With just days until F2 commences its sixth season, here is the ultimate guide to everything that you need to know ahead of the 2022 F2 season.
Having delivered a cracking 2021 season, F2 will once again look to provide more entertainment in the top-tier junior level of motorsport as several drivers look to follow in the footsteps of last year’s champion – Oscar Piastri and become the sixth F2 champion.
This season also will see a mix of new and returning drivers plus the debut of Van Amersfoort Racing on top of calendar and format changes, so here is the ultimate guide to everything that you need to know ahead of the 2022 F2 season.
Teams and Drivers
| Team | Number | Driver |
| PREMA | 1 | Dennis Hauger |
| 2 | Jehan Daruvala | |
| Virtuosi | 3 | Jack Doohan |
| 4 | Marino Sato | |
| Carlin | 5 | Liam Lawson |
| 6 | Logan Sargeant | |
| Hitech GP | 7 | Marcus Armstrong |
| 8 | Juri Vips | |
| ART GP | 9 | Frederik Vesti |
| 10 | Theo Pourchaire | |
| MP Motorsport | 11 | Felipe Drugovich |
| 12 | Clement Novalak | |
| Campos | 14 | Olli Caldwell |
| 15 | Ralph Boschung | |
| DAMS | 16 | Roy Nissany |
| 17 | Ayumu Iwasa | |
| Trident | 20 | Richard Verschoor |
| 21 | Calan Williams | |
| Charouz | 22 | Enzo Fittipaldi |
| 23 | Cem Bolukbasi | |
| VAR | 24 | Jake Hughes |
| 25 | Amaury Cordeel |
Driver Changes
- Jehan Daruvala has moved from Carlin to PREMA to replace Robert Shwartzman who has left F2 to become a development driver in F1 for Ferrari.
- Virtuosi have signed Jack Doohan and Marino Sato to replace Guanyu Zhou and Felipe Drugovich. Zhou has graduated to F1 with Alfa Romeo whilst Drugovich has returned to MP Motorsport.
- Liam Lawson has moved from Hitech GP to Carlin to replace Dan Ticktum following the Brit’s move to Formula E.
- Logan Sargeant joins F2 full-time with Carlin after initially participating in the final two rounds of 2021 season for HWA Racelab.
- Marcus Armstrong has left DAMS to join Hitech GP where he replaces Lawson.
- Clement Novalak begins a full-time season with MP Motorsport after driving for the team in the final two rounds of last season, following Lirim Zendeli’s exit due to budget issues.
- Olli Caldwell has joined Campos for a full season after participating in the final two rounds last season for the Spanish outfit.
- Richard Verschoor has switched to Trident after competing in six rounds for MP Motorsport and one round for Charouz last season.
- Jake Hughes remains in the series after joining Van Amersfoort Racing (VAR) who took over the entry of his former team – HWA Racelab.
Incomings
- 2021 F3 champion, Dennis Hauger has graduated to F2 with PREMA after the team guided him to the F3 title last season. Hauger replaces Oscar Piastri who has become Alpine F1 Reserve Driver after winning the 2021 F2 title and consequently can’t return to the series.
- Frederik Vesti graduates to F2 with ART GP after finishing fourth in F3 last season for the French team, replacing Christian Lundgaard who has moved to IndyCar.
- Ayumu Iwasa has graduated to F2 with DAMS after just one season competing in F3 for Hitech GP.
- Calan Williams has graduated to F2 with Trident after spending two season in F3 with Jenzer Motorsport.
- Cem Bolukbasi has graduated to F2 with Charouz following one season in EuroFormula with VAR, during which he took two wins and six further podiums.
- Amaury Cordeel has graduated to F2 with VAR after spending 2021 season racing in F3 for Campos.
Race Calendar
| Round | Country | Date |
| 1 | Bahrain | 18-20 March |
| 2 | Saudi Arabia | 25-27 March |
| 3 | Imola | 22-24 April |
| 4 | Spain | 20-22 May |
| 5 | Monaco | 27-29 May |
| 6 | Azerbaijan | 10-12 June |
| 7 | Great Britain | 1-3 July |
| 8 | Austria | 8-10 July |
| 9 | Hungary | 29-31 July |
| 10 | Belgium | 26-28 August |
| 11 | Netherlands | 2-4 September |
| 12 | Italy | 9-11 September |
| 13 | TBA | 23-25 September |
| 14 | Abu Dhabi | 18-20 November |
- Imola is making its debut on the F2 calendar although the series did previously race at the venue under its former name – GP2, back in 2005 & 06 seasons.
- Spain, Austria, Hungary and Belgium return to the calendar after an one-season absence when F3 instead visited those countries alone.
- Netherland is set to make its debut on the F2 calendar after previously featuring on the original 2020 calendar, before being dropped from last season’s calendar.
- Russia was set to host the penultimate round of the season on weekend of 23-25 September but the round was dropped due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. A replacement round will be confirmed in due course.
Format Changes
- After trialling a three-race weekend format in 2021, F2 will return to the two-race weekend format in 2022 but the Sprint and Feature Races will remain on Saturdays and Sundays respectively.
- Points for pole position and fastest laps in races have been halved this season, meaning that the pole-sitter will now be awarded two points and whoever set the fastest lap in each race will receive one point.
- The Sprint Race points system has been reprofiled with the winner now receiving ten points, 8 points for second, 6 for third and descends so on with the 1 point going to the driver who finishes eighth.
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 |
| Brazil | Bandsports |
| Canada | Bell (TSN) |
| Latin America | ESPN |
| USA | ESPN |
Asia Pacific
| Country | Channel |
| Australia | Fox Sports |
| Brunei | Astro Sports |
| Indonesia | EMTEK |
| Israel | Sport 5 |
| Japan | DAZN |
| Hong Kong | Now TV |
| Malaysia | Astro Sports |
| Singapore | Singtel |
| Thailand | True Visions |
| New Zealand | Spark Sports |
Europe
| Country | Channel |
| Andorra | Telefonica/DAZN |
| Austria | Servus TV |
| Azerbaijan | Saran |
| Belgium | Telenet |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | AMI |
| Croatia | AMI |
| Czech Republic | Pragosport (AMC) |
| Denmark | Nordic Entertainment |
| Estonia | NENT |
| Finland | C More |
| France | Canal+ |
| Greece | Asset Ogilvy |
| Hungary | Digi Sport |
| Iceland | NENT |
| Italy | Sky Italia SRL |
| Kosovo | AMI |
| Latvia | NENT |
| Lithuania | NENT |
| Macedonia | AMI |
| Malta | GO |
| Montenegro | AMI |
| Netherlands | Ziggo |
| Poland | Eleven Sports |
| Portugal | Eleven Sports |
| Romania | Digi Sport |
| Russia | Match TV |
| Serbia | AMI |
| Slovenia | AMI |
| Spain | Telefonica/DAZN |
| Turkey | Saran |
| UK & Republic of Ireland | Sky Sports |
| Vojvodina | AMI |
Middle East and Northern Africa
| Country | Channel |
| MENA | SSC |
Three Must-Watch Drivers
Dennis Hauger
Stepping up to F2 as the reigning F3 champion, Dennis Hauger will certainly be a hot favourite for the title especially after Piastri successfully managed the feat of clinching F3 and F2 titles in consecutive seasons.
Hauger also will have the advantage of driving for PREMA who took him to the F3 title last season and have the experience of taking Mick Schumacher plus Piastri to the title in the last two seasons, whilst his maturity last season should stand him in strong stead to deliver a strong rookie campaign.
Theo Pourchaire
As the highest-returning driver from the 2021 grid who has stuck with his same team from last season, Theo Pourchaire is widely tipped to challenge for the title this season after enjoying a strong rookie season despite suffering two separate injuries.
Pourchaire also will know that an Alfa Romeo seat in F1 is likely to be available next season so there is plenty of hype surrounding this 18 year-old Frenchman, who has seamlessly adapted to various junior categories throughout his career and enjoyed plenty of success.
2022 though will mark the first time that Pourchaire is competing in a single category for two consecutive full seasons, so he will be one to watch in terms of whether he can raise his development for a title tilt now he has a full season’s experience under his belt.
Liam Lawson
Having endured an inconsistent campaign at Hitech GP last season, Liam Lawson will be eager to kick on in his chase of a potential F1 seat at AlphaTauri next season as he switches to Carlin who will look to fight for the title again.
Lawson also enters this season as the man to beat after he set the fastest time of pre-season testing but he will likely be wary of that new-found pressure after Christian Lundgaard last season topped pre-season but struggled throughout the actual campaign which could be a possible omen.
Throw in the fact that Lawson is one of five Red Bull backed drivers competing in F2 this season and there are three F1 seats in total across Red Bull and AlphaTauri available next season, it adds extra scrutiny onto Lawson to prove his worth of a F1 seat.
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