STORY SO FAR: 2024 Teams’ title fight and why it’s set to go to the wire

It has been an extremely competitive 2024 campaign so far and for the Teams’ there has been barely anything to separate the top outfits this year.

While Campos Racing currently hold the initiative and a 23-point lead after a strong Silverstone round, there is still a long way to go and on the evidence of the first half of the campaign, any number of their rivals could take the fight to the very last race.

Rodin Motorsport hit the ground running in F2’s new era. The team was quick to understand how to get their car set up and Zane Maloney completed the coveted sweep, the Bajan driver claiming both race victories in Sakhir to start off on the front foot.

The team couldn’t repeat things on the following weekend in Jeddah, where in Qualifying both Maloney and rookie teammate Ritomo Miyata struggled around the high-speed sweeps of the Jeddah Corniche Circuit.

MP Motorsport’s Dennis Hauger looked in threatening form and appeared on the podium twice that weekend, though it was Invicta Racing that emerged as the closest threat to Rodin, seven points back while just 15 points separated the top five in the Teams’ Standings.

It set the tone for the following couple of race weekends. After looking set for a strong result but ultimately hitting trouble in Sakhir and then Jeddah, Campos Racing finally got their season on track in Melbourne, as Isack Hadjar added his name to the winners’ list in 2024. It was a result that helped emphasise how competitive the Spanish outfit looked to be, but Rodin emerged with their lead up to 18 points over Campos, while Invicta slipped to fifth behind Hitech Pulse-Eight and MP Motorsport.

With three flyaway rounds in the books, F2 returned to European shores but the title race continued to ebb and flow and ultimately bunch up further. Leaders Rodin lost the top spot for the first time in 2024 after the Imola round, with Campos taking over at the top by a single point, but the top five closed up further still, with Invicta fifth but only 13 points from P1.

That points deficit grew in Round 5 following Monte Carlo but only by a couple. With AIX Racing and ART Grand Prix becoming the sixth and seventh teams to secure a race victory in 2024 that weekend, the Teams’ Standings remained tight, though Rodin dropped to third as Paul Aron led the Hitech charge with his podium streak growing to six consecutive races, lifting the British team to second.

READ MORE: People of the Paddock: Introducing Invicta Racing's Mark Lincoln

Onto Barcelona and once again, the gap at the top shrunk back to just one point for the second time in 2024. Campos retained their place at the head of the table, but Hitech closed right up in P2, while MP weren’t far away in third just eight points adrift.

With Invicta fourth, Rodin now slipped to fifth as their early season momentum dried up as following their double podium in the Feature Race, DAMS Lucas Oil cracked the top five for the first time in 2024 also as the Championship picture continued to change race-by-race.

This was the first time however since Imola in which the team in fifth position was more than 30 points adrift of the top spot, with the gap between DAMS and Campos at 46 points. Another first since Imola was Hadjar retaking the top step in the Feature Race, as the Frenchman secured his third Feature victory of the year at Silverstone. That increased the spread between the top five teams to 51 points, as the Spanish outfit moved 23 clear of second-placed MP Motorsport. It marks the biggest gap in the Standings so far this season between first and second.

With a double header leading us into the summer break, the Championship fight could take any number of twists before we pause racing in just over a fortnight’s time. While Campos Racing currently hold what is comparatively a healthy advantage, this campaign has already shown that momentum can quickly swing in favour of someone else.

On three occasions already this year, one point has split the team in first and second leaving three rounds in Imola, Barcelona and as recently as Spielberg, so expect things to close up rather than any one team to run away from their rivals.

Every single outfit bar one has taken a victory in 2024, with Championship contenders Hitech the only team yet to stand on the top step, though it is surely a matter of time before that changes.

Otherwise, there’s the prospect of a late-season visit to Baku that usually offers up an exciting and unpredictable weekend before the F2 paddock heads to Lusail for the first time ahead of the final round at Yas Marina.