Back in JANUARY(!), I made my Predictions for the 2023 FIA Formula 2 Championship. I have to be honest, I actually thought all the cars were equal (like in the F1 Game) when I made this so I wasn’t actually aware that certain teams perform better than others. With that being said, let’s see if I did better than some of my other 2023 Motorsport Predictions (or just Predictions in general).
P22: Brad Benavides
Unbelievably, we start with a correct Prediction! Brad Benavides had a pretty poor season to say the least as he finished 22nd in the Championship in a season where he was dropped by PHM Racing for the final 4 Rounds of the year after failing to score a single Point.
P21: Roy Nissany
Amazingly, it’s two correct Predictions from two as Roy Nissany ended the season 21st in the Standings after failing to score a single point for PHM Racing. It’s fair to say that that team didn’t have a very good year.
P20: Amaury Cordeel
I think I’ll go back to not knowing which teams are better than others because incredibly, it’s 3 correct Predictions in a row! Amaury Cordeel had a pretty difficult year with Invicta Virtuosi Racing as he only finished 20th in the Championship with just two Points-scoring finishes (Two P8’s).
P19: Kush Maini
Now we go back down to earth as Kush Maini’s 11th-place finish in the Championship was much higher than I was expecting. Maini had a pretty good year to be fair as he achieved a third-place finish in the Australian Sprint Race and his good year has earned him a spot in the Alpine Academy going forward.
P18: Juan Manuel Correa
I was pretty close with this one as Juan Manuel Correa ended up 19th in the Standings, just two points behind 18th spot. Correa had an okay first year back in F2 and his highlight result was a P4 finish in the Austrian Sprint Race.
P17: Roman Stanek
I was one off again with this Prediction as Roman Stanek finished 18th in the Championship after an alright season which saw him finish in the points more than his Trident teammate (even though he didn’t end up out-scoring him in the Standings).
P16: Ralph Boschung
I was bang on with Ralph Boschung as the Campos Racing Driver ended up 16th in the Standings with 37 points to his name. Boschung actually started the season incredibly well with a win in the Bahrain Sprint Race before he took P2 in the Feature Race on the same weekend. He did drop off though (especially in the middle part of the campaign).
P15: Richard Verschoor
I was very wrong about Richard Verschoor as the Dutchman had a really good year which saw him end the year 9th in the Championship. Verschoor finished on the Podium three times during the course of the 2023 FIA Formula 2 Season and Richard’s highlight moment came when he won the Austrian Feature Race.
P14: Jak Crawford
The man who was born on the exact same day as me had an okay first year in Formula 2 as Jak Crawford finished 13th in the Championship. Whilst I wasn’t far off with my Prediction, I did say that Jak was the weakest out of the six Red Bull Junior Drivers and that proved to be incorrect as Crawford actually achieved 5 Podiums over the Season including a victory in Austria (Sprint Race) and he also took Pole Position at Zandvoort.
P13: Arthur Leclerc
Arthur Leclerc performed slightly worse than I was expecting in 2023 as the Ferrari Academy Driver ended up 15th in the Standings. Leclerc did achieve a Podium in the Australian Feature Race back in April, but I definitely feel like Arthur would’ve wanted more in his first year in FIA Formula 2.
P12: Clement Novalak
My Prediction for Clement Novalak didn’t end up coming true at all as Clement ended up finishing down in 17th place. The weirdest thing about Novalak’s season is he only finished in the points twice all year, yet one of those saw him take victory in the Feature Race at Zandvoort!
P11: Jehan Daruvala
I feel slightly unlucky with this Prediction as Jehan Daruvala finished 12th in the Championship, just 3 points off 11th, and he didn’t take part in the final round of the Season in Abu Dhabi. Jehan did score 3 Podiums over the course of the 2023 Season (1 Second and 2 Thirds) and my Prediction that Daruvala would join the Formula E Grid in 2024 proved to be spot on.
P10: Enzo Fittipaldi
Enzo Fittipaldi performed better than I expected in 2023 as Enzo finished 7th in the Standings whilst also the highest-scoring Rodin Carlin driver. Fittipaldi also achieved 3 Podium finishes this Season including a Race Victory in the Sprint Race at Spa (something I predicted).
P9: Frederik Vesti
I’m very annoyed about this one! I knew that Frederik Vesti was a good racing driver heading into the 2023 Season, but I didn’t back him fully due to lots of promising F3 Drivers coming onto the Grid. What actually happened was Frederik had a great season which saw him finish second in the Championship, and he was only 11 points off the Title! Vesti also won 6 Races in 2023, the most of anyone in Formula 2 this year.
P8: Isack Hadjar
Isack Hadjar didn’t perform to the levels that I expected him to do in 2023 as Isack only finished 14th in the Standings with just one Podium finish to his name (P3 in the Austrian Sprint). In fairness to Hadjar, he did only finish 2 points behind his teammate so maybe he did get the most out of his Hitech car.
P7: Oliver Bearman
Ollie Bearman finished slightly higher than I expected in terms of the Championship Table as the Ferrari Academy Driver ended up 6th. However, Bearman was much quicker than I anticipated as he won 4 Races in 2023 (including both Races in Baku) whilst he also took home three Pole Positions which is very impressive indeed. Expect this man to be right at the front of the field next Season.
P6: Ayumu Iwasa
Ayumu Iwasa had a very good second year in Formula 2 in my opinion as the Japanese Driver ended up 4th in the Standings. Over the course of 2023, Iwasa scored 6 Podium finishes and 3 of those saw Ayumu stand on the top step of the Podium. I’m now very intrigued to see how well the Red Bull Junior Driver does in Super Formula in 2024.
P5: Victor Martins
I sort of got Victor Martins spot on as the (then) reigning Formula 3 Champion stepped up to F2 and finished 5th in his first Season. Victor finished on the Podium 8 times in 2023 with his highlight moment coming when he took victory in the Feature Race at Silverstone. However, the reason why I say I sort of got Martins’ Prediction correct is the fact that he ended up as the Rookie of the Season, something I didn’t quite have him doing.
P4: Zane Maloney
I was so excited to see what Zane Maloney could achieve in his first season in FIA Formula 2 that a 10th-place finish in the Championship actually seems a little underwhelming. Zane did score 4 Podiums in 2023, but I think my main concern is the fact that Maloney was beaten by his teammate (even though his teammate was more experienced).
P3: Jack Doohan
I’m pleased with this Prediction as Jack Doohan bows out of Formula 2 with a third-placed finish (in the Standings). Jack actually started the season quite slowly, but his terrific run in the second half of the year (which included 3 Feature Race victories) was enough for the Alpine Academy Driver to make my Prediction correct.
P2: Theo Pourchaire
When I did these Predictions, I fully believed that Theo Pourchaire could end the year as FIA Formula 2 Champion. However, I didn’t put it and I was wrong as a result as Theo did win the Title by (just) 11 points! Pourchaire actually only won one Race in the entire season (Bahrain Feature), but his 9 other trips to the rostrum were enough for him to take the Title and it also makes me feel good as I can keep using the nickname “Podium Pourchaire” (a name I adopted whilst playing F1 Manager a few months ago).
P1: Dennis Hauger
Oh Boy! For the second consecutive season, I predicted that Dennis Hauger would end the year as F2 Champion. For the second consecutive season, Dennis was nowhere near the Title! Granted, Hauger was hit with some unfortunate luck at times, but 8th in the Championship with just two wins to his name seems a little bit disappointing to me (and to Red Bull as well).
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