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F2 CEO Bruno Michel sends a message: 'Teams need patience with youngsters'

09:00, 15 Dec 2024

byLudo van Denderen

From 2023 to 2024, no driver changed teams, which meant that 20 F1 drivers started the season as they had finished. For 2025, though, there will be big changes up and down the grid as multiple rookies make their way into Formula 1. Oliver Bearman(Haas F1), Andrea Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes), Jack Doohan (Alpine), Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber) and possibly Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls). F2 CEO Bruno Michel has seen these drivers all race in the series which he operates, and wants to send a clear message: Please be patient with these talents.

Suddenly, many teams will pick up rookies for the 2025 season. In recent years, it's been difficult for rookies to secure a place in Formula 1. 2022 champion Felipe Drugovich, as well as 2023 champion Theo Pourchaire, are yet to have driven in F1. Perhaps Franco Colapinto opened teams' eyes last season. At Williams, he had a lightning start, although there was a definite decline afterwards. Oliver Bearman also impressed during several stints at Ferrari and Haas.

Expectations are difficult to manage: 'Hamilton was already fighting after one season'

The expectations for all these youngsters seem high, but it's not always the case, as Formula 2 CEO Bruno Michel notices. "Well, it's difficult to say. Some drivers are extremely fast or adapting to Formula One. You look at the first season of Lewis Hamilton, he's an exceptional driver. But he had one season of GP2, he arrived in F1, and he was fighting for the championship with Fernando Alonso, who was a more experienced driver," he began in response to a question from GPblog.

"So you have drivers that immediately are on the spot. You have drivers that take a little bit more time. If you think of the first season that Max Verstappen had in Formula One, it was not that easy. And then, after that, he started to be incredibly strong. So it's difficult to say. What is for sure is that you need a bit of patience with the young drivers. Formula One is sometimes not very patient, let's put it that way. But I think at the end of the day, yes, give them the time to adapt.

Benefit for Bearman and Doohan:

Drivers such as Bearman and Doohan, who will have a permanent place next season, were able to get a taste of the big time with fill-ins last season. According to Michel, that is an advantage. "I'm very happy that Oliver has already raced. I'm very happy that Jack Doohan had a race this year to be ready for next season. I think they need a bit of time because of not only the change of the category but also the stress that comes with Formula One, the exposure that is much, much bigger, there's all these things that they have to take into consideration.

"And the fact that the Formula One teams are much more complex, the cars are much more complex. So they need a bit of time. But some drivers are extremely fast. What Ollie did in Jeddah, honestly, was amazing. Absolutely amazing. So I hope that for next year, it's going to be like this for him. Let's see what Gabriel is doing. Let's see what they're all doing after that." Michel said.

Written in collaboration with Toby Nixon

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