Joshua Duerksen on development from F2 rookie to being Championship fight ready

With a move to reigning Formula 2 Teams’ Champions Invicta Racing, Joshua Duerksen has higher expectations than ever before in 2026.

The Paraguayan driver has impressed since arriving in the Championship in 2024, and talks us through his journey, what he’s learned and the biggest improvements he’s made since debuting back then.

“It's just a big journey to be honest, super big. I can tell you in every area I can imagine on the mental side, on the physical side, on my engineering knowledge side, setup knowledge, tyre management knowledge, leadership, prioritising different things, just everything.

“If I look back and compare it to now, I just see a big growth in every aspect of my life, also in the personal life, managing my time better for example is better now. So, it has been a really positive two years, and I feel more than ready this season to really have a great season with Invicta.

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“There are some little things that I realised in a moment like, ‘oh wow, yes, I improved this’ but I think it's usually with some bigger steps where you realise and notice the big difference.

“Usually, I don't realise the things exactly when they happen. It’s more about working step-by-step trying to improve. It's every race weekend just making small improvements, but then at the end of the year you look back and then you see the big improvements you’ve made from the start.

“It was like that last year. I just feel like I'm working hard, I'm doing my best, small improvements week by week, but then you look back you see like it was a big, big improvement. I didn't really feel it during the season, but after the season when I look back, yes, I definitely see a big difference.

“There are just some things you can only get by experience and now, with two years of experience in F2, I think I am very prepared to head into this season and fight at the top.

“My first years in F2, I was just working as hard as I could, getting as much knowledge as I could from pre-event work, analysing corner-by-corner, all the data, every lap, all the little segments of the track and previous races.

“I was just trying to get as much information as possible because I know that in F2 we don't have a lot of track time, we don't have a lot of time to run and we need to perform straight away.

“I was really making sure I could get as much information and knowledge as possible and as quickly as possible to at least be on a better level for the first race. Now with the experience, of course, I know more.

“Of course, I still do my notes, I still investigate, I still try to learn more stuff but for sure the basics are committed to memory now. But, the experience does really help a lot

“It's cool to see these things happen. Signing with Mercedes also shows me that people outside my circle are seeing my progress. It's not only me that is seeing progress. So, when these things happen, it's like a clear step or a clear statement for me that things are going right and that I’m on "the right path.

“Working with one of the best teams in F1 is proof to me that I'm going in the right direction and while there’s still a longer way to go, it gives more motivation because I know things are working and I’ll keep working to make this even better.

“If I had to pick one element I’m particularly proud that I’ve improved, I’d say my racecraft. Generally, I think it was already a strong point for myself, but I think I just improved it even more and I think this helped me to score all the podiums last year.

“Usually, all the podiums I got, I was always recovering a bit further from midfield or a setback like that, so I think my racecraft is the thing that improved the most.”