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 motor sport? Let's take a look at the best drivers in the F1 feeder series.
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The 2025 F1 season has enjoyed an influx of talented young racers starting their rookie season: Isack Hadjar, Liam Lawson, Kimi Antonelli, Ollie Bearman, Gabriel Bortoleto plus Jack Doohan and Franco Colapinto duking it out for the same race seat.
All of them have climbed the ladder to reach F1, coming from karting all the way through increasingly competitive series before making the step up to the pinnacle of motorsport. Even then, the move to the World Championship is a massive challenge and marks the start of a new learning curve that involves developing the skills to keep the job. This season Liam Lawson swapped seats with the more experienced Yuki Tsunoda at Red Bull Racing and Doohan and Colapinto are sharing a drive.
F1 teams are constantly eyeing young drivers coming through the feeder series to find the next big thing. So, who are the drivers leading the charge for a place with the Racing Bulls?
01
Arvid Lindblad
On the road to F1: Arvid Lindblad
© Dutch Photo Agency/Red Bull Content Pool
- Born: 8/8/2007
- Nationality: British
- Team: Campos Racing
- Series: F2
The youngest winner in F2 history, Arvid Lindblad is a special talent. Still only 17, the British-Swedish driver has been winning titles for years. A member of Red Bull Junior Team since 2021, he has already tested with Racing Bulls. Arvid took victory on his debut in F3 in 2024 and won both races at his home race at Silverstone to finish fourth overall. Ahead of his rookie season in F2, Lindblad won the Formula Regional Oceania Championship and scored his debut F2 win at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Lindblad’s race craft is particularly impressive as he’s demonstrated the ability to manage his tyre and switch on awesome pace at will. “I have come through the ranks fast, so I'm still quite inexperienced. I’m just focused on myself, trying to get up to speed because it is a big step.
Victory in Jeddah: Arvid Lindblad is a proven winner at every level
© Dutch Photo Agency/Red Bull Content Pool
“The goal has to be to fight for wins and podiums. Red Bull have given me really good support and Campos are really impressive. I have a really good group of people around me to help so I have full faith that I can do the job.”
02
Pepe Martí
On the road to F1: Pepe Martí
© Dutch Photo Agency/Red Bull Content Pool
- Born: 13/6/2005
- Nationality: Spanish
- Team: Campos Racing
- Series: F2
One year ahead of Lindblad in the Red Bull Junior Team programme, Pepe Martí started his racing career relatively late after his mum encouraged him to go karting. “My first international race was at aged 13, which was at junior level and quite late, so I barely had any karting experience beforehand.
“I had to learn really quickly and in the span of three years, I grew from being a regional level driver to being a world-class karting driver and I finished fourth in the 2019 Karting World Championships after starting second.”
He’s more than made up for lost time, moving up through the feeder series and scoring his breakthrough F2 victory in the Sprint at Abu Dhabi at the end of 2024 and won his second Sprint at Bahrain this year. A small error meant he missed out to his team-mate in Jeddah, but the Spaniard is demonstrating his maturity and consistency.
03
Oliver Goethe
On the road to F1: Oliver Goethe
© Dutch Photo Agency/Red Bull Content Pool
- Born: 14/10/2004
- Nationality: German
- Team: MP Motorsport
- Series: F2
Further along the paddock is German-Danish racer Oli Goethe at MP Motorsport. It was Oliver’s performance in the 2022 Euroformula Open Championship that put him in the spotlight, never finishing outside of the top three he took 17 podiums and 11 wins. He claimed his maiden FIA F3 victory in a spectacular manner in a wet Feature Race at Silverstone before moving to Campos last season and producing an eye-catching double podium in F3 at Imola. He’s now in his first full season in F2.
His father Roald and older brother Benjamin are both racing drivers and won their class at the 2022 24Hr of Dubai. And (since you asked) he is related to the 18th Century poet, statesman and philosopher Johann Wolfgang von Goethe who wrote: “There are people who make no mistakes because they never wish to do anything worth doing” – which is a good motivational message to write on the wall in the team garage.
04
Tim Tramnitz
On the road to F1: Tim Tramnitz
© Dutch Photo Agency/Red Bull Content Pool
- Born: 16/11/2004
- Nationality: German
- Team: MP Motorsport
- Series: F3
After a successful rookie season in F3, Tim Tramnitz is a serious championship contender with MP Motorsport. Like most drivers, the German found the step up to F3 a challenge: he made a great start to his campaign with three podiums in the opening four rounds, but he and the team struggled to build on that as they strived to find the best set-ups for qualifying. It came good in the end with victory at the last Sprint of the season at Monza. “It was a great feeling to finally be on the top step. How we managed the race together as a team was very nice, so it was a big relief to get it in my rookie season and win a race in my first year.”
Tim Tramnitz and Nikola Tsolov celebrate on the podium at Imola
© Dutch Photo Agency/Red Bull Content Pool
Tim has impressed at every stage of his career, finishing runner-up in the ADAC and Italian F 4 championships in 2021, before moving up to the Formula Regional European Championship where he finished third.
05
Nikola Tsolov
On the road to F1: Nikola Tsolov
© Dutch Photo Agency/Red Bull Content Pool
- Born: 21/12/2006
- Nationality: Bulgarian
- Team: Campos Racing
- Series: F3
A star in karting, 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 went straight to F3 – a big step up even for such a talented driver and struggled to find his form. At the end of last season, he joined the Red Bull Junior Team and moved to Campos where he had raced in Spain, and it paid off quickly with victory in Bahrain and Monaco.
Nikola Tsolov is making up for lost time in F3
© Dutch Photo Agency/Red Bull Content Pool
“I have the chance to gain even more experience, so we don’t make the same mistake as we did jumping into F3,” he says. “I need to get experience, fight for the championship and then go into F2 in ’26 – that is the best option for me.”
So, what are the feeder series, and how do you get to race in them? Let’s take a quick look at route drivers take to qualify for F1…
06
How do you get to Formula One?
Arvid Lindblad in the pit lane in Bahrain
© Dutch Photo Agency/Red Bull Content Pool
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 20 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.
07
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.
08
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 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.
F1 Academy star Alisha Palmowski on the podium
© Getty Images
F1 Academy gives women racers a platform in international racing
© Getty Images
Alisha Palmowski out in front in F1 Academy
© Getty Images
US driver Chloe Chambers on the podium in F1 Academy
© Getty Images
09
Stage 2: Formula Regional | National F3
Formula Regional is a collection of championships in Asia, the Americas, Europe, Japan, 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.
New recruit Ernesto Rivera is racing in Eurocup-3
© Dutch Photo Agency/Red Bull Content Pool
New Red Bull Junior Team recruit Jules Caranta
© Dutch Photo Agency/Red Bull Content Pool
Red Bull Junior Team new recruit Enzo Tarnvanichkul
© Dutch Photo Agency/Red Bull Content Pool
The racing is more complex adding features like push to pass. This season Red Bull Junior Team has taken an interesting step: all three Red Bull Junior Team drivers Enzo Tarnvanichkul, Ernesto Rivera and Jules Caranta are 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.
10
Stage 3: FIA Formula 3 Championship
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’s 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.”
11
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.
12
What is a junior team?
Since its inception, all but two Red Bull Racing and Racing Bulls drivers have learned their craft with Red Bull Junior Team as have many more along the grid. And 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.
13
What does the Red Bull Junior Team do?
Guillaume 'Rocky' Rocquellin on the pit wall
© Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool
Red Bull Racing Adviser Dr Helmut Marko leads the scouting system, and development is overseen by Sebastian Vettel’s Race engineer at Red Bull Racing, Guillaume 'Rocky' Rocquelin. The drivers receive guidance on everything they need to be elite athletes, such as personal training, nutrition and development, as well mentorship from experts and professionals.
“It's not just in your training, our drivers get homework,” says the 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."
Rocky’s team also helps drivers to avoid pitfalls like the ones that Nikola Tsolov fell into prior to joining the team. In 2024, both he and Lindblad moved straight from F4 to F3. Lindblad raced ahead, tying the record of four wins in F3 but the Bulgarian struggled. Tsolov says: “He was well prepared, and I think that helped him a lot. He did a lot of test preparations to come in strong – all the work he’s done helps him get to where he is now.”
To further underline the point, Lindblad was sent to New Zealand in the winter to race in the Formula Regional Oceania Championship – it was a clever move as winning the championship saw him secure his Super Licence. He says: “I don't know all the ins and outs of it, I was told ‘we want you to go to New Zealand, we want you to have the full Super Licence before the start of the F1 season’.”
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
Dr Marko, Rocky and the team are looking for quick drivers who also have the temperament of a Red Bull Racing winner like Max Verstappen, Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo. Most also have a management team who will help them make the case for inclusion in the Red Bull Junior Team: Lindblad is the protégé of Formula E driver Oliver Rowland, Tsolov is managed by Fernando Alonso’s A14 company, Oli Goethe shares management with Franco Colapinto and Pepe Martí is mentored by Fernando Alonso’s former coach Genís Marcó.
Last August, the Red Bull Junior Team also held a Driver Search, bringing 11 young drivers aged 13 to 16 to Jerez in Spain to test in Formula 4 and GP3 machinery. That resulted in six new recruits joining the squad: Enzo Tarnvanichkul, Ernesto Rivera and Jules Caranta (all Eurocup-3) and Niklas Schaufler, Fionn Mclaughlin and Christopher El Faghali (all F4). Plus, Rocco Coronel and Scott Kin Lindblom in karting.
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