So I was messing around with some racing stuff the other day, and it got me thinking, can F1 drivers actually go back to F2? It’s like, you hit the big leagues, so why go back, right?
Well, I started digging into it. Turns out, it’s kinda complicated. I looked up some rules and found out that if a driver wins the F2 title, they can’t go back to compete in F2 anymore. So, no chance for a repeat there. But what if they didn’t win? That’s where things get interesting.
I read somewhere that in the past, even current F1 drivers used to race in F2. Like, way back in the 60s. That sounds crazy, right? Now there’s nothing in the rules that officially stops an ex-F1 driver from racing in F2, but it seems like it’s more about contracts and team decisions.
Then, I started looking up specific drivers. I saw that some big names like Valtteri Bottas and Max Verstappen jumped straight into F1 without ever doing F2. Turns out, F2 wasn’t even around for a while, between 1985 and 2009, and again from 2012 to 2017. So, there’s that.
But here’s a fun fact: since F2 officially started in 2017, 15 drivers have moved up from F2 to become full-time F1 drivers. And get this, eight of the current F1 drivers have come through F2. That’s a pretty big deal!
I also stumbled upon some random forum posts saying that some drivers did go back. Like, someone mentioned Roberto Merhi and another driver named Patano. I didn’t know them, but it sounded interesting.
- Drivers can stay in F2 as long as they want if they don’t win the championship.
- Some drivers moved back to F2 from F1.
- Some drivers directly moved to F1 without joining F2.
And lastly, I found out drivers can pick their own numbers for their cars in F1. They can pick any number from 0. I thought that was pretty cool.
So, in conclusion, the whole F1 to F2 thing is a bit of a mixed bag. It seems like it’s possible, but not very common. And it really depends on the driver’s situation and what their team wants. Anyway, I thought it was a cool little rabbit hole to go down, so I figured I’d share my findings. Hope you guys found it as interesting as I did!
