Preview | An array of Red Bull junior talent set to battle on the track

Formula 1, Formula 2 and Formula 3 will start the 2022 season in Bahrain. So this weekend there is a full program at the Bahrain International Circuit. In this preview, we look at the state of affairs in the two most important F1 rookie classes.

Formula 2 teams and drivers

The 2022 F2 season has 13 races and the field of competitors consists of eleven teams of two drivers. The biggest change is the departure of HWA Racelab. That team left the junior classes and was replaced by the Dutch Van Amersfoort Racing. The team will make their debut at this level, but already has a lot of experience in other entry-level classes.

Jake Hughes is an important name that VAR has managed to link to their project. The Brit already has experience in this class and was considered a great talent. Next to him, the young Belgian, Amaury Cordeel, steps in. On the other side of the grid, the champion team of Prema has a completely new line-up. Oscar Piastri and Robert Shwartzman finished first and second, respectively, in 2021 and became teams' champions. Piastri is now on reserve with Alpine as champion while Shwartzman is in action as a reserve for Ferrari.

However, Prema has brought in the 2021 Formula 3 champion with Dennis Hauger, and with him also talent from Red Bull. So is his teammate, Jehan Daruvala, but with two seasons of F2 already under his belt, it really has to happen now for the man from India.

Red Bull has a good pool of talent in F2 anyway. With Juri Vips (Hitech), Liam Lawson (Carlin), Ayumu Iwasa (DAMS) and the aforementioned Daruvala and Hauger, Red Bull has no less than five talents waiting in the wings behind F1. These top talents will have to fight it out among themselves whether they deserve a seat at AlphaTauri in 2023.

Who can go to Formula 1?

In addition to the Red Bull talents, there are others who are eager for their chance. Alpine brought in the vice-champion in Formula 3 with Jack Doohan and gave him a seat at Virtuosi Racing. The Australian now takes over the seat of Guanyu Zhou. In addition to Lawson, Carlin also signs American Logan Sargeant who drives for the Williams program.

Perhaps the strongest line-up is that of the former team of George Russell and Nyck de Vries: ART. With Théo Pourchaire, the French team is perhaps the favourite for the title. The Frenchman is chasing a seat at Alfa Romeo, as part of the Sauber Junior Team. Next to him sits Frederik Vesti, who is part of Mercedes' academy.

Besides Van Amersfoort Racing, Dutch contribution is present again this year. For example, MP Motorsport is still the second Dutch team at the start of the F2 season, with Felipe Drugovich and Clement Novalak as drivers. Richard Verschoor has also been given an extra year in F2. He takes over from compatriot Bent Viscaal at Trident. His teammate is Calan Williams.

Formula 3 teams and drivers.

However, in addition to Formula 1 and Formula 2, Formula 3 will also be in action at the Sakhir circuit. Ten teams are registered in F3, but here three drivers per team are allowed to compete, forming a grid of thirty drivers. Again, Van Amersfoort is new on the grid, replacing HWA Racelab. The F3 teams will be in action a total of nine times this year.

In F3, it is perhaps even more important to be on a good team, as the three editions of this championship were only won by drivers from Italy's Prema. Trident did become the constructors' champion in 2021, but with Jack Doohan they missed out on the drivers' title. That went to Dennis Hauger of Prema.

So the top teams are Trident and Prema, with ART close behind. MP Motorsport was the fourth team in 2021 and achieved many good results with Victor Martins. However, the French talent is driving for ART this year.

These are the talents to watch out for

For the biggest talents, look to Trident, Prema, ART and MP Motorsport. The juniors of the Formula 1 teams get placed by their employer to the best teams, so it's mainly a look at who jumps out and who could potentially make the step up to Formula 2 in 2023.

Joining Prema's championship machine this year are Arthur Leclerc (Ferrari), Jak Crawford (Red Bull) and Oliver Bearman (Ferrari). Leclerc is the brother of Charles, but outside of two wins with Prema, did not get beyond P10 in F3 in 2021. Crawford finished 13th, but the still only-16-year-old American is a driver to watch out for. For example, he did win eight races in the 2021 Euroformula Open and finished third in the standings.

Bearman is six days younger than Crawford and is making his debut in F3 this year. He won the ADAC Formula 4 Championship and Italian F4 Championship in 2021 by a margin. The young Briton is therefore a driver to definitely keep an eye on. At 16, he is also five years younger than his Ferrari teammate, Arthur Leclerc.

Trident has three 18-year-olds on the team in 2022, the best known being Jonny Edgar as a junior from Red Bull. He became ADAC Formula 4 champion in 2020, but finished only eighteenth on his debut in F3 in 2021. Roman Stanek once drove for Sauber's junior team, but is not attached to any team in 2022. He will therefore want to do everything he can to get back into the limelight in 2022, the same goes for his teammate, Zane Maloney, who has never competed for a junior team.

Victor Martins, twenty years old and already with one F3 victory, is the favourite for the title. He would give ART its first F3 title, but it will not happen without a struggle. For example, at the team he will race against Juan Manuel Correa, who is best known for recovering after his heavy crash at Spa-Francorchamps. Correa drives for Sauber's junior team. The third driver at ART is Gregoire Saucy. The 22-year-old Swiss driver has no ties to F1 teams but impressed in 2021 by winning the Formula Regional European Championship with ART.

Then finally MP Motorsport, which has brought in another Alpine talent with Caio Collet. The Brazilian became French Formula 4 champion in 2018 and was on the podium twice for MP Motorsport in F3 in 2021. In 2022, Collet will have to pull the cart, as that cannot be expected from 21-year-old Kush Maini from India. A third driver has not yet been announced by the Dutch team.