F2 drivers are increasingly prepared for F1 thanks to a better environment, and thanks to a pyramid that works. This is the opinion of Bruno Michel, director of F2 and F3, who thinks that the link with the Formula 1 teams is also what makes young talents more and more professional, and therefore more and more talented.
“The academies have become quite fundamental in the pyramid” declared Bruno Michel. “In F2, half of the grid comes from the academies of the F1 teams. In Formula 3, I think a third of the grid came from the academies of the F1 teams. Of course, that’s important.”
“First of all, because the academies provide drivers with financial support that allows them to complete their season. But also because the academies prepare drivers for the environment of an F1 team. They learn and are ready when ‘They’re coming to Formula 1.’
“Doohan is going to race for Alpine next year. Doohan has been working all season with Alpine. In the simulators during race weekends. He is in the back of the garage absorbing everything during each race. It’s also preparation very, very important.”
“It goes beyond the actual driving technique. When you go into a Formula 1 garage, you have 60 people and each of them has a very specific role. You have to understand how it all works.”
“Life is much more complicated in F1 than in F2 where you only have 12 people and in F3 where you only have 10 people. So that’s also the kind of thing they have to learn, managing the pressure and working with people.”
The Frenchman believes that young drivers who have an entourage in an academy have an advantage, but not in terms of their raw talent: “Probably not driving skills. But in environmental management skills, yes, that’s an advantage.”
Bruno Michel is in any case pleased that his representatives are shining in Formula 1, and he draws the conclusion that the FIA single-seater pyramid is well designed to prepare the drivers: “Ultimately why does the pyramid exist? It’s to prepare drivers for Formula 1.”
“We want to make sure that when they come to Formula 1, they are ready. In Baku, two F2 drivers jumped to F1 and were immediately up and running and scoring points. That means the pyramid is working, and that’s it. is really what’s important.
“We’re trying to make sure that the evolution of the F3 single-seater and the F2 cars into F1 is correct and that the drivers get the right experience, but it’s not just the car. It’s also the fact that they are racing alongside F1 on the race weekend. There is also the weekend format. There are a lot of things that we do to prepare the drivers for F1 ultimately. “
“It’s about all the systems that the car is equipped with, because the drivers have to start working with the DRS, with all the environments that the FIA creates with the race control, the assembly system. There is all these things that drivers need to be prepared for so that when they one day arrive in the F1 garage, if they do, they’re not totally lost.”
