Formula 2 season guide

Another season of FIA Formula 2 racing gets underway at Silverstone this weekend with a new set of determined young chargers all eager to prove their worth on the single-seater ladder and catch the attention of an influential team boss or two.

Last year's top four drivers; Dean Stoneman, Jolyon Palmer, Sergei Afanasiev and Kazim Vasiliauskas, have upped sticks and moved on to pastures new, leaving a curious blend of experienced and rookie drivers to scrap for the championship and the bonus prize that comes with it of a Williams Formula 1 test and eligibility for an FIA Superlicence.

For the first time since the series' revival in 2009, F2 will not appear on the World Touring Car Championship support package. Instead, Jonathan Palmer's series will go it alone and headline events at eight tracks - including five current grand prix venues - between now and October. That means 16 races featuring drivers from 12 different countries, all determined to make their mark.

Unlike in 2010, when Stoneman and the younger Palmer established themselves as the top dogs from the get-go, this year's title fight looks like being more than a two-horse race, with a number of quick rookies like Miki Monras and Christopher Zanella making the switch to take on the experienced Will Bratt, Jack Clarke and others, an exciting season is on the cards.

Top 10 drivers to watch

#1 Will Bratt

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Age: 23
Nationality: British
Starts: 18
Wins: 0 (Best finish: 2nd)
Poles: 0 (Best grid position: 3rd)
2010: 5th in F2

Of all the drivers to have lodged an entry, it is British driver Bratt who holds all the aces. Fast and intelligent, his Euroseries 3000 (now Auto GP) title in 2009 makes him the only man in the series to have won a high-level single-seater title, plus he has a year's experience of F2 machinery to fall back on after finishing fifth in last year's championship.

However, he failed to win a race during his maiden F2 season, which was a surprise to many onlookers, and he was very late in announcing his deal for the upcoming campaign. How he deals with starting on the back foot will be crucial to his year.

#2 Miki Monras

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Age: 19
Nationality: Spanish
Starts: 0
Wins: 0
Poles: 0
2010: 10th in GP3

A midfielder in GP3 with the MW Arden team, but the Spanish teenager did manage two podiums on the rare occasions when the squad got a handle on the car. Prior to that he had been a regular frontrunner (although not a race winner) in numerous European Formula Renault championships, and this gives his title bid some serious credibility.

Recent testing has backed up his claims as he set the fastest time at Snetterton last month to add to his second-best spot at Silverstone the previous week. Some of the better-known drivers should under-estimate his threat at their peril.

#3 Mirko Bortolotti

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Age: 21
Nationality: Italian
Starts: 16
Wins: 1
Poles: 0 (Best grid position: 2nd)
2010: 11th in GP3

Something of an enigma, nobody really knows which of the Italian's two identities will turn up; the one that won the Italian F3 title and impressed in a Ferrari F1 test, or the one that finished a disappointing 11th in GP3 in 2010.

If it's the former, then he will be a sure-fire title contender. After all, he was a race winner on his way to fourth in the 2009 F2 points and so knows the Williams JPH-Audi as well as any of the other frontrunners. Title success could even get the former Red Bull-backed driver on the F1 radar once more.

#4 Tobias Hegewald

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Age: 21
Nationality: German
Starts: 16
Wins: 2
Poles: 3
2010: 22nd in GP3

Like Bortolotti, Hegewald failed to build on his encouraging F2 campaign in 2009 after switching to GP3 last year. The German is talented though - anyone who witnessed his double victory at Spa two years ago will testify to that.

If he starts the year with his confidence on a high, then he could be the man to beat; and adding to that, his career F2 stats are actually the most impressive of any of this year's drivers. However, his pre-season testing form has suggested he will fight for podiums, rather than victories.

#5 Christopher Zanella

Age: 21
Nationality: Swiss
Starts: 0
Wins: 0
Poles: 0
2010: 6th in Italian F3

Swiss driver Zanella has failed to find a home that he can call his own at this level in the two years that have passed since he won his domestic Formula Renault title.

Podium finishes in the F3 Euro Series with Motopark and in the Italian F3 Championship with JD Motorsport were as good as it got, but against a less experienced field in F2 than he's been used to competing against, he should be among the frontrunners sooner rather than later.

#6 Jack Clarke

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Age: 23
Nationality: British
Starts: 34
Wins: 0 (Best finish: 2nd)
Poles: 0 (Best grid position: 2nd)
2010: 9th in F2

By topping two of the six official days of testing since the end of last season, Clarke has achieved something that nobody else has, and looks like one of the in-form drivers as Silverstone approaches.

Remember though, he was quick in testing last year, but could not translate that form into consistent pace throughout a race weekend. Sure he was not helped by several DNFs that could be attributed to unreliability, but with His qualifying form was as random as his race results (14th on the grid for race one at Valencia, followed by a front row spot the following day anyone?). Addressing this must be top of his 'to do' list. If he manages it, wins are certainly achievable.

#7 Mihai Marinescu

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Age: 22
Nationality: Romanian
Starts: 18
Wins: 0 (Best finish: 4th)
Poles: 0 (Best grid position: 3rd)
2010: 11th in F2

Marinescu may only be 22 years old, but he has already started over 130 races during a career that has taken in various Formula Renault series, British F3, Formula Renault 3.5 and even the FIA GT3 Championship.

Not since his first year in cars (in 2005) has he been a consistent winner, although his lone victory since then was an impressive triumph in Formula BMW at Macau as he trounced a field that included Alexander Sims, Rio Haryanto and Yuji Kunimoto. Only 11th in last year's F2 standings, he will improve this time around. He has to, or his single-seater career may be over.

#8 Ramon Pineiro

Age: 19
Nationality: Spanish
Starts: 2
Wins: 0 (Best finish: 10th)
Poles: 0 (Best grid position: 12th)
2010: 3rd in Formula Palmer Audi

Martin Donnelly's protege went a long way to shedding his reputation as a fast, but erratic Formula BMW driver with a switch to Formula Palmer Audi last year.

Starting the year as a midfielder at best, he was arguably the championship's quickest competitor by the end, as four wins from the final seven races proved. It also earned him a step up to F2 for the final round at Valencia, during which he performed admirably (although not as well as Tristan Vautier the previous year) to score a point on his series debut. Expect nothing less from him this time around.

#9 Armaan Ebrahim

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Age: 21
Nationality: Indian
Starts: 34
Wins: 0 (Best finish: 3rd)
Poles: 0 (Best grid position: 3rd)
2010: 10th in F2

The phrase 'promised much but delivered little' could be suitably applied to the underrated Indian's 2010 campaign.

For a man who has experience of high-powered single seaters in A1GP and GP2 Asia, Ebrahim would have wanted better than his 10th place in the F2 points, and now enters his third year in the championship with his sights set on better.

At least he ended last season with two second-row grid spots and a maiden podium finish at Valencia, which should give him plenty of confidence for the start of the year.

#10 Alex Brundle

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Age: 20
Nationality: British
Starts: 16
Wins: 0 (Best finish: 5th)
Poles: 0 (Best grid position: 4th)
2010: 17th in British F3

This is a make or break year for the son of multiple F1 podium finisher Martin Brundle. Underachieving years in F2 in 2009 and British F3 last year mean that Alex has not had a single-seater podium since his days in Formula Palmer Audi.

However, if he can apply everything he learned in F3 last year to his driving this time around, he has every opportunity to make a big step forward. Topping the recent test at Silverstone was a good start, but there will be no shortage of rivals shooting for the target on his back if he fails to keep it up.