Bruno Michel on 10 years of Formula 2, F1 Champions and the future

2026 represents the 10th season of FIA Formula 2 racing, a major milestone for the Championship. CEO Bruno Michel reflects on the past seasons of racing, the biggest changes and what the future might hold in the next decade.

Michel said that it was a collaborative effort that had gotten the Championship into the position it is now, delivering drivers ready for F1 and compete at the top level of motorsport.

“We all do the job the best we can, and for sure there’s a satisfaction to see how things are progressing,” he explained. “Now, that absolutely is not personal – it’s a team effort.

“It's the massive support from Formula 1 and all the stakeholders around F2 that have been making this possible over the last 10 years. Stefano Domenicali is always behind us, supporting and pushing for us. The FIA is really happy with the championship as it is, and they're always extremely supportive as well.

“The teams, of course, are doing a very, very good job. It's a combined effort by all the people involved in the system, our partners, suppliers Aramco, Pirelli, Dallara, Mecachrome, all of them have been working with us for a long time.

“They're all part of the project, and I think it's really a common effort that allows us to be where we are now.

“We keep on trying to improve the product all the time, and make it even more relevant to the system, to the FIA pyramid, to the business, to absolutely everything that is in our environment.”

HOW THINGS HAVE CHANGED IN 10 YEARS OF F2

“The first thing that changed is that the pyramid became much clearer, because in the past, there had been quite a lot of junior categories which meant it was not clear for young drivers that wanted to make it to F1 where they needed to race.

“There were championships everywhere, and it was not easy to understand. Now, the path is completely clear. That's something that we wanted to put together with the FIA, and that's a big change since 2017.

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“The name, of course, is more appealing. F2 makes it much clearer – F2 and F3 – rather than GP2 or GP3, that really made things clearer for drivers to understand how to get to Formula 1.

“Then, of course, we got much closer to Formula 1 little by little, racing in countries much further away. We have increased the number of races that we're doing over a season, we have massively increased the visibility of our championships and the awareness, and we now have a very, very strong fan base that is younger too, which is good.”

HOW F2 HAS GONE FROM STRENGTH TO STRENGTH

“I would say that the basic values of our championship have remained the same since the very beginning, and that's probably why we've been quite successful and quite consistent.

“We had always to adapt the situation to what was happening and to the development we wanted to do. But at the end of the day, we're here to put drivers in Formula 1, and that's the main mission that we've had over these 10 years.

“That means that they need to have machinery that is as close as possible to what they will learn in Formula 1. And when I say machinery, it's not the car itself, but it's also the systems, the marshalling system, the DRS, all these things they're working with that they will find in Formula 1. The car is as close as possible to what they will have to learn in Formula 1, that's number one.

“We also need to make sure that the costs are always kept under control. And we need to produce a very exciting show because that's also our DNA, and that's why people are watching us for.

“Sustainability and diversity are important as well. That's something that we've been working on a lot over the last 10 years. With Aramco, we've been using sustainable fuel before anybody and that's really important. Diversity and making sure that any driver can drive our cars - tall drivers, strong drivers, smaller drivers, female drivers, that's something really, really important that we are developing as well.

“It'd be great to have started off with all these boxes ticked perfectly, everything's amazing, as good as it can be, but we've always kept trying to develop, working on all these areas over the last 10 years to make sure that F2 is as strong as it is now.”

F2 GRADUATE BECOMING F1 CHAMPION

“It's a great achievement but to be honest, it's quite surprising that we didn't have it earlier.

“But we now have an F2 graduate-turned-F1 World Champion. I would also say that what happened last year with the five drivers that came directly from F2 to Formula 1 and the way they adapted and the way they got immediately to the mark and were doing fantastically well, for me is even more a sign of the fact that I think we're doing the job properly. And that's really important.

“When you see that Kimi Antonelli is currently leading the championship, George Russell, who is one of our Champions, is P2. Oscar Piastri, Charles Leclerc, all these drivers are fighting for the championship, it's really good to see that.

“Then you have Gabriel Bortoleto doing very, very well, Ollie Bearman being one of the stars of the future. There’s also Isack Hadjar who is doing fantastically well. Everybody says the 2025 rookies are stars of the future for Formula 1, and we're very happy to see that.”

WHAT DO THE NEXT 10 YEARS OF F2 LOOK LIKE?

“I would say continue on the same path, which is making the championship evolve in the way it should. And that's something that we need to look at all the time.

“For instance, this year we’re doing something that we have never done before, which is racing in North America. And I think that's really important because there's a massive market over there and we need to get drivers from America that want to get to Formula 1 in these championships.

“So, we are interested in expanding the calendar, but not at any cost because that's the other thing. We're already doing 14 events in Formula 2 and 10 in Formula 3. And honestly, I'm not sure we want to do more for cost reasons, obviously.

“We will continue to develop the link with Formula 1 and the Formula 1 teams, which is getting better and better because most of the teams now have young drivers within our championships.

“We’ll look at how to develop the car, which is a very interesting talking point because at the moment. Formula 1 is going into a direction with a power unit that we cannot afford to do.

“So, we need to make sure that we're still relevant in preparing the drivers for Formula 1, even if we don't have the electric side that the F1 cars have.

“I think the values will remain the same, but we have to make sure that we evaluate them the right way. Every year we need to put ourselves into a mindset of how can we make it better?”

RACING IN MIAMI AND MONTREAL FOR THE FIRST TIME

“We are very excited for Miami and Montreal. North America for me is absolutely fantastic. It's something that we've been willing to do for quite a long time, but there was not a proper way to do it.

“Now, even though it's been a bit tight in the way we've got it organised because it was a bit last-minute, everybody's been very, very helpful and pushed for it.

“I'm very happy about it and I'm really pleased that the American fans are going to be able to see what the F2 races are about in person.”