Most of the champions of the second division (Formula 2, GP2, Formula 3000) have made the leap to Formula 1, but we look at the other destinies
Gabriel Bortoleto or Isack Hadjar – one of them will probably become the new Formula 2 champion in Abu Dhabi in 2024. But only Bortoletto has a guaranteed Formula 1 cockpit at Sauber in the coming season.
The two drivers directly above him in the standings did not make the step up. Both last year’s champion Theo Pourchaire and his predecessor Felipe Drugovich are still waiting for their chance in the premier class – and will probably have to exercise patience for even longer.
Because neither will be promoted to Formula 1 in the 2025 season: Drugovich will remain on board as a reserve driver at Aston Martin, and Pourchaire was also left out in the fight for the cockpit despite his many years with the Sauber Academy.
However, Pourchaire and Drugovich are not the only champions of the second division to have been denied promotion to the premier class – even if it was a while ago. That’s because the eight predecessors all got their chance at some point – even if, like Nyck de Vries, some of them had to wait several years for it and didn’t get more than a handful of races.
Despite winning a title in the highest junior class, they did not make it to the top.
The first person to experience this in the long time since the “new” Formula 2 was founded in 1967 was a German: Jörg Müller. The later BMW works driver won the successor series Formula 3000 in 1996, but only managed to get a test drive in Formula 1 for Sauber and Arrows.
He also did important test work before BMW joined Williams, but Müller, who later mainly drove touring car and GT races in his career, never got to enjoy a Formula 1 race.
However, opinions differ as to whether Müller is really the first champion of the second division without a chance in Formula One. Because a year before Jörg Müller, another driver became champion of Formula 3000. His name: Vincenzo Sospiri.
