F2
Racing to the top: drivers on the road to F1 stardom
Who are the future stars of international racing on the road to F1 and how are they preparing for the ultimate challenge in motorsport? Let's take a look at the best drivers in the F1 feeder series.
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The 2026 F1 grid has just one rookie – the superb Arvid Lindblad. He's lighting up F1 with some stellar performances for Racing Bulls, even out-qualifying Max Verstappen at the Japanese Grand Prix.
The youngest British driver to ever compete in F1 (also the youngest driver with Swedish and Indian heritage), he’s risen quickly through the ranks of the F1 feeder series with the backing of the Red Bull Junior Team. It’s the most successful driver academy in motorsport, having brought two F1 World Champions into the pinnacle of motor racing and numerous race winners and top-level drivers. Of the current grid, seven drivers have got there thanks to the Red Bull Junior Team – Max Verstappen, Isack Hadjar,Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad, plus Carlos Sainz, Alex Albon and Pierre Gasly.
Nikola Tsolov exits the Campos pit on his F2 debut in Australia
© Dutch Photo Agency / Red Bull Content Pool
The Junior team is special because, more than simply providing cash or placing drivers with a team in a feeder series, the most comprehensive programme in motorsport supports its teenage charges across every aspect of building a racing career. The competition is ferocious: “You still have to perform, you still have to win races and that’s the number one thing,” said it’s architect, Helmut Marko.
But nowhere else are young drivers supported so meticulously with every aspect of driving, seat time, sim time as well as fitness and nutrition as they climb the pyramid with a place on the F1 grid of the future as the ultimate prize.
So, who are the latest class of drivers racing in Red Bull colours this season in the F1 feeder series?
01
Nikola Tsolov
Nikola Tsolov is racing in F1's main feeder series: F2
© Dutch Photo Agency / Red Bull Content Pool
- Born: 21/12/2006
- Nationality: Bulgarian
- Team: Campos Racing
- Series: FIA Formula 2
A protégé of two-time F1 World Champion Fernando Alonso, Nikola Tsolov shot to prominence with his dominant performance in Spanish F4 in 2022, taking 13 victories from 21 races as a rookie. The "Bulgarian Lion" went straight to F3 – a big step up even for such a talented driver and struggled to find his form. But last season, he joined Red Bull Junior Team, who moved him back to Campos Racing, and he was soon back to winning ways, finishing runner-up in the championship. This season, he moved to F2 with Campos and took his first victory in the Feature Race at the opening round in Australia.
02
Ernesto Rivera
Ernesto Rivera will step up to F3 in 2026
© Dutch Photo Agency / Red Bull Content Pool
- Born: 30/11/2008
- Nationality: Mexican
- Team: Campos Racing
- Series: FIA Formula 3
Now entering his second full year with the Red Bull Junior Team, the Mexican driver moves up to Formula 3 after racing in the new Eurocup-3 series in Spain, where he took three race wins to finish fourth overall. He continues with Campos for another season in 2026.
03
Fionn McLaughlin
Good call: Fionn McLaughlin makes his debut in F3
© Dutch Photo Agency / Red Bull Content Pool
- Born: 29/10/2007
- Nationality: Irish
- Team: HiTech
- Series: FIA Formula 3
The highly rated Irish driver is making the step straight into F3 with HiTech and skipping Formula Regional, having won the British F4 championship with the same outfit in his first year as a Red Bull Junior Team driver. The Northern Irishman has enjoyed a meteoric rise to single-seater racing after winning a place on the Junior Team due to his performance in the Red Bull Driver Search, along with Ernesto Rivera and Scott Kin Lindblom.
04
Mattia Colnaghi
Mattia Colnaghi makes the step up to Formula 3
© Dutch Photo Agency / Red Bull Content Pool
- Born: 26/07/2008
- Nationality: Italian-Argentine
- Team: MP Motorsport
- Series: FIA Formula 3
The young Italian/Argentine driver is making rapid progress through the junior formula championships, after winning the 2024 Spanish F4 championship and then bossing the inaugural Eurocup-3 title. Mattia is a new signing to the Red Bull Junior Team and he continues with Dutch outfit MP Motorsport, who prepped Max Verstappen for his first single-seater test in 2013.
He’s been getting ready for F3 by hitting the test track and the sim, taking inspiration from the four-time F1 World Champion: “I do a lot of stuff on my sim setup at home. I do think it is quite an essential now. It's obviously been proven to work with Max in Formula 1, he's a big sim guy as well. So, I do think it is something that helps a lot also when racing in real life.”
How do you get to be a Formula 1 driver, what is the F1 feeder series and why is earning a place in the Red Bull Junior Team the best way to get to the top?
Ernesto Rivera in action in Eurocup-3
© Dutch Photo Agency / Red Bull Content Pool
05
How do you get to Formula One?
The world motorsport governing body, the FIA, set up the Global Pathway which takes the best drivers in karting all the way to Formula One. On the pathway, they gain experience in racing and learn to work effectively within a team to put together a winning season and gain backers to get them to the next level. FIA
Formula 3 Championship and FIA Formula 2 Championship are international series racing on the undercard at F1 Grands Prix. It’s where the drivers will be showing off their skills in front of F1 personnel and global sponsors in the hope of landing one of 22 seats in F1.
Stage
Series
Stage 1:
Formula 4
Stage 2:
Formula Regional | National F3
Stage 3:
FIA Formula 3 Championship
Stage 4:
FIA Formula 2 Championship
A few drivers can skip stages in the pathway. Perhaps the most impressive was Max Verstappen, who did one season in F3 – taking a run of six consecutive wins – before moving straight to F1.
06
What’s a Super Licence?
Awarded by the FIA, the Super Licence shows drivers have the experience to race in F1. To qualify, drivers must be at least 18 and have scored at least 40 points over the previous three seasons of select championships.
Chiara Bättig steps into the competitive British F4 championship
© Joerg Mitter / Red Bull Content Pool
07
Stage 1: Formula 4
As the first stage of open-wheel racing above karting, there are masses of national and regional F4 series where drivers can hone their skills and attract backing to take them along their journey. The most prominent is the F1 Academy, the only international open-wheel championship dedicated to women racers. They compete at F1 Grands Prix weekends, giving much-needed exposure to the women drivers as well as team personnel.
There are three drivers competing in F4 – Scott Kin Lindblom, Rocco Coronel and Chiara Bättig. Swedish driver Scott Kin Lindblom boasts an impressive record in karting, having become the youngest ever winner of an FIA Karting OK-Senior race at the age of just 13, before stepping up to the Ginetta Junior Championship in the UK with the R-Racing team in 2025. He is joined at HiTech by Swiss racer Bättig who moves directly from karting into one of the most competitive F4 championships.
Rocco Coronel is competing in Spanish F4 with MP Motorsport
© Dutch Photo Agency / Red Bull Content Pool
Lindblom's former team-mate, Rocco Coronel, makes the move to race in Spanish F4 with MP Motorsport. Rocco’s father Tim and uncle Tom are both celebrated racing drivers and media personalities, and his mum Paulien Zwart is also a racing driver – so he comes with a considerable motor racing pedigree.
08
Stage 2: Formula Regional | National F3
Enzo Tarnvanichkul is racing in Eurocup-3 for Campos Racing.
© Dutch Photo Agency / Red Bull Content Pool
Formula Regional is a collection of championships in Asia, the Americas, Europe, Japan, the Middle East and Oceania, which act as a stepping stone from F4 to international F3. There are myriad options here as drivers can also compete in various national F3 series. At Stage 2, the cars are an older spec of F3 which are not only faster but also heavier – and physically harder to steer.
The racing is more complex, adding features like push to pass. This season, Red Bull Junior Team driver Enzo Tarnvanichkul continues racing in the new Eurocup-3 series in Spain. While they won’t earn Super Licence points, they get continuity by working with Campos Racing.
09
Stage 3: FIA Formula 3 Championship
Fionn McLaughlin in action on his F2 debut at Albert Park
© Dutch Photo Agency / Red Bull Content Pool
The only international championship, FIA F3 is a major step up from regional F3 racing that features more powerful, larger and technically complex cars, plus quicker drivers. Drivers will be expected to work with their mechanics to find the best set up for downforce, and learn how to manage those Pirelli tyres and DRS.
Nailing the set-up first time is crucial, because while F3 boasts a lot of wheel-to-wheel racing, there are only three or four laps of practice and if you get it wrong, not only will you be struggling on track, you’ll be doing it with the F1 paddock watching. “I think it was probably one of the seasons where I learned the most racing against very competitive drivers,” says Tim Tramnitz. “The fighting with DRS was also completely different to what I was used to from before, tyre management in the races and in qualifying also, the race craft as well.”
10
Stage 4: FIA Formula 2 Championship
Drivers have to learn pit stops in F2
© Dutch Photo Agency/Red Bull Content Pool
Competition is fiercest in the series below F1, where you’ll find the next generation vying for a place at the top. The drivers are not only racing to impress team bosses in F1, but also to keep their seat ahead of their contemporaries. This is where drivers will learn to master pit stops, adding another string to their race strategy bow. Succeed here and you’ll have a shot at a seat in F1.
11
What is a junior team?
Since its inception, all but two Red Bull Racing and Racing Bulls drivers have learned their craft with the Red Bull Junior Team, as have many more along the grid. Before the advent of the Red Bull Junior Team, there was little coordinated support for young drivers, but the Junior Team created a comprehensive package to lead youngsters from karting all the way to the F1 grid.
12
What does the Red Bull Junior Team do?
Guillaume 'Rocky' Rocquellin on the pit wall
© Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool
Founded by Dr Helmut Marko, the Red Bull Junior Team is led by Sebastian Vettel’s Race engineer at Red Bull Racing, Guillaume 'Rocky' Rocquelin. The drivers receive guidance on everything they need to become elite athletes, such as personal training, nutrition and development, as well as mentorship from experts and professionals.
“It's not just in your training, our drivers get homework,” says Rocky, who jokingly calls himself the headmaster. “We can get a good idea on who knows the history of the sport, the technicalities, the set-up, nutrition. There are a very wide range of topics of things that are important to become an all-round athlete.
"When we put them in the simulator, there are various metrics that we can measure, not only the lap time but also reaction, understanding of set-ups, new sensitivities that change every lap where again we can rate those drivers."
His most recent graduate, Arvid Lindblad, says Rocky and his team are meticulous in their approach to preparing young drivers. "He really tries to tick all the boxes of what a racing driver needs to think about," Lindblad says. "Rocky's got such a vast range of knowledge and experience. To be able to pick his brain and try to learn what I can from him is super beneficial, because his knowledge pool is arguably one of the biggest in motorsport."
More from F1 feeder series
So how do I join Red Bull Junior Team?
Guillaume 'Rocky' Rocquelin with some star pupils
© Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool
Scouts from the Red Bull Junior Team are constantly in touch with driver managers and monitoring the performance of young drivers from karting and across the feeder series. One such new signing is the exciting Melvin Kalousdian, who is racing Ginettas in the UK this season.
In 2024, the Red Bull Driver Search was revived to offer racers the chance to prove themselves in a sprint race in F4 and former GP3 machinery. The 2024 event in Jerez, Spain, brought a wealth of talent to the team, including McLaughlin, Rivera, Lindblom and Corone, while last year's round in Estoril, Portugal, saw Colnaghi and Bättig recruited to the line-up.
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