Abu Dhabi: Once it was known as GP2, now we call it FIA Formula 2 but the end result is the same: its champions go on to make a name for themselves at the pinnacle of motorsport, the Formula 1 World Championship.
The F2 series, which is the principal support category at this weekend’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, began in 2005. Inaugural series winner Nico Rosberg went on from there to join Williams, moving later to Mercedes to be crowned Formula 1 World Champion at Yas Marina last year.
In 2006 it was Lewis Hamilton’s turn to take the F2 title, and we all know how he has ended up: four-time World Champion, record pole-winner, 62 Grand Prix victories and counting. Hamilton and Rosberg remain the most stellar graduates from F2, but their successors have almost all gone on to secure their own niche in F1, the latest example being Pierre Gasly, the 2016 champion recently promoted to a full F1 race seat at Toro Rosso.
By the end of 2016, no fewer than nine of the 12 F2 champions had made their way into F1 with long-term prospects.
The question is, will the 2017 champion-elect, Charles Leclerc, follow in those illustrious footsteps? The Ferrari protege has already enjoyed several free-practice sessions and is widely tipped to be named as a full-time F1 driver in 2018, most likely with Sauber, long considered a good nursery for up-and-coming Grand Prix talent.
“You need to be on the limit with everything”, is how Leclerc sums up his approach to winning the F2 title this year. “Obviously it’s very important to be in the right team. It’s always something that makes you win the championship.”
The right team, in his case, was PREMA, for whom Leclerc has taken eight poles, six race wins and been generally uncatchable throughout the season. Leclerc knew early in the season that if he did his job, the team would do theirs. “Arriving to Barcelona it became clear that we had the pace to win the championship and that if we were doing the job correctly we had good chances to win the championship. I had the pole and we won race one in Barcelona without any luck, so it was at that moment that I understood we had the potential.”
