With just days until Formula Two kick off their 2021 season in Bahrain, we bring you everything you need to know in the series’ biggest shakeup yet.
From a new race weekend format to at least eight new race drivers and a revamped race calendar, this F2 season promises to be just as unpredictable with twists and turns at every round after Christian Lundgaard dominated pre-season testing.
Now, here is the ultimate guide to everything that you need to know ahead of the 2021 F2 season starting with the teams and drivers.
Teams and Drivers
| Team | Driver | Car Number |
| Prema | Robert Shwartzman | 1 |
| Oscar Piastri | 2 | |
| UNI-Virtuosi | Guanyu Zhou | 3 |
| Felipe Drugovich | 4 | |
| Carlin | Dan Ticktum | 5 |
| Jehan Daruvala | 6 | |
| Hitech GP | Liam Lawson | 7 |
| Juri Vips | 8 | |
| ART GP | Christian Lundgaard | 9 |
| Theo Pourchaire | 10 | |
| MP Motorsport | Richard Verschoor | 11 |
| Lirim Zendeli | 12 | |
| Charouz | David Beckmann | 14 |
| Guilherme Samaia | 15 | |
| DAMS | Roy Nissany | 16 |
| Marcus Armstrong | 17 | |
| Campos | Gianluca Petecof | 20 |
| Ralph Boschung | 21 | |
| HWA Racelab | Matteo Nannini | 22 |
| Alessio Deledda | 23 | |
| Trident | Bent Viscaal | 24 |
| Marino Sato | 25 |
Driver Changes
- 2020 F3 champion, Oscar Piastri graduates into F2 this season with PREMA, of whom he drove for last season in F3.
- Felipe Drugovich departed MP Motorsport at end of 2020 to join UNI-Virtuosi Racing.
- Dan Ticktum switches from DAMS to Carlin for 2021 season.
- Red Bull junior, Liam Lawson remains with Hitech GP as he steps up to F2, having raced for the team in F3 last season.
- Having made a four round guest appearance for DAMS last season in place of injured Sean Gelael, Juri Vips makes a full-time move into F2 as he joins Hitech GP.
- Theo Pourchaire joins the series full-time with ART GP after making a guest appearance in the final two rounds for HWA Racelab last season.
- Lirim Zendeli who raced for Trident last season in F3 switches to MP Motorsport.
- David Beckmann switches to Charouz as he moves up to F2, having finished sixth for Trident in F3 last season.
- Guilherme Samaia has departed Campos to join Charouz after a poor 2020 season.
- Roy Nissany and Marcus Armstrong have joined DAMS for this season, having raced for Trident and ART GP respectively in 2020 season.
- Gianluca Petecof steps up to F2 with Campos, graduating as champion of 2020 Formula Regional European Championship.
- Ralph Boschung returns to F2 with Campos for a full campaign, having made a guest appearance in the final round of 2020 season.
- Matteo Nannini will drive for HWA Racelab as he undertakes a dual F2 and F3 campaign this season for the team.
- Alessio Deledda graduates from F3 as he switches from Campos to HWA Racelab.
- Bent Viscaal steps up from F3 as he switches from MP Motorsport to Trident, replacing Nissany who has moved to DAMS.
Leaving F2
- Mick Schumacher has graduated to F1 with Haas after winning the 2020 F2 title.
- 2020 Vice-Champion, Callum Ilott has departed the series to take up a reserve driver role at Ferrari in F1 and will also race in GT World Challenge this season.
- Yuki Tsunoda has graduated to F1 with AlphaTauri after finishing third in 2020 F2 season.
- Nikita Mazepin has graduated into F1 as he joins Schumacher in an all-rookie lineup at Haas.
- Louis Deletraz has departed F2 to join Team WRT in LMP2 class of European Le Mans.
- Luca Ghiotto
- Jack Aitken has departed the series after three seasons
- Nobuharu Matsushita left MP Motorsport and F2 midway through 2020 season and won’t return in 2021, as he joins Team Impul for 2021 Super GT Season.
- Giuliano Alesi has departed the series for Super Formula Lights in Japan.
- Artem Markelov won’t return to F2 after a poor 2020 season with HWA Racelab, with the Russian’s racing plans for 2021 uncertain as he ponders a sabbatical.
- Pedro Piquet has left Charouz and F2 for budget reasons.
- Sean Gelael has departed F2 to race for Jota Sport in Asian Le Mans Series and FIA World Endurance Championship in LMP2 class.
- Jake Hughes won’t return to F2 after making a guest appearance in the Russian round last season, as he switches to Formula E as Venturi Reserve Driver.
2021 Calendar
| Round | Circuit | Country | Date |
| 1 | Bahrain International Circuit | Bahrain | 26-28 March 2021 |
| 2 | Circuit de Monaco | Monaco | 20-23 May 2021 |
| 3 | Baku City Circuit | Azerbaijan | 4-6 June 2021 |
| 4 | Silverstone Circuit | Great Britain | 16-18 July 2021 |
| 5 | Autodromo Nazionale di Monza | Italy | 10-12 September 2021 |
| 6 | Sochi Autodrom | Russia | 24-26 September 2021 |
| 7 | Jeddah Street Circuit | Saudi Arabia | 3-5 December 2021 |
| 8 | Yas Marina Circuit | Abu Dhabi | 10-12 December |
Calendar Changes
- F2 returns to Monaco, Azerbaijan and Abu Dhabi after those three rounds were cancelled in 2020 due to Coronavirus pandemic.
- Mugello, Styrian and Sakhir rounds along with the bonus Silverstone round won’t return in 2021 after only running as one-off rounds in 2020 to replace cancelled original rounds elsewhere.
- Hungarian, Spanish and Belgian rounds have been dropped from the calendar due to a new weekend format across F2 and F3, with all three rounds instead featuring on the F3 calendar instead.
- A proposed round at Zandvoort, Netherlands appeared on the original 2020 calendar before being cancelled due to the pandemic. That round has now been dropped for 2021 with F3 heading to Zandvoort instead.
Format Changes
- F2 and F3 will no longer race on same weekends from this season onwards for budget reasons, with F2 consequently reducing their race calendar to eight rounds from the traditional 12 of recent seasons.
- F2 will feature a weekend format change as the Feature Race moves to Sundays with there instead being two Sprint Races on Saturdays. The first Sprint Race will see the top ten in Qualifying reversed, with top ten of that race reversed for the second Sprint Race.
- Teams will be provided with an extra set of tyres for each race weekend owing to the addition of a third race.
Where Can You Watch F2?
With 25 countries across four continents set to broadcast the upcoming F2 season, here is a guide to which countries will be airing coverage this season and how you can watch the action.
Africa
| Country | Channel |
| Sub Saharan Africa (including South Africa) | SuperSport |
Americas
| Country | Channel |
| Canada | Bell (TSN) |
| Pan Latin America | Fox Sports |
| USA | ESPN |
Asia Pacific
| Country | Channel |
| Australia | Fox Sports |
| China | Tencent |
| New Zealand | Spark Sport |
Europe
| Country | Channel |
| Belgium | Telenet |
| Czech Republic | AMC Networks |
| Denmark | Nordic Entertainment |
| Finland | C More |
| France | Canal Plus |
| Greece | Cosmote |
| Hungary | M4 |
| Iceland | Viaplay |
| Italy | Sky Sports |
| Netherlands | Ziggo Sport |
| Norway | Nordic Entertainment |
| Poland | Eleven Sports & Polsat |
| Portugal | Eleven Sports |
| Romania | Digisport |
| Russia | Match TV |
| Slovakia | AMC Networks |
| Sweden | Nordic Entertainment |
| UK & Ireland | Sky Sports |
Three Key Themes
Shwartzman vs Piastri
After a strong rookie season in 2020 for Prema with four wins, Shwartzman is the highest-placed returning driver this season with many tipping him for the title.
He however has a new teammate in F3 champion – Piastri who steps up to F2 as he looks to become the third rookie to clinch title in debut F2 season since 2017, following in footsteps of Charles Leclerc and George Russell.
It is therefore no surprise that this battle between Prema teammates is definitely to be one to watch throughout this season, with both drivers expected to challenge for the title given that several F1 seats in 2022 are up for grabs.
Can Zhou Push for Title?
Having enjoyed an impressive rookie campaign in 2019, Zhou’s 2020 campaign was besieged by technical issues but he will be keen to fight back and mount a title challenge as Alpine look to promote him into F1 next season.
Zhou will also be coming into this season with a third different teammate as Felipe Drugovich joins Virtuosi, which will be an interesting teammate battle but the 21 year-old’s aim surely has to be fighting for the title throughout this season.
Add in the fact that not many who have raced in F2 (formerly GP2) for three or more seasons have gone on to reach F1, this season looks like it is make or break for Zhou’s dreams of becoming the first Chinese driver to reach F1.
Battle of Red Bull Juniors
With two potential seats at AlphaTauri next season up for grabs, this season promises to be huge for Jehan Daruvala, Liam Lawson and Juri Vips in their battle as Red Bull juniors with potential F1 seats on offer.
After enduring a difficult rookie season in 2020, Daruvala will be looking to push forward after a promising end to 2020 in which he won the Sakhir Sprint but pre-season suggests that he needs to find more speed if he is to challenge at the front.
Vips meanwhile joins the series full-time after a promising four round guest stint at DAMS in 2020, in which he collected a podium at Mugello and looks set to be a serious contender with Hitech GP after a strong pre-season.
Lawson meanwhile graduates to F2 but stays with Hitech GP after an impressive F3 campaign last season, which he followed up with an impressive pre-season in which he was fifth fastest overall.
Either way, 2021 looks set to see the Red Bull Junior battle take centre stage in the race to reach F1 after Ferrari juniors dominated conversations in 2020.
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