Formula 2 Preview: Who are the contenders with two to go?

Who will be the 2024 FIA Formula 2 champion, the rookie with a seat already confirmed in Formula 1 for next season or the second-year Red Bull Junior? Brazil has been without a Formula 1 World Champion since Ayrton Senna in 1991, and France since Alain Prost in 1993.

Winning the F2 championship at your first attempt is, as evidenced by the tradition going back to the inaugural season of GP2 in 2005, the ticket to the premiere league of Motor Racing—just ask any rookie champion, all the way from Nico Rosberg to Oscar Piastri. Other such luminaries include Lewis Hamilton, Charles Leclerc, and George Russell.

Nico Hülkenberg remains the only rookie GP2 champion who has not won a Formula 1 race. Sadly, in his case he has not even stepped on the podium after a Grand Prix.

Gabriel Bortoleto, driving for Invicta, and Isack Hadjar for Campos Racing, are hoping to become the next F2 champions from their respective nations.

Bortoleto is from Senna’s hometown, São Paulo, and has been a sizzling sensation since winning the F3 championship last year as a McLaren junior. Heading into the penultimate round this weekend in Qatar, the 20-year-old rookie leads the championship with 169.5 points.

His season started in Sakhir at the Bahrain International Circuit with a sixth-place finish in the Sprint race. He was on pole for the opening feature race of the season and finished fifth. After Round 1 he was fourth in the championship with 15 points. Round two was in Saudi Arabia. Tenth in the Jeddah Sprint was followed by retirements in the Feature and both races in Albert Park, Melbourne.

Bortoleto’s first podium of the season came in the feature race at Imola, second behind race winner Hadjar, following sixth in the sprint race on Saturday. The second podium of the season for the Brazilian again came on the second step, this time in the Monaco Sprint race. He was eighth in the feature race. In the Barcelona round he took fifth place finish in the sprint race, though he could only manage tenth in the feature race.

There Bortoleto was fourth in the sprint race, and on Sunday he took his maiden win of the series, and said at the time: “P1 today in the Feature Race, so happy; it’s a special track for me. I always have good memories here, and finally I could get my first Formula 2 win. I’m super happy."

The win lifted him to third in the standings behind Hadjar. Estonian Paul Aron retained the championship lead.

Silverstone hosted Round 8. In the sprint race, Bortoleto was the first non-podium finisher, and in the feature race, he was sixth. He was out of the points in the Budapest Sprint race and collected useful points by finishing fourth in the Feature race. Round 10 before the summer break was at the majestic Spa-Francorchamps. Tenth in the Sprint race and second in the Feature with the fastest lap elevated Bortoleto to second in the standings.

Then came Monza. Eighth in the Sprint race was followed with a great victory from the back of the grid in the Feature race, albeit with the advantage of a pit stop under the Safety Car period.

A double top-five finish in the streets of Baku, fifth in the Sprint and fourth in the Feature race with the fastest lap, has given Bortoleto the lead in the championship for the first time. With a Formula 1 contract in hand and only two rounds remaining, he is looking good and feeling less pressure than Hadjar to become the second Brazilian in three years to become Formula 2 Champion.

Felipe Drugovich took the title in 2022.

After a paucity of talent in the Red Bull junior program, the good Doctor Marko may now have a healthy dose of driving talent who are or soon will be ready to knock on the door of the top echelon of motor racing.

Leading the charge of the Red Bull brigade is Isack Hadjar. The 20-year-old French driver of Algerian descent is fast—and furious on the team radio. A Gallic version of the Japanese driver in the RB team. He started his second year in the series by scoring points by finishing fourth in the Sprint race of the opening round in Bahrain.

His feature race was over in Turn 1 of Lap 1 after he was spun around by Bortoleto. An unusually calm Hadjar said on the team radio, “Thank you, Bortoleto. Thank you very much.” Hadjar did not add to his points total in Saudi Arabia.

In Round 3 at Albert Park in Melbourne, he experienced the best and worst of a race weekend. He dominated the sprint race from start to finish and set the fastest lap. The thrill of victory was short-lived as he was handed a 10s penalty for causing a collision with his Red Bull junior teammate Josep Maria Marti and Bortoleto at the start of the race.

The penalty dropped Hadjar to sixth. He made up for the disappointment by scoring his maiden Formula 2 victory in the feature race.

He retired from the sprint race at Imola but bounced back to win the feature race over Bortoleto. Round five took place in the Principality of Monaco. Hadjar was eighth in the sprint and second in the feature race.

So, after the first five rounds, Hadjar had moved into second place in the standings with 78 points, only two points behind the championship leader from Estonia, Paul Aron. Bortoleto at this stage of the season was 28 points behind Hadjar.

Round 6 in Barcelona saw the French driver sixth in the Sprint and fifth in the Feature race. The next round at his employer's home track, the Red Bull Ring, had mixed fortunes for their hot-headed driver. Hadjar was thirteenth in the sprint race and third in the feature event.

At Silverstone, the birthplace of the Formula 1 Championship, Hadjar did not finish the sprint race. On Sunday he took his third win of the season from pole position. Another podium finish in third followed in Hungary on Saturday, but he was well out of the points, eighteenth, in the feature race on Sunday.

Hadjar was ninth in the sprint race at Spa-Francorchamps and recorded his fourth win of the season in the feature race. At the other historical venue, Monza Autodromo, he made it to the top ten only in the sprint race and crossed the finish line for the feature race in eleventh.

Baku was Hadjar’s Berezina; he scored no points in the Land of Fire. The real burn was Bortoleto taking the lead in the championship. Only two rounds remain.

With a seat already confirmed for 2025 at Sauber, Bortoleto’s attention and focus may have already shifted to Formula 1. We have seen this movie before, starring Lando Norris, in the 2018 Formula 2 season.

On the other hand, the stakes are high for Hadjar. He goes into the Qatar round this weekend only 4.5 points behind championship leader Bortoleto.

Formula 2 Championship glory—second successive for a French driver as Theo Pourchaire won the title last year—will give an immense boost to his chances of being prescribed a seat in Formula 1 by Dr. Marko. Time in the next two weekends will tell.