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Ollie Bearman's promotion to Haas for the 2025 Formula 1 season further highlighted to Formula 2 drivers just how harsh the single-seater pyramid can be.
Last month it was announced that the Ferrari junior will join Haas to make his full-time F1 debut in 2025 having impressed throughout the junior pyramid, test sessions, and in his substitute appearance at the 2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in place of appendicitis-stricken Carlos Sainz.
Now in his second F2 season in 2024, however, there are 14 drivers ahead of Bearman in the standings.
Of those 14, only Bearman's highly rated Prema team-mate Kimi Antonelli looks nailed on for F1 graduation - even if it's still to be officially decided whether his debut will come in 2025 with Mercedes.
Antonelli shone in Italian Formula 4 and German F4 in 2022 before clinching the Formula Regional European (FRECA) title in 2023. That led to his call-up to F2 with Prema for 2024.
FAN CAM 📹
— Formula 2 (@Formula2) July 30, 2024
Another angle of that Kimi Antonelli move 👀
Filmed from the stands by @maithe_schobben 🤗#F2 #BelgianGP pic.twitter.com/vZKRO2VyZB
Prema hasn’t managed to replicate its previous dominant F2 performances with the series' new package in 2024, but Antonelli has still shown moments of excellent racecraft including a pass at Eau Rouge in the truncated and soaking-wet F2 sprint race at Spa-Francorchamps alongside race wins at Silverstone and the Hungaroring.
As attention grows on Antonelli, other drivers are beginning to feel that they're in the shadows. That includes another F2 driver who also jumped from FRECA to make his F2 debut this season: Joshua Duerksen.
He has struggled of late, with a solitary point from the previous six races, although Duerksen scored a podium at Imola and two top-10 finishes at the Red Bull Ring this season. The Race asks him in Belgium whether he feels overlooked compared to the likes of Antonelli and Bearman.
"To be honest, I feel it [overlooked]," he replies. "Especially me, because I had a tough season in FRECA, the season just didn't go the way we meant it to, because we had many many issues.
"Of course I felt like an underdog; nobody was really paying attention to me or everybody was really doubting if I was capable of driving F2.
"I had great seasons in Formula 4 as well, some great races and even in FRECA in last year's race at Spa I had a podium here - against Kimi, actually, we were racing together.
"I'm pretty sure this happens to many other drivers. But of course, Antonelli and Bearman are great drivers."
The Paraguayan driver, who is not affiliated with an F1 team's junior programme, adds that it's "fundamental" to have such backing - and he’s also working on a leaner budget than others this season.
“I'm trying to save money everywhere I can just to be able to invest in motorsport,” says Duerksen. “Always flying economy class and trying to get the cheapest tickets, even if it's a longer journey. If it's cheap, I'll take it.
“I know I'm living pretty economically on the travel and on saving money on this part, because it's everything. I'm sure it'll be worth it in the end, though.”
Former Mercedes junior Paul Aron is another F2 driver who is now unaffiliated with an F1 junior team. He was leading the championship going into the Silverstone weekend in early July but a run of difficult races has dropped him back down to third in the standings.
At Jeddah, where Bearman made his F1 debut for Ferrari, there was a feeling that this story had taken the spotlight off other drivers' competitive starts to the F2 season.
Hitech driver Aron said in Saudi Arabia: "It's great that Ollie has the chance, but I think you shouldn't take the light off the other guys on the F2 grid.
"There's still a lot of talent here and it's always great for somebody to be able to make the step up but everybody here is trying to give their best. And I think there's many drivers… if they had the chance, they would do a good job."
MP Motorsport's Dennis Hauger, who is also unattached to an F1 junior team since leaving Red Bull's programme at the end of 2023, echoed Aron's comments.
"I have nothing but respect for Kimi and Ollie, just to say that, and I think they are good drivers for sure," he said. "But looking at the facts, obviously, there are other drivers that are in front in the championship this year that are not in a junior team, and don’t have a chance. For example, Paul [Aron]."
At Silverstone, Hauger contrasted his fortunes to F2 team-mate Franco Colapinto, who is a Williams junior. F2 rookie Colapinto made his FP1 debut at Silverstone earlier this year (above), something F3 champion and five-time F2 race winner Hauger is still waiting for.
"I’ve never even got a shot in an F1 car [whereas] there's other guys. For example, my team-mate today, so it sometimes can be frustrating - but it is how it is.
"There is not only stuff on track; you get the chance, you're fortunate like Ollie was to get the race in Jeddah and he did the job and he did a decent job and managed to impress.
"In the end, things have to go in your way and in your direction to get up there."
This season, things certainly haven’t gone quite Bearman's way in F2. Apart from a sprint race win in Austria, he has struggled with both pace and racecraft at times.
That was clear at Spa, where he clumsily collected Red Bull junior Pepe Marti in the feature race and was handed a five-place grid penalty for the next F2 round at Monza.
Three into one just doesn't work at La Source 😬#F3 #BelgianGP pic.twitter.com/91RgbPc8pO
— Formula 2 (@Formula2) July 28, 2024
Despite that, Bearman was fiercely defended by Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur - who pointed out that the 18-year-old made up six places in the five-lap sprint race at Spa.
Vasseur - a co-founder of junior single-seater squad ART - ruled out pulling Bearman out of F2 to concentrate on preparing for his F1 debut next year. He reasoned that seeing out the F2 season will be "mega valuable for him" for 2025 even if there's now a near-zero chance of a title charge.
Bearman knows even if his F2 misery continues, it's only going to be temporary before a guaranteed full-time shot in F1. He's already done more than enough to prove his worth.
Everyone else on the F2 grid, bar Antonelli, will have to continue to plug away and hope the powers that be in F1 will take a chance on their talents.
But the chances of that happening in the near future seem overwhelmingly slim.
