MP Motorsport 2024 So Far: A good season with the title fight still on

MP Motorsport Team Principal Sander Dorsman has been very impressed by how his squad has performed in 2024, especially with how quickly they got up to speed with new Formula 2 car.

The Dutch outfit have enjoyed a strong year and are currently third in the Teams’ Championship having achieved two victories and eight podiums in total.

Five of those podiums belong to Dennis Hauger with the other three coming from Franco Colapinto, who left the team prior to the Monza round to step up to Formula 1 with Williams.

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For Dorsman, the Argentine’s graduation to the top tier is one of the many highlights of his team’s 2024 campaign.

“Actually, I think we have had so far quite a good season,” reflected Dorsman. “I think the team, the engineers they have done a good job with understanding the new car pretty rapidly at the start of the season which is good.

“I think if you look at Dennis, his experience has been very good to have in the team. I think he has had some good results and for Franco, it was nice to have an experienced teammate, especially at the start of the season. As is typical for a rookie, you have to find your way in the Championship.

“It's different of course from F3, but I think he picked it up very nicely, especially when we came back to Europe he did a fantastic job, perhaps a bit too good, because we lost him before Monza, but of course it's a fantastic opportunity for him.

“On one side you always want to finish the season with him, it's a loss for the team, but on the other hand it's something we should be very proud of to see him graduate to F1 and getting that golden opportunity.

“Then obviously we had Ollie Goethe in the car, which for a rookie, it's not an easy job to be dropped into the F2 Championship at the end of the season without any testing.

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“It’s a big learning curve. In Monza he did a good job, Baku was a rough one, but at the end it's all learning time for him to probably prepare himself for a full season next year.”

Goethe has been getting up to speed with the help of Hauger, who is coming to the end of his third season in the Championship. The Norwegian driver is currently ninth in the Standings on 85.5 points, but Dorsman does not believe that tells the full story of his 2024 campaign.

“I think he started very well,” he said. “His pace was very good and of course it's always nice to have an experienced driver with the introduction of the new car.

“Unfortunately, we also had some unlucky moments, like the crash in Melbourne and of course the last rounds, for example Monza when somebody else crashed into him. “Obviously, those are expensive points, it's of course very unfortunate but things happen and the good thing about Dennis he is very positive guy that is always looking ahead. We hope the last two rounds we can finish it off with very strong ones.”

After two point-less rounds in Monza and Baku, Goethe heads to Lusail next, a track where no one has raced at before. Dorsman admits the novelty of it all could play in his favour, but also says the German has more to learn in F2 than just the circuits.

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“Of course, the learning curve also includes F2 as a Championship as well,” he explained. “There are differences, tyres are different, cars are different, and of course the races are longer with strategies and pit stops.

“So, even apart from the track there are quite a few things to learn. I think for him it's a great opportunity to do all this learning already in 2024 and not at the start of 2025.”

From a team perspective, 181.5 points makes this MP’s second most successful season in Formula 2 after their title winning exploits in 2022.

But with two rounds to go they are 62 points behind leaders Invicta Racing and while Dorsman acknowledges it will be hard to close the gap, he knows his team will fight to the end.

“I think the team has worked very well,” added Dorsman. “They have done a very good job to understand the car very quickly, so that's very good.

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“The mechanics have done a fantastic job taking care of the reliability, touch wood, we have two rounds left, but I think they have done a fantastic job, and of course that has helped us have a good season.

“We will try and finish as well as possible. To be honest with losing Franco we realised that it will be a tough one but let’s see. We will fight for it and its game on I would say.”