This year Formula 2 produced a stunning season filled with drama, surprises and exhilarating action. Feeder Series has picked out the seven most memorable moments that captivated audiences and left everyone wanting more.

By Steven Walton

With 13 different winners and a championship battle that came down to the final race, Formula 2’s 2023 season was not short of memorable moments, so we’ve compiled a list which includes the most memorable moments moments throughout the year. There are surprise winners, championship twists, and races where you couldn’t have called it until the final corner of the final lap. All of these moments stand as perfect examples of why we love F2.

1. Rookies fight ferociously in Jeddah

During the second feature race of the year, rookies Ollie Bearman and Victor Martins raced hard as they fought for victory, but to the surprise of most, neither of them ended up winning the race.

Bearman started on pole position and Martins lined up in second. They both held their positions throughout the opening stint and made their pitstops together on lap eight. Before the stops, Bearman had looked comfortable in the lead, but with a change of tyres, the momentum swung to Martins.

On lap 10, Martins charged down the outside of Bearman at turn 1 and very nearly collided with him in turn 2. Martins cut the corner, so he handed the position back to Bearman. A lap later, Martins went on the attack again and zoomed past Bearman with the DRS on the main straight. Bearman tried to snatch the lead back but couldn’t find a way past.

Bearman and Martins were the dominant forces in the race, and it seemed that one of them would win it. But, their races soon unravelled. On lap 16, Bearman spun and dropped down the order, condemning him to an underwhelming 10th-place finish. Just a lap after Bearman, Martins did the same thing. Martins was worse off though, as he couldn’t get his car restarted and was forced to retire.

Both drivers threw away a chance at a podium, allowing Frederik Vesti to take a surprising victory.

2. Chaos reigns in Baku

The end of the sprint race in Baku was peak chaos for F2. A safety car was deployed on lap 14 of 21 after PHM driver Roy Nissany crashed at turn 15. This bunched the pack up for a restart on lap 18. Dennis Hauger was in the lead, ahead of Martins in second, Vesti in third and Bearman in fourth.

As the race resumed and the drivers barrelled into turn 1, Hauger and Martins both went deep and – completely on their own – crashed into the wall on the outside. Jehan Daruvala was also caught up in the incident, smashing into the back of Martins.

With Hauger and Martins in the barriers, third-placed Vesti and fourth-placed Bearman found themselves duelling over the lead. Heading into turn 3, Bearman heaped the pressure onto Vesti. At turn 4, Vesti defended the inside line, but Bearman hung back and gave himself a much stronger exit. Out of the corner, Bearman beat Vesti for traction and inched ahead as they approached turn 5. The battle was then suddenly neutralised as the safety car was deployed to deal with the fallout from turn 1.

Bearman was in the lead behind the safety car, and this turned out to be critical since the race was not restarted. Bearman got his first-ever F2 victory, even though he’d only led for a handful of seconds under green flag conditions. This win was also the start of a memorable achievement for Bearman. The next day he won the feature race, completing a clean sweep of the weekend.

3. Four-way fight for victory in Spielberg

This year’s feature race at the Red Bull Ring delivered a spectacular finish, with four drivers in contention for the win.

Frederik Vesti had comfortably led the race since the start, but he found himself threatened in the closing stages by Richard Verschoor and Ayumu Iwasa. Both were on the alternate strategy, and a safety car on lap 28 of 40 brought them into the fight for the win. After making their pitstops under the safety car, Verschoor and Iwasa emerged in fifth and sixth on the road.

The race resumed with nine laps to go. Verschoor and Iwasa advanced quickly towards the podium thanks to their superior supersoft tyres. Verschoor moved from fifth to third in just one lap. It soon became clear that the race could be won by either Verschoor, Iwasa, Jack Doohan or Vesti.

Doohan’s odds fell away with three laps to go when both Verschoor and Iwasa slipped by, dropping him from second to fourth. A lap later, Verschoor and Iwasa blew past Vesti, relegating him from the lead to third. Iwasa’s move on Vesti was particularly special, as he audaciously hung his car around the outside at turn 6.

On the final lap, it was down to Verschoor or Iwasa for the win. Iwasa was close at turn 6 but he didn’t have the tyre advantage to repeat his heroics around the outside. Verschoor held on, beating Iwasa by 0.415s, with Vesti completing the podium. This would prove to be Verschoor’s only win in 2023, and it was redemption for him too, as he won the feature race at this track a year earlier but was later disqualified for not having enough fuel.

4. Jack Doohan’s fairytale in Spa

Australian driver Jack Doohan must’ve been feeling good as he headed to Spa this year. A year ago, he won his first-ever F2 feature race here. Additionally, he was heading to Spa just one week after a brilliant win from pole position in Hungary.

Despite those good fortunes, Doohan’s weekend in Spa started badly. In qualifying, he wasn’t able to get a good lap in due to traffic and incoming rain, which meant he only qualified in 11th. Still, in the sprint race, he recovered to fifth with a storming drive, a sign of things to come.

For the feature race, Doohan went for the alternate strategy, which meant he started on the slower tyre. Throughout the first stint, he kept himself out of trouble and quietly circulated, running as high as eighth. At the front the focus was on Théo Pourchaire and Ollie Bearman, who were battling for the lead.

Doohan, however, was thrust into the lead battle on lap 16 of 25 thanks to a safety car that was deployed for a collision between Jak Crawford and Juan Manuel Correa. That safety car gave Doohan a cheap pitstop, allowing him to bolt on the faster soft tyres and emerge in second place, directly behind Pourchaire. When the race got back underway, Doohan began hounding Pourchaire and with three laps to go, he finally made his move on the Kemmel Straight.

Doohan completed the epic comeback drive and grabbed a victory which, at the time, was immensely helpful for his championship hopes. It left many wondering if he still had a chance at a late run at the title.

5. Unlikely winner in Zandvoort

No one expected Trident’s Clément Novalak to win the Zandvoort feature race. He was starting from 13th on the grid, and throughout the previous 21 races of 2023, he’d only scored two points. But, the tarmac was damp and there was mist in the air, ideal conditions for an upset.

The first half of the race was chaotic. On the opening lap, Vesti and Doohan spun, and Juan Manuel Correa went deep into turn 1, which tipped Bearman into a spin. Later on, Iwasa and Kush Maini came together, Pourchaire crashed into the barriers and Vesti retired after two wheels dramatically came loose.

Amid all this chaos, Novalak quietly profited. On lap one, he went from 13th to ninth. On lap four he was promoted seventh when Maini and Iwasa came together. Then, others chose to make early pit stops, and that meant by lap nine, Novalak held the lead. Luckily for him, Pourchaire had his accident on lap 10, and the subsequent safety car gave Novalak a cheap pitstop and cemented his place at the front of the field.

The race got back underway on lap 17 and Novalak led the field into turn 1. Despite what must have been immense pressure, Novalak held his nerve and didn’t make any mistakes throughout the remaining laps. He never relinquished the lead and won by two seconds. In two full seasons of racing in F2, this was his only win. It was Trident’s only podium of 2023.

6. The championship turning point

When the championship headed to the penultimate round in Monza, Vesti was in a patch of bad form. He had retired from the last two feature races in Spa and Zandvoort and Pourchaire had taken over the championship lead. But Vesti seemed to put that behind him by winning the Monza sprint race from third on the grid. That win shrunk Pourchaire’s championship advantage to just nine points. It seemed like Vesti was back in the fight.

In Sunday’s feature race, Vesti started from eighth and immediately progressed forward. He was up to fifth by the time he reached the second chicane. Ahead of him in fourth was Roman Staněk, who got a poor run out of the chicane. With far more momentum, Vesti moved to the inside of Staněk as they barreled towards the first of the two Lesmos corners. But, in the blink of an eye, Vesti was in trouble. Staněk drifted to the inside and squeezed Vesti onto the grass, where he instantly lost control of his car, spun across the track and hit the barriers. Vesti wasn’t able to get restarted and retired. Staněk was given a five-second time penalty. 

Soon after hopping out of his car, Vesti was pictured sitting on the side of the track with his head in his hands. This was a turning point in the championship. Pourchaire went on to finish third, scoring 15 valuable points. This allowed Pourchaire to grow his nine-point lead over Vesti to a whopping 25 points ahead of the season finale.

7. High tension in the title decider

The F2 championship was still up for grabs in the final race in Abu Dhabi. Pourchaire headed in with a 16-point advantage over Vesti, but he had qualified poorly and would only start in 14th. Vesti, meanwhile, was in form. He’d heroically won the sprint a day earlier and lined up ninth for the feature race. Vesti needed to finish on the podium to have any chance of winning the title.

Both drivers made up places early in the race, but they went for different strategies. Pourchaire started on softs and changed to mediums on lap six. Vesti started on the mediums and stopped for softs on lap 22. When Vesti emerged from the pits, he was effectively in seventh and Pourchaire was just ahead in sixth. 

With just 10 laps to go, the, championship was delicately poised in favour of Pourchaire. Vesti’s alternate strategy meant he was still threatening the podium, but his efforts would be futile if Pourchaire held his position in the points. Still, the race remained tense. If Pourchaire made a mistake and retired, Vesti would have a big opportunity to snatch the title.

On lap 25, Vesti began attacking Pourchaire in his quest to reach the podium. Pourchaire and Vesti fought each other hard throughout the next three laps, swapping positions constantly. Both were determined to come out on top, though the battle carried extra suspense given a collision could upend the championship. After three laps of fighting, Vesti finally made a move stick and he darted ahead of Pourchaire.

Vesti kept moving up and finished the race third, but it wasn’t enough for him to snatch the championship. Pourchaire kept a cool head and brought his car home in fifth, which was good enough to keep his points advantage comfortably sitting at 11.

Header photo credit: Dutch Photo Agency