Formula 2: Pourchaire vs Vesti - Who Will Come Out On Top?

With only three race weekends left in the 2023 Formula 2 calendar, the championship battle seems to be heating up with ART Grand Prix's Théo Pourchaire and Prema Racing's Frederik Vesti as the two emerging Championship contenders. And no, this isn't "de ja vu." Pourchaire is really in the title fight for a second year in a row. But, can he succeed where he didn't in 2022? Or can his ex-teammate, Vesti, show him how it's done?

After finishing as runner up in 2022, Pourchaire came into the 2023 season as the championship favourite. And, with a dominate first weekend in Bahrain, the Frenchman proved he had already gotten one hand on this year's championship trophy. However from there, things got a little bit sketchy with a string of retirements and pointless finishes. This didn't stop Pourchaire from regaining his form, however, with the ART driver saying that he is "in a lot better position than last year." He has since gone on to have an extremely consistent season to date, scoring points in every round bar the Austrian Sprint Race. Consistency - that's what has given him the championship lead. He may only have one win and a handful of podiums to his name in 2023, but you can't deny the fact that he is turning into one of the most consistent drivers in modern day Formula 2; a quality that Pourchaire has indeed noticed himself by commenting; "in qualifying, I’m better. In the races, I’m more consistent." The big question now is can he keep up the consistency for the remainder of the season? Or, will he need to bag a few more wins to really get one step ahead of Vesti? Regardless, Pourchaire is a strong racing driver and after finding himself in the same position as last year, surely he has the advantage of experience over his rival to take this one.

And, then there's Frederik Vesti. Ironically, the man that raced alongside Pourchaire at ART in 2022. However, while Pourchaire was battling it out with eventual champion; Felipe Drugovich, Vesti experienced a more "sombre" season, finishing on 117 points compared to Pourchaire's 164. But, in 2023, it wasn't just a change of team for the driver from Denmark, but a change in prospect also, with the Prema driver saying: "I think this year I’ve just gone, ‘no regrets.' Like this is my year if I want to make it into Formula One." And sure enough, everything is falling into place, with an outing planned for Vesti and Mercedes F1 Team during FP1 at the 2023 Mexican Grand Prix. Only in his second Formula 2 season, Vesti has, so far, picked up 4 wins and numerous podiums - the most out of any driver. But, it was having to sit on the sidelines for the Spa Feature Race in Belgium, after crashing while on the way to the grid, that has put a dent into the Dane's attempt at winning this season's championship. But regardless, like Pourchaire, Vesti has shown consistency over the course of the season by regularly finishing in the points. The task ahead though is simple. He needs to beat Pourchaire. And, it'll be tough, but I'm sure he'll do everything in his power to try and do just that.

But, it's Pourchaire that currently sits in the pound seat, 12 points ahead of Vesti. It would be easy to argue, that with his (Pourchaire) experience and consistency, he has the championship in the bag. However, Vesti is on a roll and is living proof that one mistake can turn it all upside down. But, let's not forget, the likes of Ayumu Iwasa and Jack Doohan who are sitting nicely in 3rd and 4th respectively, waiting to pick up any pieces. Zandvoort, Monza and Abu Dhabi are going to be race weekends not to miss. I'm looking forward to it. Are you?

F1 Academy: Has it Succeeded Where W Series Failed?

After the abrupt ending to W Series 2022 season, before dissolving completely in 2023; many were sceptical when Formula One announced plans to create it's own all-female racing series - F1 Academy. With it's purpose to help young girls get a better footing on the motorsport ladder, questions were indeed asked as to whether F1 Academy could succeed were W Series failed.

Unlike W Series, F1 Academy is run by the same company that oversees other F1 feeder series, such as Formula 2 and Formula 3, which in itself is already an advantage. However, despite this, there was a large proportion of concern before the first event at the Red Bull Ring in April, due to the lack of televised coverage the series would have going forward compared to it's "sister" series of F2 and F3. Instead, fans would have to settle for live timings or highlights streamed at a later date - something that didn't sit right with a large percentage of the motorsport world. Yet, this could still be another advantage that F1 Academy has over the heavily-marketed W Series.

In this day and age, our day to day lives are heavily influenced by social media which, especially in the motorsport community, can become toxic. Keeping the inaugural F1 Academy season a "low-key" event may help Formula One shape it into the series it wants it to be without the hassle and criticism that comes with social media and media, in general. But, despite that, F1 Academy's social media team has been on it; feeding fans with engaging content from race weekends in an attempt to promote the series the best they can, without the help of live coverage. However, there are some who believe this to be detrimental to the image and following that F1 Academy are trying to build. After all, like with many things, publicity is an important tool to success. Is this why there planning on televising the final round of the season? Regardless, the lack of televised races hasn't deterred fans from keeping up to date with the race results but instead proved that there is a need and a want for this series to be made more accessible. And, we may just get that in 2024 when the series travels alongside the Formula One circus.

But what really gives F1 Academy the chance to differentiate itself from W Series is the fact that teams from F2 and F3 are directly involved, with Campos, MP Motorsport, ART Grand Prix, Rodin Carlin and Prema, all fielding cars and drivers meaning that a transition to one of the feeder series may be more likely on the cards in the near future. And, in 2024, it gets better, with the 10 F1 teams representing one driver each in the F1 Academy field. A landmark moment in raising the awareness, of not just the series, but females in motorsport as a whole.

With the series only part way through it's inaugural season, it's too early to declare it a success compared to it's predecessor; W Series. However, everything is pointing in the right direction for it to become "something." With the backing of Formula One, surely we can witness more females moving up the motorsport ladder. Time will tell. Let's just see how the rest of the inaugural season plays out first.

F1 2023: My Prediction Upate

If you are a regular reader of my blog, you will know that back in March, after the pre-season test in Bahrain, I made some predictions as to what I think could be possible during the 2023 Formula One Season. Then, back in June, I wrote up an update and, it's fair to say that I'm no Baba Vanga. If you don't know who that is, Google is your friend.

Now, halfway through the Summer break, it's that time again to see how my predictions are playing out. Have they been affected by the significant developments during the latter stages of the first half of the season? Let's find out.

Max Verstappen Will Win His 3rd Consecutive World Championship

At this point in the season, with a 125 point lead over second place man and teammate; Sergio Perez, Verstappen will need to have a disastrous second half of the season. However, if he dominates the way he has done before the Summer, the Red Bull driver could wrap this season's title up pretty quickly. With 10 out of the 12 wins so far in 2023, and a teammate who isn't performing at the same level, you wouldn't be judged for thinking that the Dutch driver has it in the bag. It's more of a question of when, rather than if. Still, crazier things have happened in motorsport.

Fernando Alonso Will Get A Podium

As discussed in June, the newly partnered Alonso and Aston Martin fulfilled this prediction with a 3rd place finish at the first race of the season in Bahrain. Since then, Alonso has gone on to score 5 more podiums, the last being a 2nd place in Canada. But, as more teams bring more updates for their cars, Aston Martin seem to be falling behind. Can they resurrect what was a fantastic start to the season at the beginning of the second half?

A New Teammate Rivalry

So far, every team seems to be playing "happy families." Back in June, I reported about rising tensions at Mercedes and Ferrari, but it's the latter that seems to be getting close to boiling point, with plenty of high-rate radio messages from Charles Leclerc to his team about teammate, Carlos Sainz. And, with Ferrari still in, what seems like a never ending nightmare, it can't be helping the drivers tempers, as they unnecessarily loose points . Of course, the likes of social media and journalism create and emphasis pointless drama but, with contract renewals on the horizon, a teammate rivalry is the last thing that either Ferrari driver needs.

Haas Will Have A Strong Start to the Season

The start of the season is long gone, and at the time of writing during the Summer break, the team sit 8th in the Constructors Championship, joint on 11 points with Williams. In the first half of the season, the team have had extremely poor race pace. However, qualifying has, on average, been better with an impressive 2nd place for Nico Hulkenberg at the Canadian Grand Prix. Unfortunately for the Haas team, points have been hard to come by, with the last ones scored in Miami, back in May. This is one prediction that completely failed to materialise.

Williams Will be Regular Point Scorers

Although Williams have only appeared in the points on 3 occasions during the first half of the season, you can't deny how much they've come on during 2023, with Alexander Albon, especially, putting in some impressive performances. His teammate; Logan Sargeant, lies bottom of the table with zero points. As mentioned above, they currently sit on 11 points, joint with Haas, in the Constructors Championship. There is still time in the season for this prediction to come to fruition. But, with Albon doing the majority of the work, will it happen?

A Tough Season for McLaren

From the pre-season test, to the start of the season, to my predictions update post in June, McLaren have had a relatively mediocre 2023. Until Silverstone, that is. New updates gave the team a 2nd and 3rd start at the British Grand Prix, with Lando Norris going on to claim 2nd and giving the team their first podium of the year. A feat they would repeat at the following race in Hungary. In fact, things have gotten so much better for the team from Woking, that they've jumped and cleared Alpine in the Constructors Championship. There is still a long way to go, with 10 races left when racing resumes, but thankfully, it looks as if McLaren have already proved me wrong.

A First Time Winner

With how Red Bull and Verstappen are performing, it's hard to think that anyone, let alone a first timer, will win this season. However, there have been signs, that if Verstappen happens to DNF a race, we could get that first time winner. Take Esteban Ocon in Monaco, for example, who qualified his Alpine in 3rd before going onto finishing on the podium. And, what about Norris in Silverstone? He took the lead from Verstappen in the early stages of the race before settling for 2nd, behind the Red Bull driver. There is definitely potential that this still could happen.

Nyck de Vries: Rookie of the Year

Well, this one ended badly. It's such a shame for de Vries, he had potential. However, with Red Bull's high expectation of the Dutch driver, it was never going to end well and he saw himself replaced by ex-Red Bull driver, Daniel Ricciardo, for the Hungarian Grand Prix. With a Formula 2 and Formula E championship under his belt, you can't blame anyone for having such high expectations on him (de Vries.) Unfortunately, with a car that severely under-performed and a driver that failed to score points during his short F1 career; Nyck de Vries definitely will not be Rookie of the Year and I would like to apologise to him for jinxing his career with this prediction.

So, there it is - my extremely bad predictions. However, for the likes of McLaren, I'm glad the opposite is happening! As mentioned before, there are 10 races left to go in 2023. Anything can happen and I'm excited to see how it plays out and update you all on my predictions at the end of the season.