As we prepare for the 2023 season to begin, a number of drivers have drawn attention to themselves over the last year and winter break as ones to watch as the new season begins. In this article, I'll look at 10 drivers im expecting to be at the sharp end of things by the end of the year.
Let's get straight into it! In no particular order(Order actually picked by my wife, who "doesn't care", and doesn't know who these people are!);
1. Oliver Goethe - F3 - Trident Racing
'Ollie' Goethe has already made a name from himself in the F3 paddock as he prepares to make his full season debut in the series.
2022's Euroformula Open Championship winner made his debut in F3 with Campos Racing last year, taking part in the Hungarian and Belgian Grand Prix weekends, scoring strong points with an 8th and a 4th in each round, despite a heavy crash with Zane Maloney at Spa.
Goethe will hope to at least manage a top 5 finish for given his prior experience and performances, if not a title challenge.
2. Ayumu Iwasa - F2 - DAMS
Ayumu Iwasa stunned many with his race pace in 2022 as the Red Bull and Honda junior driver completed his rookie year in Formula 2, stepping up from F3.
2 wins and 6 podiums saw Iwasa manage a 5th place overall finish and end the year as the winner of the 'Anthoine Hubert Award' for the highest placed rookie of the season in Formula 2.
After Jehan Daruvala's departure from the Red Bull Junior Team, Iwasa is likely to make his F1 practice debut this year in the mandatory sessions, and he could well find himself in a title fight.
3. Victor Martins - F2 - ART Grand Prix
Moving up from F3 as the series champion, Victor Martins joins the F2 grid and stays with ART who helped to bring him his 2022 success.
An Alpine Academy driver, Martins has the backing of the French team and will hope that can spearhead a strong season for himself.
A title challenge is not out of the question but he'll have to hit the ground running to challenge the likes of Iwasa, Jack Doohan, Isack Hadjar and Theo Pourchaire who are likely to be key protagonists in the fight.
4. Isack Hadjar - F2 - Hitech Pulse-Eight
Red Bull Junior Team driver Isack Hadjar has incredible natural pace that saw him challenge Martins for much of the 2022 F3 season before his momentum crashed over the final two rounds of the season.
In his rookie year of F3 Hadjar took 3 wins and 5 podiums, impressing many with his natural skill behind the wheel for Hitech, ending the year 4th overall.
Staying with Hitech as he graduates to F2, Hadjar will hope that familiarity and team around him will assist him in a title challenge.
5. Roman Stanek - F2 - Trident Racing
To hardended followers of lower formula racing, Roman Stanek's name will be very familiar as he moves up to F2 with Trident.
Despite 3 years in F3, Stanek is still just 18, after competing with Charouz and Hitech before joining Trident for 2021 and finding his feet, managing to win once and take 4 podiums as he ended the year 5th place.
Stanek will hope he can find his feet fast in F2 and help Trident turn into a point scoring machine that can challenge for podiums as Richard Verschoor did last season.
6. Jack Doohan - F2 - Virtuosi Racing
Undoubtedly fast and undoubtedly talented, Australian Jack Doohan enjoyed a strong rookie season in F2, only let down but a couple of unlucky moments across the whole season.
That consistency and confident driving saw Doohan end the season 6th overall, taking 3 wins and 6 podiums, as well as making his F1 practice debut for Alpine in Mexico City, showing good pace before a mechanical fault denied him further opportunity.
This year he should be right in the fight for the F2 title if everything goes his way.
7. Sophia Floersch - F3 - PHM Racing by Charouz
After her F3 debut with Campos in 2020, Sophia Floersch has gone away and sampled different series' and returns to the series with PHM Racing by Charouz, the new entrant.
The 22 year old German has raced in DTM, WEC and ELMS since her 2020 debut and will hope that experience will see her challenge for points. Perhaps best known for her scary Macau crash in 2018 which left her needing a 10 hour surgery, Sophia has come a long way and will hope to prove that this during 2023.
Sophia will be one to watch to see her progression from her last F3 stint, as much of her style has changed, and the return to single seaters will be interesting to see.
8. Nikola Tsolov - F3 - ART Grand Prix
The phrase 'one to watch' perhaps applies most to Nikola Tsolov more than many drivers we'll watch this year.
Just turned 16, Tsolov joins ART from Spanish F4, which he took the title in during 2022, his first year out of karting. Verstappen-esque in nature, the Alpine Affiliate member is backed by both Alpine and Fernando Alonso, who's management team helps the Bulgarian.
Fernando is rumoured to have challenged Tsolov to finish the year in F3's top 5 so it'll be interesting to see if the teenager is up to the challenge.
9. Franco Colapinto - F3 - MP Motorsport
Colapinto burst onto the scene in F3 last year as he took a pole position for then newcomers Van Amersfoort Racing on the open weekend of the 2022 season.
The heavily supported Argentine went on to score 2 wins and 5 podiums for VAR but in a winter of change he moves to VAR's Dutch counterparts MP Motorsport, but is with the backing of Williams Racing who have added Colapinto to their academy line up.
Colapinto goes into his second F3 season a heavily touted favourite for the title; a challenge he is up to but will have to beat the likes of Dino Beganovic, Zak O'Sullivan, Caio Collet and Ollie Goethe to get there.
10. Dino Beganovic - F3 - PREMA Racing
Swedish teenager Beganovic moves up to F3 from FRECA(Formula Regional European Championship) as the champion of the series.
A part of the Ferrari Driver Academy, he won 4 races and took 12 podiums on the way to the FRECA title. 'Dynamite Dino' is explosive on form and is a feisty wheel to wheel battler guaranteed to entertain the crowds this year.
Beganovic will hope to be a title contender this year with PREMA but faces stiff competition to be in the mix alongside teammate Zak O'Sullivan as well as contenders from other teams like Trident and MP Motorsport.
Honourable mention:
Juan Manuel Correa - F2 - Van Amersfoort Racing
For obvious reasons, Juan Manuel Correa's full time return to Formula 2 will be particularly poignant.
4 years on from his accident with Anthoine Hubert which saw Hubert sadly pass away, Correa has gone full circle to make it back to F2 and continue to compete at a high level.
Away from the past; Correa has joined VAR from ART in F3 after 2 seasons getting back to grips with single seaters and is ready to again challenge for points and podiums in F2.
Pour Anthoine. #AH19
📸 Image credits: Formula Motorsport Limited, Euroformula Open Championship, Alpine F1 Team, Formula Regional European Championship.
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