July 1st 2020 – With almost four months delay, the 2020 Formula 1 season will start in the first weekend of July. The junior classes will therefore start again. But which talents should we pay extra attention to this year? GPUpdate.net appears to be moving forward, this time with five drivers to watch in Formula 2.
Robert Shwartzman
Age: 20
Team: Prema Powerteam
Formerly: FIA F3 Champion 2019
We start with the reigning champion of the FIA Formula 3 Championship: Robert Shwartzman. The young Russian is part of the Ferrari Driver Academy and in recent years has developed into a serious candidate for a future F1 seat. Shwartzman is fast, but also remarkably constant for a junior driver. He was allowed to climb the podium after no less than ten of the sixteen F3 races last season. That consistency allowed him to take the title in his own home port of Sochi. The expectations for his first F2 campaign are immediately high, all the more because Shwartzman has proved to be a fast learner. With every step up, every promotion on the motorsport ladder, he knew quickly to participate in the prizes. Staying in a familiar environment with Prema can help to ensure success in 2020.
Marcus Armstrong
Age: 19
Team: ART Grand Prix
Formerly: Vice Champion FIA F3 2019
Name Shwartzman and chances that followers will also drop the name of Marcus Armstrong. The similarities are numerous. Both men played for Prema in Formula 3 last year, both men showed their class regularly and both men fought for the title until the closing weekend. In terms of pure speed, both Ferrari aspirants do not admit each other in a strobe, although Shwartzman has so far proved slightly more constant. Potential advantage for Armstrong is that he can join ART this year, the team that delivered the champion in F2 for the past two seasons. Although the material is all the same (or at least it should be), the French team is so well organized and laced with know-how that it is apparently the best place to sit. Armstrong also takes over the seat of outgoing champion Nyck de Vries.
Mick Schumacher
Age: 21
Team: Prema Powerteam
Previously: I F3 Champion 2018
With Mick Schumacher we have arrived at the third Ferrari junior from this list. This is not surprising: the battle between Scuderia talents will be an important storyline this F2 season. Certainly with a possible F1 retirement from Kimi Raikkonen (perhaps not yet after this year, but it has to happen once) and the continued pressure on Antonio Giovinazzi. The mutual battle between the Ferrari juniors is therefore potentially about an F1 seat, perhaps at Alfa Romeo. For many fans, Schumacher would be a dream candidate for that, if only because of the surname. A Schumi back in F1 would be very interesting from a marketing perspective.
But for that, Mick must first prove himself in a sporting sense. Although his CV features an European Championship F3 title (which competitor Dan Ticktum has serious doubts about), last year it was no fat spot for Schumacher in Formula 2. 2020 is partly because of this the year of truth. Where exceptional talents such as rookie immediately impress, the rule of thumb for ‘just’ good drivers is: gain experience in the first year, harvest in the second year. In that respect, it must now be done for Schumacher. That is reinforced by the above two names. Schumacher must defeat the less experienced Ferrari competitors to keep his F1 dream alive. If one of those rookies hits him this year, it will be a lot more unbelievable for Ferrari not to promote that talent to Schumacher after all, to Formula 1. As much as one would like because of the surname …
Yuki Tsunoda
Age: 20
Team: Carlin
Previously: 2018 Japanese F4 Champion
We could also have included Callum Ilott in this list, but leave the Ferrari story for what it is. Instead, we switch to the apple of the eye of Red Bull: Yuki Tsunoda. The fact that he will race in Formula 2 this year is quite special in itself. Helmut Marko thinks the Super Formula is a better school for F1 and sends many of his top talents (such as Jüri Vips) to Japan. But Tsunoda is allowed to walk the European route and so far has done so very nicely.
The chilly results may not be convincing yet, but in the case of Tsunoda we need to look a little further. For example, the switch from Japan to Europe is not easy and Tsunoda already showed glimpses of his class in Formula 3 last year, especially at Spa and Monza, he came out well, with a victory on the latter circuit. More importantly, he has shown himself a biter, a fighter. Someone cut from the right racing wood, exactly what Marko loves. Moreover, because of the marriage to Honda, Red Bull would like to see a Japanese man take Formula 1. To achieve that, Marko sets the bar high this year: Tsnunoda has to finish at least in the top four of the championship, according to his supervisor, a decent job for a rookie.
Guanyu Zhou
Age: 21
Team: UNI-Virtuosi Racing
Previously: 7th in FIA F2 2019
The last section of this section tells the story of another F1 team: Renault. The French team has a seat available for next year after the announced departure of Daniel Ricciardo. Fernando Alonso and Nico Hülkenberg are reviewed, but less appealing names also play a role in the head of Cyril Abiteboul. “We first want to see how competitive Guanyu Zhou and Christian Lundgaard are,” he told Motorsport.com. “Two drivers who have enough super license points for F1 in fourth place in the F2 championship. They could be great options for us. That sounds a bit premature, but maybe after an extra F2 season it might be the right thing to do “, said the French team boss.
This means that Zhou and Lundgaard are indeed in the picture if Renault opts for a relatively cheap solution (read: no Alonso). Nationality also plays a role here. The parent company Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi attaches great importance to a Chinese F1 driver because of the immense sales market. But to make that dream come true, Zhou must speak with his right foot first this year. After all, his F3 career was not really convincing, although the debut year in Formula 2 can be called more encouraging with five stages. The same applies to Zhou as to Mick Schumacher and his battle with the Ferrari aspirants: he must keep the younger guard – in this case Lundgaard – off his feet to keep an eye on Formula 1 this year. An extra factor for the audience to look forward to, although we are probably not afraid of spectacle anyway.
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