Top 5 favourites to win 2024 F2 title including Ferrari and McLaren junior drivers

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The top five favourites to win the Formula 2 title in 2024 including Ferrari junior driver Oliver Bearman and McLaren’s reigning 2023 Formula 3 champion, Gabriel Bortoleto.

F2 is the top feeder series into Formula 1 with the stars of tomorrow racing front and centre on the Grand Prix schedule. It has sparked the F1 careers of multiple drivers including Lando Norris. While Lewis Hamilton and Pierre Gasly lifted the title before its restricting from GP2.

Most of the Formula 1 teams try and place their most promising junior drivers at one of the 11 Formula 2 teams. The junior formulae is the best proving ground for future F1 drivers as they will race on 14 of the 24 circuits on the 2024 Formula 1 calendar and also with Pirelli tyres.

What is Formula 2 and who won the 2023 junior series title?

Sauber junior Theo Pourchaire won the Formula 2 title in 2023 after beating Mercedes gem Frederik Vesti to the crown. He will now drive in Japan’s Super Formula in 2024 as F2’s rules do not let a champion return. Vesti and P3 finisher, Jack Doohan, are also unlikely to return.

Their departures will clear a path for drivers like Ferrari junior Bearman to challenge for the F2 title. The 18-year-old is returning for a second year at Prema after a strong rookie season in 2023. But Formula 2, a one-make series, will use a new car from 2024 through until 2026.

So, a raft of rookies will also consider themselves in with a shot of following Charles Leclerc, George Russell and Oscar Piastri in winning the Formula 2 title during their first season. The aforementioned trio each stepped up from F3 and enjoyed F2 glory in 2017, 2018 and 2021.

Bortoleto – who signed for McLaren’s Driver Development Programme in October – will also hope to follow Leclerc, Russell and Piastri by winning the F2 title whilst a rookie and also the reigning Formula 3 champion. The 19-year-old will make the step up to F2 at Virtuosi Racing.

Mercedes junior Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Williams protégé Zak O’Sullivan and Red Bull driver academy member Pepe Marti will also strive to become rookie F2 champions. So, with that in mind, here are our top five favourites to win the FIA Formula 2 title during the 2024 season…

Oliver Bearman

Bearman is among the absolute favourites to win the 2024 Formula 2 title as he returns for a second year with Prema. The Briton made the move up to F2 on the back of finishing third in the 2022 F3 standings. He also ended 2023 in sixth place with 130 points across 26 races.

It did not take Bearman long to become familiar with the Dallara F2 2018 car, and will hope to become familiar with the F2 2024 quickly. He did the double at the fourth round of 2023 with the Sprint and Feature race wins in Azerbaijan. Bearman even took pole in qualifying in Baku.

Bearman claimed further Feature race wins in Spain and Italy (Monza), as well. He also took the fight to the field in the Sprint and Feature races at Silverstone. But he failed to capitalise on his speed at the British GP round with the Chelmsford native spinning in the Sprint race.

Ferrari have also sought to get Bearman experience behind the wheel of an F1 car given his form in F2. He did FP1 for Haas at the Mexico City and Abu Dhabi Grand Prix following a test session at Ferrari’s fabled Fiorano circuit. He also did the post-Abu Dhabi GP test with Haas.

Victor Martins

Whilst Victor Martins is still yet to confirm his plans for 2024, the 22-year-old would be one of the strong favourites to win the Formula 2 title should he return. The Alpine junior driver finished 2023 fifth in the standings during his rookie campaign in the feeder series with ART.

Alpine secured Martins a drive in F2 with ART on the back of winning the 2022 F3 title with the junior team. He enjoyed instant success in Formula 2 with a podium on debut in Bahrain in the Sprint race. Martins later won his first race in F2 in the Feature race at the British GP.

Martins secured a total of 10 podiums from 26 races throughout his rookie season. His 150 points were also enough for the Frenchman to win the Anthoine Hubert Award for the top-placed rookie. He also took the Mecachrome Award for the highest number of fastest laps.

Zane Maloney

Red Bull signed Zane Maloney as a junior driver for the 2023 F2 season as he stepped up to the series after finishing second in F3 in 2022. The Milton Keynes squad have now dropped the Barbados boy, however. But he will return to F2 in 2024 for a second season with Carlin.

Maloney showed promise in patches during his rookie F2 campaign despite Carlin recording the team’s lowest points total since the series rebranded in 2017. He finished on the podium four times en route to a 10th-place finish in the standings and took the fastest race lap once.

The 20-year-old started strongly with a P3 finish in the Feature race in Bahrain and also took P3 in the Feature race in Monaco. Maloney returned to the rostrum with P2s in the Feature races in Britain and the Netherlands. But he must improve on not scoring points in 18 races.

Dennis Hauger

Red Bull have canned Dennis Hauger from their junior driver programme ahead of the 2024 Formula 2 season. He had been a part of their driver pathway since 2018 and even won the 2021 Formula 3 title. But 2024 will mark the Norwegian’s third season driving in Formula 2.

Hauger took two wins and four podiums during his rookie F2 campaign in 2022 with Prema. But a move to MP Motorsport for 2023 only returned two wins and four podiums again. He will stay with the Dutch team for 2024 and hope to prove Red Bull were wrong to drop him.

The new-for-2024 Formula 2 car may help Hauger climb to the front of the championship, as well. He has already shown in the series that the 20-year-old can battle in a wheel-to-wheel contest. But Hauger has only won one Feature race amongst his victories in Formula 2 so far.

Gabriel Bortoleto

If there is going to be a rookie Formula 2 champion in 2024, Bortoleto will be the favourite. The Brazilian was head-and-shoulders clear of the Formula 3 field in 2023 to sweep the title and tempt McLaren to sign him as a young driver. Emanuele Pirro will also mentor the teen.

Bortoleto lifted the 2023 F3 title with a 45-point margin over Williams junior O’Sullivan with 164 from 18 races. He also won the title through the Brazilian’s consistency having only won twice. The 19-year-old won the Feature races in Bahrain (Round 1) and Australia (Round 2).

He further started the Feature race in Melbourne from pole position after topping qualifying during the second round of the season. Bortoleto was a rookie in Formula 3 during the 2023 season after stepping into the series for Trident after two years in Formula Regional Europe.