Formula 2 boss happy: 'A lively opening weekend'

Pourchaire favourite?

Last year, Pourchaire finished second in the championship behind Felipe Drugovich. Unlike Drugovich who is now a reserve driver at Aston Martin, the Sauber junior has stuck another year in Formula 2, at ART Grand Prix. After finishing second last year, a lot is now expected of the youngster. The Michel too has realised this, but also knows that you don't just win a championship.

"When Théo Pourchaire announced that he was returning to F2 for a third season, the objective was very clear: the Frenchman is in it to win it. And so is ART Grand Prix. People expect the driver and the team to fight for the Championship, but we know it is won through performance and consistency, which they lacked from time to time in 2022," Michel said.

Michel on Martins

Switching to a new racing class is always difficult. Everything is different and often it takes a while for the driver to get used to his new car. Therefore, the very best drivers often stand out from the good ones at times like these. Last year's Formula 3 champion Victor Martins immediately showed his talent in his first qualifying session in the racing class new to him. "Qualifying is always tricky, with a session of 30 minutes on different compounds than the ones used in free practice, plus the track conditions massively change from practice to Quali. You really need to put everything together to set up your best laptime. Martins did that, and then some, taking P2 and securing a front row lock-out for ART Grand Prix", the CEO complimented Martins' qualifying.