The F2 Driver Market Just Changed
Three developments in the last week have reshaped the Formula 2 silly season. Here is what moved and why it matters for the F1 pipeline.
Vincenzo Landino
Partner + Managing Director
Three things happened in the F2 driver market this week that are worth tracking together, because the pattern matters more than the individual moves.
A seat opened at a front-running team that was not expected to be available. A driver with significant backing moved laterally instead of upward. And a team principal publicly commented on the “unsustainable” economics of the current model.
These are not unrelated events.
The F2 grid is increasingly shaped by a tension between performance and funding that mirrors, and intensifies, the same dynamic in F1. Teams need funded drivers to operate. Funded drivers need results to advance. The drivers who advance are not always the ones with the most funding, and the ones with the most funding are not always the ones with the best results.
This is not a new observation. What is new is the speed at which the market is correcting. Seats are changing hands mid-cycle in ways that suggest the economic model is under more pressure than the public-facing stability of the grid implies.
Worth watching closely as the season approaches.
Vincenzo Landino
Partner + Managing Director
U.S.-based Formula 1 business strategist and first generation Italian-American entrepreneur. Since 2014, Vincenzo has focused on humanizing brands through content strategy and production, working with clients including NASCAR, Las Vegas Grand Prix, Snapdragon, T-Mobile for Business, SAP, Oracle, Adobe, and more. He turned Business of Speed into a trusted voice in the motorsport sponsorship and partnership ecosystem.
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