2024 season so far: The Teams’ Championship as things stand

15 April 2024

Three rounds are in the books and there’s still a long way to go, but are we beginning to see the signs that a new pecking order has been established in Formula 2?

Drawing firm conclusions this early in the season is tricky, but you’d be hard-pressed to fight the notion that Rodin Motorsport have hit the ground running in 2024, while reigning Champions ART Grand Prix are just not as strong as they were last year, for now.

Let’s look at the state of play going into the European leg of the 2024 campaign.

UP AND RUNNING

Zane Maloney’s weekend in Sakhir set the tone for Rodin. The Bajan driver was in formidable form and has sustained that level of performance to lead the Drivers’ Championship on 67 points. Rookie teammate Ritomo Miyata secured his best results in Melbourne with a pair of P5 finishes as he continues his F2 learnings. Rodin were confident during testing they had a good grasp on the new 2024 car and that has turned out to be true once competitive action got underway. They are deserved leaders at this point, strong in Qualifying and boasting impressive race pace.

ON THE RISE

Campos Racing have been unquestionably quick so far in 2024 but the results haven’t entirely reflected just how strong they’ve started this era. Isack Hadjar was twice a winner in Melbourne, though lost one of those to a post-race penalty, but things could and arguably should be even better. Rookie teammate Josep María Martí has picked things up in F2, and the team appear to have a strong understanding of how to make the ’24 car go quickly. Improving their consistency is the focus now to hammer home this early form.

HAPPY AT HITECH

The Hitech pair have faired well, with Aron in particular starting off strong and earning multiple podiums

Another team yet to take a race win but emerging from the opening rounds in great shape are Hitech Pulse-Eight. They have taken a step forward with the introduction of the new car with rookie Paul Aron one of the stand-out drivers so far, taking three podiums from six races which sees him second overall on 47 points in the Drivers’ Standings. Amaury Cordeel’s strong performance in Jeddah and narrow miss on another scoring result in Melbourne shows that the Belgian has settled in well within the team also.

LOOKING TO STAKE THEIR CLAIM

MP Motorsport are much the same in that the team have had good results so far in 2024, but things could always be improved upon. Dennis Hauger is leading the charge while rookie teammate Franco Colapinto has scored points twice so far. The Norwegian is an early title contender, though the flying start for Rodin and Hitech leave him third in the Standings despite five points scoring finishes in the opening six races, including a trio of podiums and a win.

QUICKER OUT THE GATE

Invicta Racing find themselves fifth in the Teams’ Standings but that doesn’t tell the whole story. The British team has lost strong prospective results to misfortune, but their speed over one lap has certainly caught the eye. Satisfied with their efforts in testing, Invicta have arguably strengthened their position with steps taken in race pace, which was hardly a weakness of the team in Round 1. The start to 2024 has been much stronger than where they were a year ago, and the team looks to be a real threat moving into the European leg of the campaign.

EARLY WINNERS

Fittipaldi secured himself a race win in Jeddah while Villagómez has settled well in F2

It has been an up and down year for Van Amersfoort Racing, with Jeddah the obvious high point following on from a tumultuous start in Bahrain. What the team will be happy with though is the upward trend it is on, with Rafael Villagómez taking his second point-scoring result of his young rookie campaign in Melbourne. Enzo Fittipaldi’s Jeddah victory was sublime, and he’ll be working hard to recreate that magic on a more regular basis. For now, VAR will need to make their points finishes more consistent than has been the case so far.

AIMING HIGHER

Jak Crawford heads up the DAMS Lucas Oil charge, with the Aston Martin Driver Development talent making a much-improved start versus his rookie season last year, but the French team has lost a step versus where they were 12 months ago. Juan Manuel Correa brings the experience to DAMS, but he too has endured a few difficult races after a promising pre-season test. In-season testing is a great opportunity then for them to reanalyse and reassert their understanding of the new car after they started the year on the front foot having adapted well to the 2024 car initially.

INCONSISTENCIES

There are signs that PREMA Racing has worked out the intricacies of the 2024 car. Oliver Bearman’s Jeddah pole lap and Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s P2 in Melbourne Qualifying evidence enough that one-lap pace has been improved upon. The team had just one win by this point one year ago, and with in-season testing coming up, it is likely PREMA will return to Imola with a quicker car. Still, eighth in the Teams’ Standings is below the standards PREMA set for themselves. Expect them to come out of the gates swinging in the European leg of the season.

A STRONGER PACKAGE

Early season results indicate that Trident have made a marked improvement from where they were in 2023

Compared to where Trident were one year ago, the Italian outfit has made great steps with this new car, and for the driver that is experiencing the differences himself from the cockpit, it has been a great opening to 2024. Roman Stanek earned a maiden F2 win with a great defensive effort, and after a stuttering start in Bahrain, the team has progressed, with Qualifying speed in particular helping them move upwards in the Championship. Richard Verschoor losing the Jeddah Sprint win to a technical infringement and three points finishes betray the level the team has been at so far this year.

RESET NEEDED

Pre-season testing was tough, and things haven’t improved at the rate ART Grand Prix will have hoped for since. The lack of race pace and competitiveness compared to last year will be most concerning. What does bode well though is the three-days of upcoming track time in which they can sort through areas of concern. Identifying the problems over the course of the first three rounds, ART will likely have homed in on things to work on but will need to emerge from Barcelona with direction going into Imola to revive their hopes as quickly as possible.

EARLY LEARNINGS

The only team with a pair of rookies at the wheel in 2024, PHM AIX Racing have shown decent signs of pace, but they are still working hard to overhaul the more experienced. Both Joshua Duerksen and Taylor Barnard have had good moments this year, but the in-season test will prove crucial to further develop their understanding of the new 2024 car. Both drivers will be eager to make maximum use of the track time to trial everything they possibly can too to build up their confidence and knowledge of the F2 car and tyres.