As FIA Formula Two gears up for the 2020 season which begins in Austria after a three month delay, here is a preview into everything that you need to know ahead of the new campaign.
From returning drivers to new rookies, 2020 promises to be a huge year for F2 with no clear favourites for the title but there will be guaranteed competitive racing throughout the field as drivers vie to prove their F1 credentials.
This season will also be the toughest yet on track with eight rounds across ten weeks currently confirmed ahead of potential further rounds, so here is full details on teams plus schedule and some pointers on which battles to monitor.
Teams
| Entrant | Number | Driver |
| DAMS | 1 | Sean Gelael |
| 2 | Dan Ticktum | |
| Uni Virtuosi | 3 | Guanyu Zhou |
| 4 | Callum Ilott | |
| ART Grand Prix | 5 | Marcus Armstrong |
| 6 | Christian Lundgaard | |
| Carlin | 7 | Yuki Tsunoda |
| 8 | Jehan Daruvala | |
| Campos Racing | 9 | Jack Aitken |
| 10 | Guilherme Samaia | |
| Charouz Racing System | 11 | Louis Deletraz |
| 12 | Pedro Piquet | |
| MP Motorsport | 14 | Nobuharu Matsushita |
| 15 | Felipe Drugovich | |
| BWT HWA Racelab | 16 | Artem Markelov |
| 17 | Giuliano Alesi | |
| Prema Racing | 20 | Mick Schumacher |
| 21 | Robert Shwartzman | |
| Trident | 22 | Roy Nissany |
| 23 | Marino Sato | |
| Hitech Grand Prix | 24 | Nikita Mazepin |
| 25 | Luca Ghiotto |
Joining F2
- Hitech Grand Prix joins the series as a 11th team and will run returning drivers in Nikita Mazepin and Luca Ghiotto.
- 2019 F3 champion, Robert Shwartzman remains with Prema as he steps up into F2 whilst runner-up, Marcus Armstrong has switched to ART Grand Prix to partner Christian Lundgaard who finished sixth in F3 last season with the French team.
- Pedro Piquet has stepped up from F3 and will join Charouz partnering Louis Deletraz.
- Carlin will run a Red Bull junior rookie lineup of Yuki Tsunoda and Jehan Daruvala as both drivers step up from F3.
- Dan Ticktum steps up from the Formula Regional European Championship (FREC) and will partner Sean Gelael at DAMS.
- Felipe Drugovich makes the step up from F3 as he moves to MP Motorsport.
- Guilherme Samaia makes a switch from Euroformula Open as he joins Campos Racing, partnering Jack Aitken who returns for a third consecutive F2 season.
Driver Changes
- Sean Gelael has departed Prema Racing after two seasons to join reigning teams champion – DAMS.
- Callum Ilott left Charouz for Uni Virtuosi and was replaced by Louis Deletraz who had departed Carlin alongside Nobuharu Matsushita who joins MP Motorsport.
- Artem Markelov makes a full-time return with BWT HWA Racelab who has taken over Arden’s entry, with Giuliano Alesi making the switch from Trident to partner Markelov.
- Marino Sato has made a permanent move into F2 after initially joining Campos as a replacement during the middle of last season, as he joins Trident where he will partner the returning Roy Nissany after a year’s absence due to injury.
- Nikita Mazepin and Luca Ghiotto have switched from ART Grand Prix and Uni Virtuosi respectively to new entry – Hitech Grand Prix.
Leaving F2
- Reigning champion, Nyck De Vries has departed the series to join Mercedes in FIA Formula E.
- 2019 Vice-Champion, Nicholas Latifi has graduated into F1 with Williams, partnering 2018 F2 champion – George Russell.
- Sergio Sette Camara departed DAMS to become Red Bull Reserve Driver and join Super Formula where he races for B-MAX Racing.
- Juan Manuel Correa will sit out the 2020 season as he recovers from injuries sustained in a Feature Race accident at 2019 Belgian Grand Prix.
- Jordan King left MP Motorsport and F2 to race in FIA World Endurance with Team LNT.
- Mahaveer Raghunathan left MP Motorsport and the series after a disastrous rookie season in 2019.
- Tatiana Calderon left the series to race in WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
- Ralph Boschung left Trident and the series due to financial difficulties.
Schedule
With the original 2020 race calendar scrapped due to the effects of the Coronavirus pandemic, F2 is provisionally set to have eight rounds with further rounds likely to be added in due course.
| Round | Circuit | Race One | Race Two |
| 1 | Red Bull Ring, Spielberg (Austria) | 4 July | 5 July |
| 2 | 11 July | 12 July | |
| 3 | Hungaroring, Mogyorod (Hungary) | 18 July | 19 July |
| 4 | Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone (United Kingdom) | 1 August | 2 August |
| 5 | 8 August | 9 August | |
| 6 | Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Montmelo (Spain) | 15 August | 16 August |
| 7 | Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot (Belgium) | 29 August | 30 August |
| 8 | Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza (Italy | 5 September | 6 September |
Three Must Watch Themes
- Ferrari junior battle is set to be fierce as Alesi, Ilott and Schumacher take on rookies, Armstrong and Shwartzman for the F2 title and a possible graduation into F1 next season.
- After a successful season in F3 last season, Hitech will hope to enjoy a successful maiden F2 campaign with Mazepin and Ghiotto as their drivers.
- Uni Virtuosi battle between Ilott and Zhou because both drivers are widely expected to be title contenders this season, following strong rookie seasons in 2019.
Coverage Details
Last season saw us focus solely on Twitter commentary of all F2 sessions but this year will see us switch to race reports, although Friday reports will instead see a full roundup of both practice and qualifying.
We will also still be active on social media bringing you full results of all four sessions throughout each race weekend, in place of our discontinued Twitter race commentary.