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Ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix weekend, FormulaNerds spoke to F2 Team Principals René Rosin and Sébastien Philippe about their two rookie drivers, Oliver Bearman and Victor Martins.
The summer break is well underway with only two weeks left until the Dutch Grand Prix. For Formula 2, 11 rounds are complete and only three race weekends remain.
So far, the championship fight has been between Frederik Vesti and Théo Pourchaire as well as Red Bull Junior Ayumu Iwasa. The lead has changed hands several times throughout the first half of the season; however, it is Pourchaire that is currently leading on 168 points.
Whilst Pourchaire and Vesti have experience in F2, their teammates are in their rookie season. For Victor Martins and Oliver Bearman, 2023 is the first year they’re racing full-time in an F2 car.
And the two rookies seem to have settled into the championship rather nicely. Martins comes into F2 after winning the Formula 3 title last year, which saw Bearman finish only seven points behind the Frenchman.
Now, over halfway into the 2023 F2 season, the rookies are battling each other for fifth in the championship. Currently, Martins is ahead in P5 on 120 points whilst Bearman is in sixth on 102 points.
Notable points of the season
Both drivers have had incredibly strong performances throughout the season but they have also had some weekends where they’ve made some errors. The most notable weekend for Bearman is the Azerbaijan Grand Prix weekend.
The young Brit went into Round 4 being the fastest driver in free practice. Bearman then continued his strong performance throughout the whole weekend taking pole and the victory in both races.
As for Martins, his season has seen him improve considerably since Monaco, but it was Round 9 at Silverstone that finally saw him take a victory. The ART Grand Prix driver has held his own against Pourchaire this season and now has a win under his belt.
And with the rookies’ strong performances so far, their Team Principals seem to be impressed with how they’re fairing in Formula 2.
‘Amazing results’ but ‘rookie mistakes’ for Bearman
FormulaNerds asked René Rosin how he thought Bearman’s first season in F2 has gone, especially since the British driver is still so young. Rosin said:
“Of course, he’s done some amazing results. Some other times, of course, some rookie mistakes compromised results.
“But we must remember, for Ollie, it’s a season in Formula 4, jumping into Formula 3, straight into Formula 2. He’s delivering nice races, nice podiums and nice wins, like the ones he did in Baku and Barcelona.
“And we are looking and considering race by race, trying to maximise the results. Of course, now is the time to learn from mistakes done in the first part of the season and bring home some points.”
Both Bearman and Martins have made some mistakes across the season. But they’ve both been able to bounce back from them with four podiums to Bearman’s name and seven to Martins.
Martins is ‘delivering well’ after learning from mistakes
Sébastien Philippe, ART Grand Prix’s Team Principal, gave a similar answer to Rosin when speaking about Martins. Philippe praised both the rookies before highlighting how Martins has improved. He said:
“I think both of them are doing well. Both of them have done some big mistakes, probably because they are rookies and probably because they wanted too much at the beginning to they keep taking a bit too much risk, especially in F2 where the races aren’t very long.
“But now I think talking about Victor, he has learnt a lot from his mistakes that are very painful, because I think today, by his performance, he would be fighting for the championship without the kind of mistakes at the beginning.
“But I’m proud that he has learnt from it and that since the middle of the season, he’s delivering well.”
For F2, there are three rounds left: Zandvoort, Monza and Abu Dhabi. A lot of points are up for the grabs and with the competitiveness of the championship, the standings could change dramatically from weekend to weekend.
As for Martins and Bearman, the question is: which rookie will come out on top?
Headline image: GettyImages