Only two seats left in Formula 2, but who will take them?

F2 grid for 2023

On Wednesday, Carlin and Hitech announced their line-up for the 2023 Formula 2 season. This immediately filled four seats with four drivers from the Red Bull Junior Team. That leaves only two spots left for 2023, but they are not the least. MP Motorsport and ART finished first and third respectively in the constructors' championship in 2022.

So you would also say there is no shortage in terms of attention, but it is still quiet around the teams for now. At the French racing stable, however, it seems a matter of time before Victor Martins is officially appointed there. The French driver became Formula 3 champion with ART and a move to the F2 team seems a given. Yet that deal has still not been made official.

Spicy line-up at ART?

Martins would then become teammate of Theo Pourchaire at ART. An interesting combination, as Pourchaire is still on Sauber's radar as part of its junior team. However, he disappointed in 2022 by failing to take the title in his second F2 season. In 2023, that should change.

Martins' arrival would mean stiff competition for Pourchaire. Martins became F3 champion last season and is part of Alpine's junior programme. The French racing stable will be only too happy to put its pupil away with a top team, and that is ART.

Who wants to join the champion?

The search for MP Motorsport seems a lot trickier in that respect. With Dennis Hauger, there is one big talent from Red Bull in house, but a lot of the other talents have already found a seat in F2. From the past F3 season, the top seven (with the exception of Martins) already found an F2 seat and numbers eight (Caio Collet) and nine (Franco Colapinto) are already assured of an extra season in F3.

Last year's F2 season also offers little hope. Liam Lawson is one name that stands out, but he was sent to Super Formula by Red Bull. Those two classes overlap in just one race weekend, so a double programme for the New Zealander could theoretically be possible. Nevertheless, Red Bull already announced its programme for the juniors, which only states Super Formula for Lawson.

Daruvala to MP Motorsport?

Last year's seventh in the championship also does not yet have a seat, and that is former Red Bull junior Jehan Daruvala. At 24, the man from India is no longer the youngest talent, but one with a wealth of experience in F2. He has already driven three seasons in this class for Carlin (two years) and Prema (one year), won four races there and has only a reserve role in Formula E with Mahindra for 2023.

Daruvala may not be the biggest and most sought-after talent, but looking back to 2022, MP Motorsport did not bring in the big names for its title-winning season either. Felipe Drugovich was also not part of an F1 programme, had already completed two seasons in the class and had failed to impress in it. The same could be said of Clement Novalak.

The list of candidates was also not very large. Juri Vips was no longer on Red Bull's list after his statements in a livestream in 2022 and he did not impress on track either, finishing 11th in the standings. He could be an option, but without Red Bull's support, does he have the finances for an F2 seat?

For MP Motorsport, then, Daruvala seems the most logical candidate. He has the experience and speed to be competitive in this class. With Hauger, MP already has a great talent inside and that combination could work well. It would thus completely take over Prema's line-up in 2022.