Formula 2 in 2021: Oscar Piastri sets new standard with familiar names in the fray

Our look back at the FIA Formula 2 Championship and road to 10 years of racing continues with the 2021 campaign.

Oscar Piastri became the first driver to win the FIA Formula 3 and FIA Formula 2 titles in consecutive seasons as a rookie, setting a new standard that future Champions would aim for.

Several future F1 drivers made their names known, and records were broken in what was a competitive season of F2 racing.

Here’s a look back at some of the top moments.

THÉO POURCHAIRE BECOMES YOUNGEST F2 WINNER

Though his record would eventually be beaten by Arvid Lindblad in 2025, Théo Pourchaire announced himself on the F2 stage in Round 2 and around the streets of Monte Carlo.

The Frenchman became the Championship’s youngest pole sitter in Qualifying, before going on to take top honours around the Principality in the Feature Race for ART Grand Prix.

Having earned his first Pole Position in the Championship, Pourchaire would not be denied. He controlled the start to retain his advantage into Turn 1 and kept his foes comfortably at bay.

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At 17 years, nine months and two days of age, the French driver stated his intentions as one of the big names in the Championship to keep an eye on in the coming years.

It was the first of his two race victories in 2021, as he later went on to take P1 in the first Monza Sprint Race en route to fifth in the Drivers’ Championship.

PIASTRI STARTS HIS MARCH TO THE TITLE

The eventual Champion took an early season Sprint Race victory in Round 1, earning top spot in the second Sprint of the weekend.

However, it wasn’t until Monza and Round 5 that the Australian earned his first F2 Feature Race victory, and it set the tone for the remainder of his campaign.

It was a second consecutive pole for the PREMA Racing driver, and he’d keep an exclusive hold on top spot in Qualifying through to the end of the season.

His evident pace through the early phase of 2021 was on full display around the Temple of Speed, as he retained the lead in the first part of the race. He relinquished the lead to Dan Ticktum after an early Safety Car but eventually regaining top spot with a subsequent Safety Car intervention.

An early stoppage due to a Red Flag after a crash involving David Beckmann and Bent Viscaal brought the Feature Race to an early close, but it was Piastri’s weekend and a sign of things to come.

FOUR IN A ROW

Having battled with Zhou Guanyu and PREMA teammate Robert Shwartzman for the majority of the season, Piastri’s form in the final leg of the campaign was undeniable.

The Australian carried on his form from Monza, converting pole position into Feature Race victory at each subsequent event. The streak remains the F2 record for consecutive Feature wins today.

New to the F2 calendar for 2021 was Jeddah, and Piastri doubled up that weekend, mastering the fast and flowing nature of the street circuit to take Sprint Race two and the Feature Race top step along with it.

Piastri clinched the title in the final round at Yas Marina, with a P3 finish in the first Sprint Race enough to move him out of reach in the points standings.

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A fourth consecutive and final Feature Race win of the season was the perfect ending to his impressive campaign, and by the end he had only been off the Sunday podium once all season, missing out on a top three in the season-opening round in Sakhir.

His title was his third-consecutive crown in the junior formulas, and second in the official FIA Pyramid after taking top honours in FIA F3 in 2020.

Only Gabriel Bortoleto has gone on to follow in his footsteps so far in winning the F3 and F2 titles in consecutive seasons as a rookie.

It laid down the blueprint and set the bar for what young drivers hopeful of making it to F1 aim to achieve in the championships.