him on the back foot heading into Suzuka’s double-header finale. The title decider marked the first time he started on pole, but finishing second in the race also meant he finished second in the championship, eight points behind Miyata.

Between the last two rounds, he made his F1 debut with Red Bull’s second F1 team AlphaTauri. Daniel Riccardo injured himself in the second practice session at the Dutch GP, and Lawson was in the car for FP3 and excelled straightaway. He finished 13th in the latest of late call-ups, and stayed for four more grands prix, always matching the pace of his team-mate Yuki Tsunoda both in qualifying and races. If there was a standout event, then it has to be the Singapore Grand Prix as Lawson got through to Q3 – beating Tsunoda and Red Bull’s two drivers – and scored his first F1 points by finishing ninth in the race.

Unless something changes massively, Lawson will spend 2024 back on the sidelines as reserve driver to Red Bull’s two teams and hoping he can finally have a very much deserved spot on the grid in 2025.

1. Oscar Piastri AUSTRALIA 22y/o
9th in F1 (1 P, 1 W, 2 FL)   2022: no racing   2021: F2 champion (6 W, 5 P, 6 FL)

Photo: McLaren

Photo: McLaren

Although he graduated from F2 in 2021 as a dominant champion, it was not until 2023 that Piastri landed a professional race seat, which makes him eligible for this list.

It is true that Piastri arrived in F1 having completed an extensive testing programme as an Alpine junior. However, the challenges posed by the pinnacle of motorsport should not be underestimated and especially in Piastri’s case, as he came in amid a team change and a legal battle for his services.

His season was in crescendo. The Australian did not have the dream start other McLaren F1 rookies enjoyed in the past, partly due to the struggles of a car that was not born well. But as it ramped up, Piastri also raised his level to become a regular in the fight for top positions.

In the second half of the year, he matched his rapid team-mate Lando Norris over one lap, outqualifying him on several occasions. Norris still had the upper hand in races though, where Piastri usually fell a bit behind. If he closes that gap in 2024, the battle within the Woking stable will be extremely tight.

In the flyaway leg of the season, Piastri reached the podium in Japan and Qatar, the highlights of a formidable rookie F1 campaign. If his drive at Suzuka had been excellent, then his performance at Losail was on another level. He made the most of his testing experience at the Qatari circuit as well as a strong car to claim pole in the sprint shootout and win the sprint race on Saturday. Then on Sunday he rose from sixth on the grid to second place for what is his best career result to date.

Written by Alejandro Alonso Lopez and Ida Wood

The post Formula Scout’s Class of 2022 appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Joe Skibinski

IndyCar racer Marcus Armstrong is to make a surprise return to Formula 3 and the Macau Grand Prix later this month.

Armstrong has been added to the official entry list for the event and will join MP Motorsport alongside two of its regular F3 racers of 2023, Franco Colapinto and Mari Boya.

This will be his third appearance in Macau, having first raced there in 2018 after contesting the final season of the FIA European F3 Championship, before also taking part in 2019 in the debut of the current FIA F3 cars that will be used again this year.

After finishing eighth on his first outing in 2018, he was a contender for pole position second time around until crashing, and he finished the race in eighth again.

Following three seasons in Formula 2, Armstrong switched to IndyCar this year and joined Chip Ganassi Racing to contest the road and street course events. Despite only starting 12 of the 17 races, he finished as rookie of the year after recording five top 10 finishes. He has signed a full-time deal to drive the entire season for Ganassi in 2024.

Feature: Why is Armstrong thriving in IndyCar after three years of ‘what if’s in F2?

Armstrong is one of two names to have been added to the Macau entry list since it was first released a couple of weeks ago.

The other comes from the other end of the experience spectrum, with Laurens van Hoepen to make his F3 debut with ART Grand Prix.

A long-time protege of Nyck de Vries, van Hoepen steps up after two seasons in the Formula Regional European Championship with ART. He replaces Gregoire Saucy in the team’s line-up, joining Nikola Tsolov and Christian Mansell, who has switched from Campos Racing ahead of Macau.

Two spaces remain on the entry list: at Hitech GP alongside Luke Browning and the team’s F2 racer Isack Hadjar, and at Carlin which has already brought back two-time winner Dan Ticktum and its current F2 driver Zane Maloney.

The post Marcus Armstrong to make F3 return for Macau Grand Prix appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photos: James Black

Marcus Armstrong arrived in F2 having won in two top F3 series, and he made the podium twice in his first four races. But that early form couldn’t be continued. So what can we take from his strong arrival in IndyCar?

Looking back at Marcus Armstrong’s junior career, there is a trend of things not going his way. Often in qualifying. But what led to the Kiwi’s reputation growing with each year was how he rebounded again and again. He only got one win in FIA European Formula 3 as a rookie in 2018, and came a distant fifth in the standings, but that was enough to make him one of the title favourites going into the new FIA F3 Championship for 2019.

He delivered on the hype by coming second in the standings, but it was a trying season more than anything. He had several qualifying nightmares, but those set up his first wins as charges up the order in the Saturday race then put him on reversed-grid pole for the Sunday race.

That trend continued into the Macau Grand Prix, where he was on top in the second qualifying session before hitting the barriers. There was no reversed-grid element to benefit from there, and he finished 17th in the qualification race and eighth in the main race.

The expectations were even higher when he stepped up to Formula 2 for 2020 with ART Grand Prix, and Armstrong qualified 13th for his debut. Then he proceeded to storm to second place. A week later he qualified 12th, charged to seventh in the feature race and then had a front row position for the sprint race which he converted into another podium finish.

Armstrong was not seen in the points again until 13 races later, and he came 13th in the standings as the 14th fastest driver on average in qualifying. The next year he moved to DAMS and also came 13th in the standings. This time he was the 12th fastest driver on average, but his rolling race pace average was the eighth best on the grid and he suffered three retirements due to technical issues outside of his hands.

For 2022 he moved to Hitech GP, but once again was 13th in the standings. He scored almost twice as many points as the previous year, was the sixth fastest driver on average and fifth on race pace, but his average starting position was 8.3.

Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

Only champion Felipe Drugovich led more laps than Armstrong’s impressive tally of 93 as he won three sprint races, but from the 14 feature races (which award more points than the sprint races) his total of 48 points was bettered by 12 drivers.

From 34 attempts across three seasons, Armstrong only qualified on the front row once, and the only feature race podium he claimed was the one on his debut. But everyone in the paddock knew that Armstrong, who in typical Kiwi fashion was a laidback figure even on the most trying of race weekends, was capable of much more and there was – as usual – a lot of high expectations around him when he announced he had an IndyCar drive for 2023.

Fast forward eight months, and Armstrong is eight races into his part-time rookie campaign with Chip Ganassi Racing. He’s contesting all of the road and street course races, and so far his average finishing positon is exactly two places higher than his average starting position. He already has two eighth places and a sixth, achieved last time out in Toronto, and he’d likely be finishing in even higher positions if he was able to make it into the ‘fast six’, the final segment of IndyCar qualifying.

Ahead of his return to the cockpit this weekend on the streets of Nashville, Armstrong spoke to media about his rookie season, what he’s seeking for 2024 and his habit of performing stronger in races than qualifying.

“I was slightly disappointed, really, with my own performance leading up to the race,” Armstrong said of Toronto. “And then I knew that we had good pace. So we would make it towards the front during the race. Despite starting 10th.

“It would have been nice to have a bit more pace. Like I saw Scott [McLaughlin, fellow New Zealander] come past me at one point that was on a different strategy, going extremely fast. And I feel like there’s a long way to go before we can really nail it like him. But in a general sense, I thought there was no real mistakes.

“Certainly we are building some momentum, just due to the fact that we haven’t really been making mistakes as a group as the #11 [crew]. And personally, I don’t feel like I’ve made any errors. It’s just been sort of learning and trying to get as many laps under my belt, in order to be in a better position towards the end of the season.”

Photo: Chris Owens

“I feel like we have a lot to work on, which is in a way quite comforting because I feel like despite having had top 10s in the previous races, we haven’t really done that great of a job, or personally, I don’t feel like I have. So Nashville provides an opportunity to try and learn from the things that I did wrong in Toronto, which was a similar layout.”

Both tracks are particularly bumpy, which contrasts to Armstrong’s expansive experience of street circuits in junior series.

“[The bumpiness] provides challenges that you can differentiate yourself to others. If I compare to racing at Monaco or Baku, or even Macau to a certain extent, they feel like road courses compared to a lot of these street circuits. Just because they’re very smooth, like Monaco, it’s resurfaced every year, there’s not a single bump on the track, and the grip is like driving around Paul Ricard.”

Armstrong says the bumpiness itself isn’t the biggest challenge, but “understanding it very quickly”.

“I need to sort of learn quickly so I can start near the front. Normally towards the end of the race we’re well and truly on the pace. So it’s just a matter of getting there quicker.”

That progression of pace over a weekend was what worked for and against Armstrong in F2. The reversed grids meant he could start near the front even if his qualifying was poor, but winning a sprint race was only equivalent to fifth in a feature race. And he only finished four feature races in the top five in his F2 career.

Armstrong was asked if learning IndyCar’s softer ‘Alternate’ tyre compound was the reason behind his qualifying form in IndyCar so far not being as strong as his race results (where more time is spent racing on the harder ‘Prime’ tyre).

“No, I don’t think so. I think learning tyres is a particular skill of mine, just due to the fact that I spent so many years on the very demanding Pirelli. I would say it’s more so getting to the pace quicker.

Photo: Dutch Photo Agency

“Like I said before, learning the circuits, the circuits have a lot of character. And when you come back time and time again, like the other guys have, it’s quite difficult to arrive and straight away be as quick as them. And I make big steps through the weekend from the first laps of FP1 through the end of Q2.”

“I need to be on the pace in FP1 and then make smaller steps onwards because at the moment I’m having to find big chunks from session to session. Which is, I mean, I understand that. That’s part of it. But I feel like we have everything, we have all the ingredients to do a very good job in quali. We just need to get there quicker and just chip away at the small details leading into the final laps of quali.”

Helping him achieve that is two IndyCar legends. One is fellow Kiwi and team-mate Scott Dixon, who is a six-time champion, and the other is retired four-time champion Dario Franchitti who is CGR’s team advisor and driver coach.

“Dario has been really, really great. I think I’ve probably been on the phone to him about five times over the course of the last five days, so he’s great in every aspect really. He certainly points in the right direction, and he doesn’t – I often say that he needs to be more harsh with me, like tell me what I’m doing wrong, because clearly, I need to improve on stuff.

“But he seems to be very positive all the time about what we have been doing as a group and what I’ve been doing and how I’m progressing. But he’s very observant and he understands the sport probably better than anyone. Equal with Scott Dixon, let’s say. So for him to be on my stand for the majority of the races this year, and also just to have a very good personal relationship with him is clearly an advantage. We’re always trying to find things to improve, whether that be driving or whether that be managing the people around me.”

According to Armstrong: “When we’re in the engineering room, I’ll ask point blank ‘Scott, what are you doing here?’ And he’ll tell me without, as far as I know, any hesitancy. That’s a big advantage.”

Armstrong and Franchitti

Armstrong’s other team-mates are 2021 champion Alex Palou, who is dominating this season, last year’s Indianapolis 500 winner Marcus Ericsson and two-time Indy 500 winner Takuma Sato, who drives Armstrong’s car for all the oval races.

“It’s really great when you have a team around you that there’s a life, there’s a great team synergy, let’s say, where everyone is helping each other. And there’s certainly no blame game. I feel like that’s one of the reasons why as a group we’re so strong, it’s because everyone is helping each other but we’re also honest with each other. There’s a great group of people.”

“I’m learning so much from everyone, really. Everyone has been here a long time [in IndyCar], they’ve had a lot of success, whether it be my engineers, mechanics, team-mates, whatever. They’ve all had success. And the fact that they’re so willing to offer information to me is a massive advantage.”

Learning isn’t all about picking up improvements from others, and Armstrong has prepared “a lot more for my sim sessions this season than I have in the past” as all the tracks are new to him. But “also the team is very, very helpful, by allowing me to go normally last of the four drivers; so that means that I get a whole lot of data to look at for when it’s my turn to drive”.

The team environment at CGR clearly appeals to Armstrong, and you have to head back into the 2000s for the last time the team went longer than two years without one of their drivers winning the Indy 500 or the title, so it’s no surprise he wants to remain there for 2024. Trying oval racing is also on his radar now, and starting the Indy 500 would “be a dream come true”. And being on the pit stand for the oval races this year while Sato is in the cockpit has been “extremely beneficial” as it has given him more time to analyse how a race weekend unfolds and also to talk to team members to build his understanding.

After Nashville, Armstrong has three more races to impress the sponsor of his car and retain his seat for a second season.

“I think it’s possible that we will have some very good results in the next couple of races. I’ve said that from the beginning of the season, really, straight away after the first pre-season test. Like there will be a time this year where I feel like everything is going really well and I can achieve the result that I want.

IndyCar’s GP2/F2 & FR/FV8 3.5 converts

“I feel like we will be able to compete for a podium as we did at Road America. And my target isn’t necessarily on ‘I want to win a race’ or ‘I want to get a podium’, but I certainly want to be fast enough to win a race. And then certainly be in the leading pack and get into a good rhythm and sort of a run. Either the next race weekend, hit the ground running, and just always be at the pointy end.”

Armstrong is on course to be IndyCar’s top rookie this year, despite missing races, and although he’s unlikely to match his 13th place in the standings from the last few years, he feels his results have been more representative of performance than his F2 ones.

“Your performance directly correlates to your results in IndyCar,” he said in answer to a question from this writer. “I think many times in F2, I’ve had races where I felt like I was the fastest on track and I ended up finishing P12 just because of some massive tyre deg in the last 10 laps or something like that.”

There’s “still a big step to be made” to get his first podiums, and “you can’t understate how high the level is right at the very pointy end of IndyCar”.

The side-gig

“We do a podcast [Screaming Meals], that is pretty much as Kiwi as you could get. Me and my mate from New Zealand do it, now Clement Novalak, an F2 driver does it with me and we just chit-chat. Got one with James Hinchcliffe coming out soon. Initially we started it because it was quite a fun use of our time when we were sitting in London between races.

“I’ve moved to America since, but we will continue to do it. It’s a lot of fun. That’s the point. And it’s also cool to, for lack of a better phrase, bro down with other drivers. Get to know them a bit better. It’s been difficult to nail down a few of the IndyCar drivers, I’ll be honest, for the podcast. That’s a work in progress.”

The post Why is Armstrong thriving in IndyCar after three years of ‘what if’s in F2? appeared first on Formula Scout.

50. Taylor Barnard

New entry • F4 underdog took ADAC wins against Prema and in its absence

Photo: ADAC

Photo: ADAC

Limited by funding so far in his single-seater career, former European karting frontrunner Barnard linked up for 2022 with the new PHM Racing project that sets out to help drivers like him through its not-for-profit objective.

Barnard delivered PHM a win on its debut weekend in the United Arab Emirates in January, though was generally second-best to team-mate Nikita Bedrin over the rest of that campaign. But when they returned to Europe to contest the German and Italian series, it was Barnard that would have the upper hand.

The Briton managed to beat the all-conquering Andrea Kimi Antonelli to a pair of wins at the Nurburgring in August, and then scored another two wins in Prema’s absence from the Lausitzring. That ensured Antonelli had to return for the Nurburgring finale to clinch his crown, and Barnard would take another victory there. Success was harder to come by for PHM in the far better-supported Italian series, Barnard achieving a sole podium, but it looks set to grant him an FIA Formula 3 seat for 2023 via a Formula Regional Middle East programme.

49. Reece Gold

New entry • Second best in Indy Pro 2000 to continue his climb

Photo: Gavin Baker Photography

Photo: Gavin Baker Photography

Gold is a reliable performer, and improver, who is progressing up the single-seater ladder with a good momentum.

He was 10th then third in two USF2000 seasons with top team Cape Motorsports, then progressed to Indy Pro 2000 with Juncos Hollinger Racing and has finished fifth and second in his two seasons. It will be interesting to see how his rookie Indy Nxt season goes in 2023.

As for his second IP2000 campaign, Gold netted four wins and five poles to beat his experienced team-mate Enaam Ahmed to be championship runner-up. Three of his wins came from pole, and he usually looked comfortable when leading races.

The second of his four victories came on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course where those ahead and behind on the grid managed to crash into each other or remove themselves from contention and Gold came through the chaos to win.

48. Marcus Armstrong

Re-entry • Third and final season in F2 was his most positive, despite coming 13th again

Photo: Formula Motorsport Limited

Photo: Formula Motorsport Limited

To have finished 13th in the Formula 2 standings in each of the past three seasons is a stark contrast to the preceding first three full years of Armstrong’s single-seater career, when he won the Italian Formula 4 title, starred in the old European F3 and fought for the title in its replacement, the FIA F3 Championship. But despite the apparent lack of progress suggested by the standings, this was the best of Armstrong’s campaigns in F2.

After splitting from the Ferrari Driver Academy and joining his former manager Oliver Oakes’ Hitech GP team, Armstrong appeared more relaxed and confident. There were three victories, all of them in reversed-grid sprint races, which offered a reduced number of points in 2022. When out front in those races, he was hard to beat, converting all three of his front-row starts on Saturdays into wins.

There was an improvement in qualifying too – he ranked sixth on single-lap ‘supertimes’, three places behind team-mate Juri Vips, and started on the front row for the Hungaroring feature race and third on two other occasions. But despite also having the fourth best race pace of the full-time drivers, a feature race podium somehow eluded him.

After enduring three such mysterious years in F2, Armstrong must be relishing his chance to race on IndyCar road and street courses with Chip Ganassi Racing next year, learning the ropes from his hero Scott Dixon.

47. Christian Rasmussen

Down 18 • Indy Lights rookie couldn’t challenge for third straight title, but did win twice

Photo: Travis Hinkle

Photo: Joe Skibinski

Rasmussen came into 2022 with the chance of replicating Kyle Kirkwood’s Road to Indy ‘three-peat’ but came up some way short. Regardless, it was a strong rookie campaign with plenty of highs and he goes into 2023 as one of Indy Nxt’s clear-cut title favourites.

The potential was on display early on in – Rasmussen led on his debut in St. Petersburg, only to run out of fuel, before the Linus Lundqvist/HMD Motorsports partnership really kicked up a notch after that. By round six, Rasmussen had just one podium to his name – and had a disastrous double retirement in Detroit – which effectively made his title push done before it ever really got going.

• Feature: More cars, but less to fight for: 2022 Indy Lights season review

But Rasmussen took his first victory at Road America – the scene of a very nasty crash for him in 2021 – in a convincing fashion in June, before following that up with a commanding drive to win the season finale at Laguna Seca to conclude a second half of the season with strong, consistent drives in what felt like an Indy Lights field with more strength in depth than in some recent seasons.

Rasmussen was not too far off the ultimate pace in 2022, with what was likely not the strongest package, and that made a strong case for him to sneak into the top 50 with our writers.

46. Alessandro Giusti

New entry • Became French F4 champion with just two outright wins along the way

Photo: KSP Reportages

Photo: KSP Reportages

There can be little escaping the fact that Alessandro Giusti was not the strongest French F4 driver in 2022. He finished first on just two occasions compared to Hugh Barter’s 10, a fact that will be reflected in their relative positions in this list.

With Barter racing at Spa and at Valencia in Spanish F4 before the French series visited those tracks, the championship permitted the Australian to take part in those rounds but only as a ‘ghost’ driver ineligible for points. With that, Giusti knew he could safely finish second to his rival and still gain 25 points on him.

To Giusti’s credit, his speed improved during the year with the new second-generation Mygale F4 car and he swept qualifying for each of the last three rounds – converting the second of his two poles at Ledenon into victory and doing the same in the Paul Ricard finale when the title was already secured. But it was the intervening event in Valencia that was key, allowing Giusti to come from behind to stand on the brink of the title.

Still, when Barter’s situation provided an opportunity, Giusti did well to step up and take it when nobody else could. He would have earned more plaudits for beating Barter on track more often, but did what he needed to earn the title, knowing the value it could bring to his future.

45. Joshua Dufek

New entry • Almost snatched FREC rookie title with late podium streak

Photo: FRECA

Photo: FRECA

Dufek’s season was very much the football cliché – a game of two halves. Staying with Van Amersfoort Racing for the step up from F4 to the Formula Regional European Championship, it wasn’t until after the season’s midpoint that his season really began.

In the first five rounds he scored just two points but from Hungary onwards, he was on sparkling form. He took a maiden podium behind team-mate Kas Haverkort in Austria, passing Dudu Barrichello, champion Dino Beganovic and then Pierre-Louis Chovet at the final corner for second, before following it up with third in race two the next day. A third successive rookie triumph followed next time out in Barcelona to keep him in contention for rookie honours at the final round in Mugello. A front-row start and another outstanding drive saw him close on the rookie title until a brush with another car after a late safety car put an end to his hopes.

Dufek was one of the drivers who came on strongest in 2022, and his commitment and enthusiasm helped drive the team forward. That he gained the upper hand on team-mate Haverkort in the final rounds is testament to how much he had developed over the season. The experience from running in the FRMEC with PHM Racing should prepare him thoroughly for a second season in FREC, most probably back with VAR.

44. Leonardo Fornaroli

New entry • Remarkable consistency in bumper FREC field earned rookie title

Photo: FRECA

Photo: FRECA

The statistics behind Fornaroli’s run to the rookie title in FREC are remarkable in more ways than one. He finished all 20 races, 15 of them inside the top 10. Yet he didn’t achieve an overall podium, nor an individual rookie victory.

FREC is proving to be a difficult championship for even the most highly-rated of rookies, and Fornaroli’s sheer consistency was hugely impressive when the field is so deep with talent and race incidents are so common in the midfield especially. He also did it with a new entrant at this level in Trident, which should be commended for coming in and being so consistently on the pace itself, even if it never really had the peaks to challenge for victories.

Team-mate Tim Tramnitz was more highly-rated stepping up from F4 and generally had a narrow edge on pace over Fornaroli, taking four rookie wins himself but left to rue the mechanical issues his colleague avoided. But for the Italian, the step up to Trident’s very effective FIA F3 squad for 2023 is every bit deserved.

43. Kas Haverkort

Re-entry • Took two FREC wins in all-Dutch alliance with VAR

Photo: FRECA

Photo: FRECA

Moving across the Netherlands from MP Motorsport to Van Amersfoort Racing for his sophomore season in FREC, Haverkort played a major role in helping the team bounce back from a difficult season in 2021. Haverkort was on the pace from the off, taking top five finishes in eight of the first nine races. Although disqualification for a technical infringement cost him a maiden series podium at Imola he made amends immediately with third at Monaco.

He was the only driver from outside the “Big Three” teams to take a victory. At the Hungaroring he recorded a clean sweep of pole position, a dominant race win and fastest lap, while at the Red Bull Ring he kept calm in changing weather conditions to storm from 14th on the grid, picking off Chovet for the lead on the penultimate lap.

Though his season tailed off slightly as team-mate Dufek came to the fore, he can look back on a superb, if slightly below-the-radar season. The team appreciated his huge contribution to the squad’s development and a continuation of their cooperation seems likely for 2023, Haverkort having already set the pace for VAR in post-season testing.

42. Michael d’Orlando

New entry • Grabbed crucial USF2000 crown in final round showdown

Photo: Gavin Baker Photography

Photo: Gavin Baker Photography

Having come second in 2021 as a series sophomore, d’Orlando had to win the title this year as he stayed on with Cape Motorsports.

He got the job done, but in a series as closely contested as USF2000 it was a continually tense ride that had its highs – four wins and five poles – but also lows such as clashes with rivals.

• USF2000 review: How d’Orlando won the closest junior series of 2022

D’Orlando became the first two-time winner of the Freedom 75, the series’ sole oval race, and stayed out of trouble better than his rivals from Pabst Racing in the final round at Portland. That culminated with victory in the third and last race of the weekend for d’Orlando, which moved him back into the points lead and therefore made him champion.

There’s now a wait to see how he can use his scholarship prize on stepping up to USF Pro 2000.

41. Myles Rowe

New entry • Battled funding woes to earn next step, despite missing USF2000 title

Photo: Road to Indy/Gavin Baker Photography

Photo: Gavin Baker Photography/Road to Indy

USF2000 title contender Myles Rowe only made it through the season thanks to IndyCar series owner Penske Entertainment.

The company, owned by Team Penske founder Roger Penske, funded Rowe’s rookie season in USF2000 last year with the Force Indy team it supported and was already a major backer of his 2022 campaign.

Rowe was originally left without a drive for this season when Force Indy switched its programme to Indy Lights, but he found a seat at Pabst Racing for at least the first two rounds when Penske put in $200,000 on the eve of the opening round.

However a major crash while fighting for the win in the first race racked up a hefty repair bill that left Rowe seeking finances to reach round two, even after he won the second St. Petersburg race.

Money was found for Barber Motorsports Park, where he claimed another win, a pole and the points lead, helping his financial search further. He got just enough to do round three, where he took one podium from three races and dropped to fourth in the standings.

At this point Penske stepped in again to finance the remaining five rounds, and Rowe then went on a podium and win run. He lost the points lead, and therefore the title in the year’s final race after an incident-filled weekend but has deservedly already secured his graduation up to USF Pro 2000.

The post Formula Scout Top 50 Drivers of 2022: 50-41 appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Formula Motorsport Limited

Formula 2 race-winner Marcus Armstrong will step up into IndyCar next year with top team Chip Ganassi Racing on a part-time basis.

The 22-year-old will contest the 12 races on the 2023 calendar that take place on street circuits and on permanent road courses in the team’s #11 car, with another driver set to be signed to race in the five oval races including the Indianapolis 500.

Armstrong started his single-seater career in Formula Ford, then tried several European series before racing in Italian Formula 4 and winning the 2017 title with Prema. He also came second in ADAC F4 that year, and in the following years was fifth in FIA European Formula 3 and second in the FIA F3 Championship with the team.

For 2020 he stepped up to F2, and has won four sprint races from his three seasons in the category. During the European winters he has also raced in the Toyota Racing Series, coming second in 2019 and twice being New Zealand Grand Prix runner-up.

“I’m ecstatic to be a part of the IndyCar series, but especially with Chip Ganassi Racing because it is such an iconic and successful team,” said Armstrong.

“I have an extraordinary opportunity in front of me to learn from people that have been performing at the absolute highest level in this sport.

“As a Kiwi, I’ve always watched Scott Dixon succeed in the championship with this team, so on a personal level this is quite special for me. I am a hard worker that looks to improve every single day. With the knowledge and personnel that this team has, I’m very excited to take on this new challenge.”

Six-time champion and fellow New Zealander will be one of Armstrong’s three full-time team-mates, as well as 2021 champion and recently signed McLaren Formula 1 reserve driver Alex Palou and 2022 Indy 500 winner Marcus Ericsson.

“Marcus driving the #11 car for Chip Ganassi Racing in 2023 is exciting,” said CGR’s managing director Mike Hull.

“As a 22-year-old, what is in common to others who have climbed into IndyCar with CGR is that at that age he already knows how to win. That’s been repeatedly proven at the highest global level. Besides talent, the intangible that he brings creates measurement through opportunity. Bring on 2023.”

The team had been seeking a driver with the budget to contest the full season in the car previously driven by NASCAR legend Jimmie Johnson, but had been unable to find anyone. Armstrong has been in talks with other IndyCar teams, while this year’s F2 champion Felipe Drugovich was known to have been one of the drivers previously in talks over the CGR seat.

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Photo: Formula Motorsport Limited

Marcus Armstrong dominated the first Formula 2 race at Zandvoort to claim his third sprint victory of the season.

A late safety car brought out by Tatiana Calderon threatened to deny Armstrong the win, but the Hitech driver put in a perfect restart and finished almost a second ahead of Clement Novalak.

MP Motorsport driver Novalak started from pole, but wouldn’t remain in the lead of the race for long. Armstrong got the better start of the two and swept through into the race lead while Juri Vips and Dennis Hauger challenged Novalak for second.

Armstrong quickly extended a gap to Novalak, pulling out of DRS range before it could be activated. He was almost 1.5s clear at one point, but Novalak managed to break away from the challengers behind him and began to close the gap. It was slow progress, and Novalak was still move than a second behind the race leader when Calderon found herself beached in the gravel with three laps remaining.

A safety car brought Novalak back on Armstrong’s tail for a one-lap shoot-out. Armstrong mastered the restart, quickly pulling several car lengths ahead of Novalak.

There was little movement on the final lap and Novalak came through to finish 0.8s back in second for his first F2 podium.

Hauger managed to find a way past Vips early on and finished third, a further 1.1s behind Novalak, to take his first points since the Red Bull Ring.

Liam Lawson also got by Vips in the early stages for fourth, forcing the Hitech driver over the new ‘fake’ gravel on the outside of turn 11.

The only movement on the final lap came from Ayumu Iwasa, who had spent most of the race battling with Richard Verschoor.

A move around the outside of the Trident driver allowed him to come through and take sixth. The battle enabled Logan Sargeant and Jack Doohan to stick with them late on, but neither would follow Iwasa past Verschoor and they finished eighth and ninth respectively.

Felipe Drugovich struggled to move forwards and finished where he started in P10, but did gain a point by setting the fastest lap.

It was a miserable race for Drugovich’s title rival Theo Pourchaire. After a poor qualifying, Pourchaire had made up a handful of positions on the opening lap when an off at turn one sent him through the gravel. He dropped back to 21st, ahead of only Calderon who stalled on the formation lap. Pourchaire would make up another place when Olli Caldwell retired after an off of his own damaged his car, but would make no further progress.

Race result (29 laps)

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Photo: Joe Portlock / Formula Motorsport Ltd

Theo Pourchaire has lost his podium in Formula 2’s Paul Ricard sprint race to a penalty, dropping him behind title rival Felipe Drugovich.

The pair finished third and fourth on the road, split by just 0.283 seconds, but Pourchaire has now been put down to seventh place in the final race results due to a five-second penalty for forcing Marcus Armstrong off at turn 11.

He also picks up a penalty point for the violation, and as Drugovich moves up to third place it means that his championship lead grows by three points to a 42-point margin over Carlin’s feature race poleman Logan Sargeant.

Speaking before he met with the stewards, Pourchaire said: “I don’t know what they [the stewards] are going to say to be honest because I kept it on the track. It was a fair move and I think he’s [Armstrong] also under investigation for something else. So, yeah, anyway, I saw his race in front of me and it was not very fair so…”

Three other drivers were given the same penalty for similar offences. Before being passed by Pourchaire, Armstrong forced Prema’s Jehan Daruvala off while fighting over second, and Juri Vips later forced his Hitech GP team-mate Armstrong off but at turn 15. The penalties move them from ninth and sixth in the results to 14th and 11th, costing Vips three points and promoting Sargeant into a points-scoring position.

Charouz Racing System’s Enzo Fittipaldi had a clash with Campos Racing’s Roberto Merhi at turn eight and he has been handed a five-place grid penalty for the feature race, meaning he will start from 17th on the grid, and two penalty points.

Merhi’s team-mate Olli Caldwell also got summoned to the stewards after Campos did not ensure his rear-left wheel was laid flat following a pitstop. The team has been fined €1000, and Caldwell escaped any kind of sanction but still remains one penalty point away from a F2 race ban.

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Photo: Formula Motorsport Limited

Marcus Armstrong managed a faultless drive to win the Formula 2 sprint race at the Red Bull Ring.

The Hitech GP driver started from pole and was untouchable throughout the race, finishing 1.098s ahead of the rest of the field.

Theo Pourchaire crossed the line second, but remains under investigation for exceeding track limits, which played a significant role as in qualifying.

Pourchaire was comfortably ahead of Jack Doohan, who pipped Richard Verschoor off the line to take third and was under pressure from Felipe Drugovich.

But the ART Grand Prix driver received multiple warnings about track limits. Towards the end of the race, he appeared to back off and Doohan, having shaken Drugovich, closed onto the back of Pourchaire. He kept Pourchaire under pressure but couldn’t find a way past before the chequered flag.

Pourchaire remains under investigation but a number of drivers were already handed penalties during the race. Frederik Vesti, Amaury Cordeel and Olli Caldwell were among those caught out by the white lines. Each were handed five-second penalties.

A five-second penalty would drop Pourchaire down to fourth, behind championship rival Drugovich.

Juri Vips took fifth ahead of Richard Verschoor and Logan Sargeant.

Sargeant had a difficult race. He was forced wide at the start, dropping behind the battle with Vips and Verschoor. Vips was eventually able to pull away from the pair, and Verschoor was left to defend against a train of drivers for sixth. Sargeant pushed hard but couldn’t find a way through and himself came under pressure from Ayumu Iwasa late on.

Iwasa would have to settle for eighth, ahead of Enzo Fittipaldi, who was battling Vesti on track. Dennis Hauger completed the top 10.

It was a race to forget for Liam Lawson, who struggled to get off the line on the formation lap. He would eventually start the race, but retired soon after with an apparent mechanical issue. He briefly stopped on track, causing a virtual safety car, but was able to get going again and returned to the pits.

Race result (28 laps)

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Photo: Formula Motorsport Limited

Marcus Armstrong took victory in Formula 2’s sprint race at Imola ahead of Prema’s Jehan Daruvala and Dennis Hauger, in an afternoon with little overtaking.

Armstrong took the lead at the start, as reversed grid pole-sitter Logan Sargeant dropped to fifth. A brilliant getaway from Roy Nissany momentarily put him up to second from fifth on the grid, before going back to fourth just behind Daruvala and Hauger.

In the middle of the pack, the title top two Felipe Drugovich and Liam Lawson were gaining the most places, moving up five and four positions respectively on lap one.

The safety car had to be deployed at the end of the lap to clear David Beckmann’s car, as Charouz Racing System driver spun at the Tamburello chicane after receiving a slight touch from Clement Novalak to his rear-right tyre. Novalak had to pit for a new front wing, and rejoined at the back of the pack.

The race resumed with Hauger putting pressure on Daruvala at the end of the main straight, as the top three soon opened a gap over Nissany, who was holding back Sargeant, Ralph Boschung and Drugovich.

It closed up at the front when a fuel pump failure forced Boschung out and caused a VSC period, and when the track went green again Sargeant continued to attack Nissany, with Drugovich right behind them.

Daruvala meanwhile closed on Armstrong, but overtaking proved to be much more difficult than in FIA Formula 3’s sprint race and none of them were able to pass the car ahead. Armstrong ended up claiming his second F2 win ahead of Daruvala, and a loose sidepod couldn’t prevent Hauger from taking his first F2 podium in third.

Nissany was just half a second behind at the end though, with Sargeant dropping off his tail and into the clutches of Drugovich, who would eventually pass the Williams junior driver with two laps to go.

In the closing stages Frederik Vesti also made up a position, taking 10th place from Jack Doohan who was visibly struggling with his tyres.

Amaury Cordeel, who was meant to start from 16th on the grid, didn’t start the race as he lost the control of his car down to Acqua Minerale on his way to the grid, damaging his rear-left suspension.

Race result (25 laps)

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