Ranking the top 10 F2 and F3 drivers of 2021

Formula 1's feeder series adopted a largely unpopular new format for 2021 that called for three races per weekend, including two reversed grid races, and resulted in lengthy gaps between rounds. It made for a stop-start season that made it difficult for drivers to build any real momentum, and the format has been quietly dropped for next year.

Prema Racing drivers claimed titles in both Formula 2 and Formula 3 for the second year running, with F2 rookie Oscar Piastri and second-year F3 racer Dennis Hauger each proving a cut above their rivals to tie up their respective championships early.

PLUS: How Prema continued its dominance of F1's junior ladder in 2021

But for all the Prema stars' dominance, there were plenty of capable drivers they had to face off against who also made their mark in 2022. Here are Autosport's top 10 performers across the two series.

10. Clement Novalak

Novalak didn't win a race, but consistent scoring lifted him to third in F3

Photo by: James Gasperotti / Motorsport Images

Series: Formula 3
Wins: 0 (Best finish 2nd)
Podiums: 4
Championship position: 3rd

The 2019 BRDC British F3 champion was much improved on his move from Carlin to Trident for the 2021 F3 season, and doubled his podium tally on his way to finishing third in the standings. He never won a race, but finished second three times, once in the Zandvoort feature race - where he profited from a late clash between David Schumacher and Victor Martins - and twice in sprints.

Although he missed out on victory, Novalak put in several impressive performances, including charging from 11th to fourth at Barcelona. That had followed a strong drive in the season opener, progressing from sixth on the grid to second.

A tussle for the lead during the first sprint race in Austria resulted in retirement and sent him to the back of the grid for the sequel, where he charged back to 13th. His two retirements aside, he finished outside the top 10 just twice in a consistent campaign.

His efforts were enough to earn a move up to F2 with MP Motorsport for the final two rounds of that series’ season, ahead of a full season in 2022.

9. Juri Vips

Vips was in a league of his own at Baku, but frequently suffered with mechanical issues

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

Series: Formula 2
Wins: 2
Podiums: 6
Championship position: 6th

With two wins and four further podiums, the Hitech-run Red Bull junior perhaps deserved to finish higher than sixth in the F2 standings, with a run of bad luck at the end of the season thwarting his efforts. After a tricky start to the season in Bahrain plagued by “laughable” luck that robbed him of a strong victory chance in the second sprint race, the Red Bull junior hit his stride in the second round in Monaco, taking 22 points from the weekend and a podium in the second sprint race.

The third round in Baku was his standout of the year, taking consecutive wins in the second sprint race and Sunday feature in brilliant style. Starting third in the sprint, he survived two safety car restarts before battling past Bent Viscaal and David Beckmann to take his maiden victory, before repeating the feat the following day.

After a second place in the opening Silverstone sprint, he struggled to the end of the season, with mechanical issues forcing his retirement in Sochi’s feature race and tangles in the Jeddah and Abu Dhabi sprint races.

But there were still glimmers of brilliance, with podiums in Sochi and Jeddah proving his skill.

8. Victor Martins

Stirring drive to victory at Zandvoort was the highlight of Martins' first F3 campaign

Photo by: Formula Motorsport Ltd

Series: Formula 3
Wins: 1
Podiums: 6
Championship position: 5th

As the reigning Formula Renault Eurocup champion entered his F3 rookie season with MP Motorsport, Martins secured fifth in the standings and was best of the newcomers. The Frenchman scored his first F3 win at Zandvoort with a convincing charge from fifth on the grid, passing Clement Novalak and fending off Frederik Vesti, and had five more podiums.

Martins, who believes his career would have ended without the 2020 Eurocup title win that paved the way for him to rejoin the Alpine Academy, began the season brightly by qualifying third for the opening two rounds in Barcelona and Paul Ricard. He claimed sprint-race seconds at each, and a trio of top-four finishes across the French Grand Prix weekend put him an early second in the standings. He struggled mid-season, before his Dutch bounceback and a solid haul in Sochi sealed him fifth place in the standings, just shy of expected title contender Vesti.

With a solid maiden season behind him, Martins could prove a worthy F3 title contender next year.

7. Dan Ticktum

Ticktum will head to Formula E after two years of F2

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

Series: Formula 2
Wins: 2
Podiums: 7
Championship position: 4th

Having finished 11th with DAMS in his 2020 rookie season, Dan Ticktum returned to familiar territory with Carlin for 2021, scoring two wins and seven podiums to finish fourth in the standings. Although marred by a “beyond ridiculous” 10-second penalty for causing a collision in Baku and his drop from Williams’ junior academy, Ticktum had a consistently strong season, finishing outside the points just once in all of the races he finished.

He was handed victory in the second Monaco sprint race after Liam Lawson was stripped of his win, but his standout performance came in Sochi, where he made the most of his reverse grid pole position to withstand heavy pressure for victory by 4.4 seconds.

A third win might have been possible without a slow pitstop and the virtual safety car called in the closing stages in the Bahrain feature, where he took second.

His form in the feature races was generally strong, having also taken second at Silverstone and third in an eventful race Monza. A huge gamble on pit strategy, starting on medium tyres when the majority of his rivals opted for softs, and the help of a well-timed safety car facilitated a brilliant fight through the field, before another late safety car blunted a potential win chance.

Although he admitted he had “blown” his last chance at getting into Formula 1, his move into Formula E with NIO 333 could prove a welcome fresh start.

PLUS: How Formula E's polarising newcomer can prove himself 

6. Theo Pourchaire

Teenager Pourchaire was the class of the field at Monaco, romping to victory from pole in the feature

Photo by: Formula Motorsport Ltd

Series: Formula 2
Wins: 2
Podiums: 3
Championship position: 5th

Theo Pourchaire placed himself on the radar of Formula 1 teams after an impressive display to finish fifth in the F2 points with ART, despite breaking his arm in Baku.

Aged just 17, he became F2’s youngest ever polesitter and race winner in the Monaco feature, a magnificent maiden appearance on the famous streets he calls home. Highly rated by Alfa Romeo F1 boss and ART founder Frederic Vasseur, Sauber junior Pourchaire even emerged as a candidate for the Alfa seat that eventually went to Guanyu Zhou. Pourchaire also earned an F1 test in an older specification car following the victory at the Hungaroring.

The teenager followed that breakthrough success with a victory in the first sprint race in Monza, further proving his credentials after fighting through the field from sixth to cross the line four seconds clear, and was the only driver in the same postcode as Oscar Piastri when he finished second in the Sochi feature.

The speed was definitely there and a consistent run of podiums could easily have thrown him into the title mix, but he was unlucky to be caught up in incidents in Baku and Jeddah, even if he was fortunate to emerge unscathed from the latter - a frightening startline shunt, where he was collected by an unsighted Enzo Fittipaldi.

5. Robert Shwartzman

A good run of form lifted Shwartzman to second in the standings, albeit behind team-mate Piastri

Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images

Series: Formula 2
Wins: 2
Podiums: 8
Championship position: 2nd

Shwartzman improved upon his fourth place in 2020 to finish runner-up in the F2 standings to team-mate Oscar Piastri. He was tied in a season-long tussle with Guanyu Zhou for the position, sitting 13 points behind him after Sochi, but a series of solid performances in Jeddah and Abu Dhabi moved him ahead, albeit 60 poins behind the champion.

After a somewhat wobbly start to the season in Bahrain punctuated by misfortune, contact and a drivethrough penalty, the Ferrari protege led every lap to take his first victory of the year in the first Baku sprint, and drove from fourth on the grid to secure his second win next time out in the first sprint race at Silverstone.

His consistency was key, Shwartzman failing to score in just four of the 23 races and rarely outside the top five. Indeed, over the final 11 races from Monza onwards, he never finished lower than sixth.

The Russian won’t return to F2 next year, but his impressive performance for Haas at the F1 post-season test in Abu Dhabi caught the eye and has since been confirmed as Ferrari test driver for 2022.

4. Jack Doohan

F1 might not have seen much race action at Spa, but Doohan certainly did and took two F3 wins

Photo by: Jerry Andre / Motorsport Images

Series: Formula 3
Wins: 4
Podiums: 7
Championship position: 2nd

Like eventual F3 champion Dennis Hauger, Doohan was also fighting back from a poor 2020, and led his team to a title - although in the Australian's case, it was the teams' title for Trident as he finished second in the drivers' standings. He equalled Hauger’s tally four wins, and was a well-deserved runner-up, showing strong pace throughout his title challenge.

Facing the “slightest bit of surname pressure” (his father is five-time Grand Prix motorcycle world champion Mick Doohan), he started the season well, taking a podium in the first feature race in Barcelona. He then won the final race at Paul Ricard from fourth, snatching victory from Hauger in a rain-affected race, before taking a podium apiece at the Red Bull Ring and in Hungary.

But it was a standout weekend at Spa which proved his highlight of the year. Taking his first series pole, Doohan first took victory in the second sprint race, maintaining his lead amid several safety cars to finish ahead of team-mate David Schumacher, before again emerging victorious in Sunday’s feature following a fierce battle with Victor Martins to take home a huge haul of 44 points.

At this point he was just 25 points adrift of Hauger, but a podium-less Zandvoort left him with a mountain to climb at the Sochi finale, where he was 43 points adrift. He won the feature race after a tense battle with team-mate Clement Novalak, but Hauger had already clinched the title in the single sprint race squeezed in around the inclement Russian weather.

He joins Virtuosi to race in F2 next year and topped the final day of post-season testing in Abu Dhabi, finishing 0.029s faster than MP Motorsport’s Felipe Drugovich.

3. Guanyu Zhou

Zhou's title challenge lost its way and he was beaten to second by Shwartzman, but he earned an F1 seat for 2022

Photo by: Formula Motorsport Ltd

Series: Formula 2
Wins: 4
Podiums: 9
Championship position: 3rd

One of the most experienced drivers on the grid, Guanyu Zhou was under pressure to perform in his third F2 season. But this he did, quickly emerging as a genuine title contender with Virtuosi from the outset. Indeed, he led the championship across the first three events, with two wins and a further two podiums across the first nine races.

But just as fellow Alpine Academy driver Oscar Piastri was reaching his stride, Zhou suffered a dip in form that would prove costly. Two retirements across the Baku and Silverstone weekends meant that despite taking victory in the British feature race, Piastri emerged from the weekend with a points lead he wouldn't lose.

A pair of seconds at Monza kept him in contention, but a run of four races without a top-five result left him adrift in the title race and under threat from Robert Shwartzman, who snatched the overall runner-up spot in the championship.

Zhou ended the year by scoring a fourth win in the final round at Abu Dhabi, but consistency was to prove his Achilles Heel. The pace over one lap and in races was there - along with slick racecraft to navigate through the pack - but there were too many errors to secure the title.

However, he had done enough to earn a call-up by the Alfa Romeo Formula 1 team to partner Valtteri Bottas in 2022.

ANALYSIS: Why Alfa took the plunge with Zhou 

2. Dennis Hauger

Hauger was the class of the 2021 F3 field after switching to Prema

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

Series: Formula 3
Wins: 4
Podiums: 9
Championship position: 1st

Dominant from start to finish, Dennis Hauger was the standout star of F3 in 2021. Bouncing back after a torrid 2020 in which he finished just 17th in the standings, the Red Bull junior’s move to Prema proved transformative and he confidently asserted his dominance over team-mates Olli Caldwell and Arthur Leclerc (who ended up eighth and 10th respectively).

The Norwegian 18-year-old proved himself with superb lights-to-flag victories, including a masterclass in the feature race of the season opener at Barcelona, and as a driver who can charge through the pack when necessary, as demonstrated in both Austrian sprint races – he started each from 12th, and claimed a win and a third.

Leading the championship from the off in Spain, despite tangling with Matteo Nannini while battling over the lead in the second sprint race, he followed up with two second place finishes at Paul Ricard and only narrowly missed out to season-long title rival Jack Doohan in the feature race.

By the end of the third round at the Red Bull Ring, Hauger had already extended his lead to 40 points. Another lights-to-flag victory at Zandvoort boosted his championship lead further still and effectively put the title beyond Doohan, allowing him to secure the title with second behind Logan Sargeant in the first Sochi race.

He is expected to race in F2 next season, and tested with Prema in Abu Dhabi last week, although his seat hasn’t yet been confirmed.

PLUS: How F3's 2021 champion went from zero to hero 

1. Oscar Piastri

Piastri romped to a third title in a row, but has no seat at the F1 table for 2022 and will instead be Alpine's reserve

Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images

Series: Formula 2
Wins: 6
Podiums: 11
Championship position: 1st

Taking his third championship in as many years, who else could be named the top feeder series driver of 2021? Piastri drew comparisons to Charles Leclerc and George Russell with his streak of titles (Formula Renault Eurocup in 2019 and F3 in 2020) and an F2 crown in his rookie year.

In what he says was his “best championship by far”, the Australian took six wins, stood on the podium in 11 of the 23 races, and finished outside the top eight just four times – twice courtesy of accidents – to see off second year team-mate Robert Shwartzman and soon-to-be F1 driver Guanyu Zhou with a 60.5-points cushion.

Zhou held a five-point lead arriving at Silverstone for round four, but Piastri departed Great Britain with a five-point lead despite the Chinese claiming a third win in the feature race. Silverstone was also the weekend where Piastri unlocked his one-lap pace. Once he'd scored his first maiden pole position, he was never headed in qualifying for the remainder of the year, a streak of five poles in a row.

Highlights included a fierce battle with Zhou at Monza, where he held off his rival to score his second win of the season, and a dominant feature win from pole at Sochi. Unjustly, he finds himself without a race seat for 2022, and will spend it on the sidelines as the Alpine F1 reserve with a view to a much deserved full-time spot in 2023.

PLUS: The F1 junior that has run out of places to prove himself 

F2's qualifying king was undefeated across the final five rounds

Photo by: James Gasperotti / Motorsport Images