I thought it was a very, very strong Formula 2 grid in 2024… This is why there are so many drivers moving to Formula 1, because they know that they are really good.”

Adrián Campos, team principal of Campos Racing, which finished second in the 2024 season, is one of several F2 team bosses to wave goodbye to a driver and watch them head into a winter preparing for F1. His charge, Isack Hadjar, was the last of five rookies to be confirmed, following in the footsteps of Ollie Bearman, Jack Doohan, Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Gabriel Bortoleto.

That list doesn’t even take into account the fact that Liam Lawson is gearing up for his first full F1 season – at Red Bull no less – and that the smart money would be on Franco Colapinto’s switch to Alpine opening doors in future, too.

But for now, rookies will be making up ‘only’ a quarter of the grid. It really is a generational shift.

What’s perhaps most unusual is the fact that the two F2 title contenders in 2024 were the final two to be confirmed with F1 seats last year, with Bortoleto signing for Sauber in November and Hadjar handed the RB seat in December.

It was the Brazilian, Bortoleto, who won that championship battle, but according to Campos it was not just raw pace that proved the difference between him and his driver Hadjar.

“I was surprised how well Hadjar can handle the pressure”

“Gabriel is a driver that is consistent,” Campos says. “He learns very quick. He was improving through the year a lot. He understood well that when he didn’t have the pace to win in some races, he had to finish on the podium and score points. That is something difficult for some drivers because they always think that if they don’t win, it’s not a success.

“But at the end of the year, for him, it was a success. So he managed the championship very well. I think, to be honest, that across the year Isack had a little bit more pace, was a bit stronger, but we made more mistakes and we also had a bit more bad luck.”

Campos believes Hadjar is ready for the step up to F1: “He’s very complete, and I was surprised by how well he can handle the pressure. He was confident in himself… He’s the most prepared driver for F1 that we had in the last years, that is for sure.”

Hadjar cites a thoughtful approach behind the wheel as another of his biggest strengths that he can carry over to his F1 career, and intends to retain his call for high standards as he proves himself to RB.

“If I know I’m surrounded by a good group of people I’m going to be really demanding,” Hadjar said. “Respectful, of course, but really demanding of the work. It can be even more powerful [to be demanding] in Formula 1, but you need much more experience to do that. It’s such a big step, but it can have a bigger impact with much more people. If your feedback is good, the results are there, people are listening.”

“Jeddah was a crazy weekend. I was trying to take in as much as possible”

Like Hadjar, Bortoleto is a driver who can get a team to rally round him, and really gain their support through his interactions and off-track approach. I dealt with both regularly as host of the F2 top-three press conferences, and they both already look ready for the step-up to F1.

It is a view shared by Mattia Binotto, COO of Sauber. He has been convinced by the temperament of 20-year-old Bortoleto – who was also F3 champion in 2023.

“I saw him racing so well, being impressed by the speed, the potential, but also by this capacity to first develop and improve,” Binotto admits. “And if I look around, I think he is one of the most talented and high-potential drivers we’ve got as rookies, and for Audi, that was a no-brainer – go for it.

“A question we were asking ourselves was should it be straight away in ’25, or should we give him some time first to develop and then maybe postpone to ’26? But finally, also seeing young drivers doing well in F1 gave me more confidence in the fact that Gabriel can do very well from the start, and, if anything, that has been the convincing factor.”

While Bortoleto and Hadjar were late recruits to F1 teams some of their F2 contemporaries had already picked up vital track time at the top. Before Colapinto’s strong Williams stint at the end of ’24, it was Bearman who was the surprise package after a stunning debut for Ferrari in Saudi Arabia and then another points-scoring outing for Haas in Baku.

Both Bearman and his former team principal at Prema, René Rosin, note how much the Briton has improved his technical knowledge and understanding of the specifics of racing. That’s come through a combination of development from the Ferrari Driver Academy and Prema itself, but the 2024 experiences were invaluable.

“Jeddah was such a crazy weekend.” Bearman admits. “Everything happened so quickly that I was almost not able to learn anything. I was just going lap by lap and trying to take in as much as I could.

“Baku, I obviously had preparation, simulator prep. I knew it was coming a week in advance, which is definitely better than a few hours in advance. And I think I did a good job that weekend. I was really confident with the car. Of course, I still made mistakes that I’m not happy with, but I’m also not going to be harsh on myself because it’s a tough track and tough circumstances.”

There was also another late call-up in Brazil that saw Bearman impress Haas with how quickly he got up to speed, and while the race was challenging it provided wet-weather experience that he believes was doubly beneficial.

Even amid a field of rookies, experience is not a word that could have been used to describe Kimi Antonelli a year ago, yet Toto Wolff insists he was his clear pick to replace Lewis Hamilton from the moment the seven-time world champion informed Mercedes he was joining Ferrari.

Antonelli was handed plenty of testing of previous car (TPC) running, and his Monza FP1 debut – where he crashed heavily at Parabolica – was a microcosm of what to expect from the talented Italian. Rapid, but with the propensity to make bigger mistakes.

“I’m a driver who drives a lot by instinct; I trust my instinct,” Antonelli says. “On some occasions that really allows me to get up to speed pretty quickly. I would say that’s one of my main characteristics. Then I’m quite aggressive, but the right amount. You need to manage it, because sometimes you cannot drive only by instinct but you need to also be aware of the situation. That’s something that I’m still working on, improving my awareness while driving, not only driving by instinct because then that can lead to having some problems as well.”

“A bunch of great rookies, all deserving to be there, which is great”

Despite having both of his former F2 drivers making high-profile steps up to F1 this year, Prema boss Rosin says he wants the expectations on them to be kept under control, believing the rookie influx is more a matter of the number of contracts that were up at the end of 2024.

“Kimi and Ollie – they both have quite a long process ahead of them, a learning process in Formula 1,” Rosin said. “It is the most difficult championship worldwide, so they will have to learn, but I think they have all the possibilities and all the right people around them. You need to start learning not only tyre management but dealing with media, dealing with engineers – not only one or two people but working with multiple amounts both inside the factory and outside. So there are various aspects that you need to manage and develop, but I think both can do a good job.”

While he hasn’t started as many races as Bearman, it’s fair to call Doohan the furthest along of the rookies given his additional junior experience and a year of preparations with Alpine. Alongside reserve driver duties, TPC running for the Australian evolved from procedures and comfort to simulating difficulties and challenges.

Against that backdrop, Doohan might not get to enjoy the same level of patience that Bortoleto, Bearman and Antonelli are likely to receive. With Colapinto’s presence as an Alpine reserve further increasing the pressure on the 22-year-old, Doohan admits he’s pleased that 2025 will provide a grid with plenty of comparable new additions.

“There’s a hype around a few [drivers] and I’m more than happy to come in under the radar,” the Australian says. “I don’t need any hype coming in. I can create that once we’re there and just go about my job normally. A bunch of great rookies coming in, exceptional drivers, all deserving to be there, which is great. I’m looking forward to being a part of the new batch.”

Five drivers heading into five very different scenarios. Raw speed is certainly not lacking from any of them, and nor is potential. But handling the increased scrutiny and expectation is likely to be the defining factor between who becomes established and who might face a shorter Formula 1 career.