Formula 2 Opinions on the new F2 season required :)

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James from insideF2.com here and looking to get some opinion on the new F2 season.

It's still 50 days away and even the driver line-ups are yet to be decided but who fancies themselves as a bit of an expert? I would love to hear what your expectations are for the season ahead.

Many call it the most competitive single-seater racing on the calendar, is it? What do you think of the FIA's new re-branding of the series as being the "road to F1" is that a good or bad thing?
 
yes we have a few people in here that are fans of F2. i really enjoying watching f2 before 2019 i said on many occasions that F1 was in danger as F2 was becoming the highlight of the weekend with far more entertaining racing. also you can see great talent for future. like how i knew Leclerc was destined for ferrari with that F2 season maybe greatest ever & top 3 last season didnt surprise on quality we knew they had

but i can answer the questions properly tomorrow when i have the time to give it needs
 
as always im looking forward to f2 this season starting in a few months. on your last point. I think it is very important to have this "road to F1" but unfortunately it wont be like IndyCar have over in the states that rewards talent not money. where if you win (for example) the F4 title get a scholarship into F3. because there were years where winning F2 almost killed your career. as progression was impossible for people like Valsecchi, Leimer, Bird, Calado or Evans. but it probally impractical now to be able to guarantee the champion a seat, which in ideal world would be. but after the bumper yr of 2018 de dvies going to formula e was a blow to liberty image of F2

on the racing im expect a lot more quality shall we say because in my opinion I think that the 2019 series was 1 of the weakest grids in quality for long time as Latifi was able to go from 9th to title challenger. but I expect 2020 to be a lot better & back the standard used to. the talent from F3 looks very good & we got some of 2019 drivers that should've improve with a yr expierence under the belts. my tip for the title is that we will have the battle in F2 that we had in F3. Schwartzman & Armstrong will resume the battle for the title

a lot of pressure on a few drivers mainly Mick Schumacher the name weighs heavy as it had on the all the famous Relatives that drove in all levels of motorsport, Rosberg, Sainz, Hill, Villenueve, Piquet, Alesi, Senna. but a lot of fanfare in 2019 won F3 title & we expected that like Leclerc 2017 Russell in 2018, in 2019 mick would challenge for it in his rookie year. but it was disappointing 1 win, 3 top 5's, 8th was best he did in feature race & was 12th in championship only 3 drivers who did every round scored less than him. only saving grace was gelael was his teammate, so he was never going to troubled or beaten. & 2020 is seemingly now or never for his reputation which is not good as it going to be very tough as his teammate is going to be 1 of preseason title favourites in Marcus Armstrong. also a bit of pressure on few other drivers where they need a good year to have F1 dreams. Calum Ilott only a year younger than Max Verstappen who has already raced 102 times in F1. another I expected more from in 2019. he has to challenge for title as well because 2021 might be chance gone because in this age of F1 he would be a rookie at 23 & 5 months in march 2021 which is 3 years older than the verstappens Norris Leclerc Russell ocon who have joined & only Bottas will have made a debut older than him in previous 15 yrs. Dan ticktum showed great promise had his ban, also forced out of the Red Bull Academy. he needs a good showing to get his career back on track

Im very interested to see some of the other rookies what they are like. yuki tsunoda especially as he is Japanese, in the Honda & Red Bull junior program. youve got more famous sons like Pedro Piquet & Giuliano Alesi can they live up to their surnames. then Christian Lundgaard who looks talented on face of it but he makes me feel old. as he was born 10 months after the famous Zonta Schumacher Hakkinen move
 
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Yeah you are right its certainly will be a good year i hope. 2019 was always going to be a tough one for quality because its unusual to have 3 drivers from the prior season all make the jump so they lost a lot of quality in one go which basically left de vries an open track to the title.
 
do you think Mick S will be in a Alfa for 2021 regardless of how he does this season in F2? he seems to his career on rails to that red car
 
never say never because we know from many drivers that have made F1 that havent challenged for the GP2/F2 title Pic & Ericsson 2 to mention. but it would be very tough to justify if Mick Schumacher is getting beaten by teammate Shwartzmann. that Alfa takes him because he would be in F1 on name only, not talent.

massive season for him, if he can match the reputation with the performances then. he puts himself in a very strong position. but he's going to have to do it the hard way
 
I think F3 was a far more talented series last year than F2 and looking to see some people make the leap. Shwartzman especially should hit the ground running. Hoping Vips makes the leap too. As for returners Jack Atkin should be strong but my outside bet is Zhou. I know the whole world wants Schumacher to succeed for the fairytale but I really didn't see anything to suggest he would last year. I have been very wrong before.

To be honest after years and years of dedicated watching I got a bit bored of the F2 last year as it was mainly journeymen. Soured completely after death of Hubert. Looking forward to a new batch an renewed interest.
 
To be honest after years and years of dedicated watching I got a bit bored of the F2 last year as it was mainly journeymen. Soured completely after death of Hubert. Looking forward to a new batch an renewed interest.

yeah I get that because I didn't enjoy F2 in the same way as normal, as there was a lot of long time people in there sette camara, Ghiotto, Latifi, Markelov, King, Deletraz, Gelael (who 2020 will be his 6th yr) & I know they have the rules to stop defending champions, but should there be a rule that in F2 you can only have a maximum of 3 consecutive years, because after 3 years in a row, if you aren't in F1 then you have most likely missed the boat
 
Part of me thinks that too but then on the flip side if some pushy manager shoves a 17 year old kid on F2 before he is ready then his career is over by the time he is 20 and we won't have seen what he might have become.

As for Jack Atkin - the Renault junior programme is very much a mess. They have dozens of drivers and not one of them has been promoted to their F1 team. I think he's got his experience and funding from it and can move on. Problem is F1 is impossible without a ton of money or a junior programme. I look forward to seeing Atkin battling at the front in Formula E in a few years.
 
insidef2 What do you think if Schwartzman's chances in the Prema this year? I think he is going to hit the ground running - especially having learnt how to handle the tyres in F3 which so many used to struggle with. I think he might be too much for Schumacher to handle.
 
I really hope so, Mick needs to be tested and need to perform! RS i hope will push and try and do a back to back like a few before him but i do feel like the brand of Ferarri wants Michael Jr in an F1 season so the politics will be an interesting dynamic at Prema if RS starts to really push him and beat him. All very interesting
 
Daruvala was very quick last year but a little wild at times. Interesting he's become a Red Bull junior because that certainly puts him in line for an F1 seat. F2 shaping up to be a really good year - and I agree F1Brits_90 that Schumacher is really going to have to show something I haven't seen from him yet to achieve what the media is so desperate for him to do.
 
Sorry for double post - just spotted Tsunoda is in the Carlin too. That kid has potential and is a lot of fun to watch. Came into F3 completely blind and his qualifying was shocking but would always fly through the field on race day. Quali started to click in for him by end of the season and got some good results. 9th in that championship is not a fair perspective on how good he is. I reckon Honda are going to be very keen to push him forward.
 
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