It now seems ‘inevitable’ that an F2 star will get a shot on the F1 grid for 2025, according to The Mirror. The championship is only three rounds old, but teams have been keeping tabs on the young talents.
Sauber-affiliated junior Zane Maloney currently leads the championship after a season-opening double in Bahrain and a podium in the Australia feature race. His nearest challenger is Hitech’s Paul Aron, 15 points back.
Former Red Bull junior Dennis Hauger is third after a run of three straight podiums between his victory in the Saudi Arabia sprint and the first race in Australia. Most recent winner Isack Hadjar, who remains on the Bulls’ books, comes next.
Elsewhere, Mercedes junior Andrea Kimi Antonelli, reportedly the leading contender to replace Lewis Hamilton, has made a steady start. He’s currently ninth in the championship, but did score a season-best fourth in the Melbourne feature race.
The last F2 champions – Theo Pourchaire and Felipe Drugovich – didn’t get the opportunity to jump straight into F1. 2021 victor Oscar Piastri eventually got a shot with McLaren but had to wait a year to do so.
Haas an ‘inevitable’ destination for young prodigy
The Mirror report that Ferrari youngster Oliver Bearman looks like a shoo-in at the Haas team. He appears to be almost guaranteed a seat at the American outfit for next year, with bigger questions surrounding his teammate.
At the moment, Haas would prefer to keep Nico Hulkenberg rather than Kevin Magnussen as both near the end of their contracts. However, Audi’s interest in Hulkenberg could be a complicating factor.
Bearman made a name for himself in the F1 paddock by winning driver of the day when he stepped into Carlos Sainz’s car at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix last month. Sainz was unable to take part in qualifying or the race after contracting appendicitis.
The 18-year-old only qualified 11th, but he then fought his way to seventh in the race, beating the likes of Hamilton and Lando Norris. Former F2 rival Jack Doohan called it an ‘exceptional’ display.
How is Oliver Bearman doing in F2?
It may be a surprise to many, but Bearman is actually near the bottom of the F2 championship as it stands. He currently ranks 19th out of 22 drivers.
Of course, it’s important to point out that he missed both races in Saudi Arabia because of his F1 commitments. He’d qualified on pole for the feature race, so he was on for a big haul of points even if he didn’t win.
But you would still have expected him to pick up more than two points in the other four races. While both Prema drivers struggled at the season-opener in Bahrain, Antonelli brought home a strong result at Albert Park.
The British driver qualified 16th, while his Italian teammate ended up on the front row in a session that was disrupted by yellow and red flags. He recovered to ninth in the feature race, but still missed out on points.
In the sprint, Bearman initially crossed the line in eighth, only to receive a 10-second penalty for forcing Joshua Duerksen off the track. That dropped him all the way down to 15th.
He will hope for a much cleaner weekend when the season resumes at Imola next month. It’s been suggested that Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu needs to convince Gene Haas to green light the signing, and a series of strong weekends could sway him.
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