The junior category is now in its ninth season under the FIA Formula 2 Championship name, with Invicta Racing prepared to defend the Teams’ Championship.
Gabriel Bortoleto was crowned the champion in 2024, and he is one of four graduates moving up into a full-time seat in Formula 1 this year.
His replacement will be Leonardo Fornaroli, who enters F2 as the reigning Formula 3 World Champion.
The Italian racing driver aims to follow Bortoleto’s path and achieve consecutive championship victories to secure his future in F1.
Jak Crawford, the highest-ranked returning racing driver from last season, retains his seat with DAMS Lucas Oil.
Alongside Crawford, eight other drivers have retained their seats, including Victor Martins, who is competing in his third season in the racing category.
But who are the 22 racing drivers set to compete for the coveted crown in 2025?
Invicta Racing – Fornaroli and Stanek
The British squad has an all-new lineup for the upcoming season.
Fornaroli and Roman Stanek replace the Sauber-F1 bound Bortoleto and Kush Maini – who moves to DAMS.
A consistent competitor, Fornaroli became the first driver in the history of F3 to not win a single race en route to becoming World Champion.
His partner, Stanek, endured a far less successful 2024, scoring points on only three occasions.
However, he did manage to secure his first victory in F2 with a Sprint Race win at Melbourne.
Campos Racing – Marti and Lindblad
Pepe Marti left it late to secure his first win in the series, taking the Sprint Race victory in Abu Dhabi.
The Spaniard spent most of 2024 in the shadow of Isack Hadjar, who finished as runner-up to Bortoleto last season.
With Hadjar moving up into F1, Marti’s new team-mate this year will be the highly rated Arvid Lindblad.
The British-Swedish racing driver won four races last season for his debut F3 campaign.
The Spanish squad will have an all-Red Bull junior line-up as it sets out to improve on its second-place finish in the 2024 F2 Teams’ Standings.
MP Motorsport – Verschoor and Goethe
Richard Verschoor enters his fifth season in the junior series.
In 2024, the Dutchman returned to the team where he made his debut in F2, and with four wins to his name, he is always a driver to watch closely.
Partnering the 24-year-old will be F3 graduate Oliver Goethe, who competed for Campos last season.
The Danish-German racing driver also auditioned for the Dutch squad in 2024 for six races, scoring 12 points.
Hitech TGR – Beganovic and Browning
The British team employs a rookie line-up for 2025, with both Dino Beganovic and Luke Browning stepping up from F3.
The duo replaces the outgoing Amaury Cordeel and Paul Aron, who finished third in 2024 with just a single victory, as the Estonian consistently scored points.
After a mixed F3 campaign with Prema, Beganovic shone for DAMS in F2 last year, scoring 22 points across the final four races and claiming a first podium finish in the series.
His team-mate will be the British youngster, who continues with Hitech after a short stint with ART Grand Prix last year.
Browning took two victories last season on his way to finishing third in the F3 standings.
Prema Racing – Mini and Montoya
The Italian outfit has an all-new driver pairing for 2025, with both Oliver Bearman and Andrea Kimi Antonelli making the step up into F1.
Whilst one Italian leaves, another replaces him, as Gabriele Mini continues with Prema for his debut F2 season.
Mini finished runner-up to Fornaroli for the F3 title last season before standing in for Bearman in Baku, grabbing his first F2 podium finish.
His partner will be Sebastian Montoya, who competed for Campos in 2024, finishing 17th out of 34 drivers last season.
DAMS Lucas Oil – Crawford and Maini
Crawford stays with the French outfit for 2025 after finishing fifth last season, with Maini making the move from Invicta.
The American finished on the podium six times whilst also taking the Feature Race victory in Spain.
Maini enters his third season in the category, and the Indian racing driver was also one of the many victors in 2024.
However, inconsistency and a poor end to the season saw him finish lower than Crawford in the standings in 13th place.
ART Grand Prix – Martins and Miyata
The French combination continues yet again, as Martins enters his third season with ART in F2 alongside Ritomo Miyata.
The 2022 F3 World Champion was one of the favourites for the 2023 F2 titles, yet he finished in fifth place in the standings.
Last year, he took a step backwards, finishing in seventh, but could 2025 finally be his year?
Miyata joins ART from Rodin Motorsport, where he finished in 19th place after 28 races.
Rodin Motorsport – Cordeel and Dunne
Christian Mansell was set to compete for Rodin Motorsport before announcing he would step away from racing ahead of the upcoming season.
It would have been his debut season in F2 after racing for Trident towards the end of the 2024 campaign.
His replacement will be Cordeel, who leaves Hitech, and Alex Dunne will complete the line-up for 2025.
The Irishman achieved two podium finishes in F3 last year racing for MP Motorsport.
AIX Racing – Durksen and Shields
With an impressive 2024 F2 campaign, winning the Sprint Race in Baku and the Feature Race in the Abu Dhabi finale, Joshua Durksen returns with AIX Racing for 2025.
The Paraguayan-German racing driver surprised his competitors on his way to finishing 10th in the Drivers’ Standings.
His partner for the upcoming season will be Cian Shields.
The British driver makes the step up from F3 to join AIX, after he competed in the final four races of the 2024 F2 season with the Emirati-German squad.
Trident – Meguetounif and Esterson
Sami Meguetounif and Max Esterson complete the 2025 F2 line-up for Trident.
The Frenchman won two races with the same team in F3 last season on his way to finishing eighth in the Drivers’ Standings.
His partner will be the American-British racing driver, Esterson, who graduates to Trident from Jenzer Motorsport.
The 22-year-old replaced Verschoor after he departed the team before the final two rounds of the 2024 season.
Van Amersfoort Racing – Bennett and Villagomez
John Bennett and Rafael Villagomez will race for Van Amersfoort Racing in 2025.
Bennett stepped up for the final two rounds of the 2024 F2 season with VAR, taking over from the departing Enzo Fittipaldi.
Villagomez retains his seat with the Dutch team after finishing 24th last season, scoring 13 points.
VAR finished last in the standings after scoring 78 points across the season.
READ MORE: Christian Mansell to ‘step away from racing’ weeks before F2 debut
