Who is everybody?
It’s time for F2 2026 and this season the entrants span from rookies who have barely set foot in an F2 car before (or even an F3 car) to those who have already had a whole career and won championships. They all, however, have one thing in common: F1 hopes and dreams (which let’s be honest, statistically speaking, are probably going to crumble around them at some point). Happy racing! And don’t forget to choose your new favourite 2026 F2 driver using the handy flowchart* below…
Rookies
Rafael Câmara was F3 champion last year in his rookie season and FRECA champion before that. He’ll be looking to do an Oscar Piastri-style win everything and get straight to F1 and why not, he’s already a member of the Ferrari Driver Academy, what could possibly get in his way..? He’s started things off by being fastest in pre-season testing.
Noel León, conversely, was 17th in F3 last year, but can take comfort by the fact that like many successful drivers before him, he was previously, but is no longer, a part of the Red Bull junior team.
Roman Bilinski‘s motto is “born to win” (even though he came 11th in F3 last year) so he has nothing to worry about. His website is worth a visit purely for the 2017 photo of a mini Roman holding a trophy that’s almost as big as he is.
Mari Boya was third in F3 last year, part of the Aston Martin Driver Academy, and is apparently one of Spain’s most promising racing talents. *Nervously looks around to see if there are any other Spanish drivers here this year, before sighing with relief*. According to his website his driving style is consistent, but aggressive, but precise, but smart, but adapts to every possible category or situation. It’s like he was made for F2 chaos.
Emerson Fittipaldi is the son of the two-time F1 World champion with the same name so he doesn’t even need to bother with F3 and all that. He’s coming straight from Eurocup-3. It’s been a whole year since there was a Fittipaldi in F2, it was feeling empty without one.
Almost rookies
Nikola Tsolov, aka “The Bulgarian Lion”, was runner up in the F3 championship last year (or as Red Bull like to say “vice champion” – they’re so supportive). He also did two rounds of F2 at the end of the season, but never mind all that because HE HAS MERCH, if you have a cool €80 to spend on a jumper, that is.
Martinius Stenshorne is “one of the most intriguing talents in motorsport,” according to his website although it’s unclear how that conclusion has been drawn. He came fifth in F3 last year and did the last three rounds of F2 although his intrigue seemingly wasn’t enough to keep McLaren interested after they did a Red Bull and dropped several of their Driver Academy members last year, with Stenshorne and Dunne the F2 casualties.
Who isn’t looking forward to learning how to spell Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak this year? His idol is fellow Thai driver Alex Albon and last year he emulated Albon’s 2015 F3 success when he finished seventh in the championship. After warming up with one round of F2 last year, a cool tenth this year is all that’s needed to maintain Inthraphuvasak’s Albon trajectory.
According to Laurens van Hoepen‘s website, he is “pushing limits, chasing dreams.” In fact, his whole website is just a name drop of F1 drivers and I’m here for it: De Vries, Rosberg, Leclerc. Van Hoepen apparently also has determination, tenacity, skill, consistency, high-quality technical feedback, a calm approach under pressure, a proven record of success and is a formidable force on track. Ok I’m sold. He will obviously win everything. After three rounds of F2 last year, he is ready to go.
Veterans
Ferrari Academy Driver Dino Beganovic is embarking on his second season of F2 after completing the F1 young driver test for Ferrari in December. His website cheerfully informs us that “as the journey continues, it is bound to surprise, excite and inspire – so hold tight and enjoy the ride. Welcome!” But regardless of what happens in the future, one thing we know from the past half a decade is that Dino will be alongside Alpine Academy driver and Rubik’s cube expert Gabriele Minì. The pair have been racing together all the way from Italian F4 in 2020 to F2 in 2026, which means they are now destined to take each career step together. FOREVER.
Oliver Goethe came 15th in F2 last year and was a member of the Red Bull Junior Team but obviously with Arvid Lindblad having so much success some of the other juniors had to go, just because we can’t have too much of a positive feeling in the Red Bull junior camp.
Sebastián Montoya doesn’t need Red bull because his dad is ex-F1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya and his manager is current F1 driver Fernando Alonso. Take that Van Hoepen.
Ex-McLaren-now-Alpine Academy Driver Alex Dunne came fifth in F2 last year but without Victor Martins around to distract him, maybe things will go even better this season.
Cian Shields finished the F2 championship in 24th last year but did get to go out for F1 Free Practice 1 in an Aston Martin at the end of the season. Things can only get better.
John Bennett “is a talented young driver” and the first driver to go straight from GB3 to F2, as you will know if you have read his website, which I suspect was written by his Dad who also wants us to know that John is “following in the wheel tracks of his father Tony, a successful club racer…” Ok Tony. Everything is exciting, brilliant and bright. So much positivity. Oh and did I mention he is the first driver to go directly from GB3 to F2, yes? Well it needs to be said twice, apparently.
Ultra veterans
Joshua Dürksen has newly become one of Mercedes’ army of extra drivers (or officially a Development Driver) and will be starting his third year in F2. He previously finished in ninth and tenth while driving for AIX Racing, or to quote Mercedes “standout performances in a modest team.” Ok guys, we can’t all be F1 world championship winning teams.
It will be Kush Maini‘s fourth year in F2 where he seems to have decided to take up a full-time career as an Alpine Academy driver.
Rafael Villagómez is back for his third year of F2. He’s been doing F3 and F2 for so long that even the F2 website has tired of him, having not bothered to update his bio in two years: “With three seasons worth of experience under his belt, Villagómez now graduates to Formula 2 with Van Amersfoort Racing in 2024.”
Had whole other careers before this
Ritomo Miyata has spent the last two season in F2 but before that he was the Super Formula champion as well as racing sports cars. He is also reseve driver for Toyota in the World Endurance Championship which, by default, makes him the best. (I don’t make the rules).
Colton Herta is a proper IndyCar driver with a proper IndyCar career and also the Cadillac F1 test driver. However he doesn’t actually have enough Super License points to drive in F1 so here we are in F2.
Nicolás Varrone comes from sports cars, which automatically makes him cool (I told you I don’t make the rules). The COVID pandemic and money derailed his original career plans (according to wikipedia, I didn’t research that hard), but now he’s making a comeback at the grand old age of 25.