Van Amersfoort Racing has waded into the 2024 Formula 2 season with an all-new driver lineup consisting of Enzo Fittipaldi and Rafael Villagómez. Feeder Series caught up with both drivers in Melbourne to hear about how they are settling in.

By Steven Walton

Enzo Fittipaldi enters his fourth season in Formula 2 this year, making him one of the most experienced drivers on the grid. For 2024, Fittipaldi is with a new team, having departed Rodin Carlin for Van Amersfoort Racing.

It didn’t take the Brazilian long to find his feet. In just the second round of 2024 in Saudi Arabia, he stormed to the front of the feature race and confidently took victory. It was a performance no other driver could match and as a result, Fittipaldi secured his first feature race win in F2.

“The strategy was there. Pitstop and everything went well. [The] start was good, and yeah, we were able to move forward and I think after the first couple of laps … I felt strong, competitive, and I said: ‘I think we can go for the win’,” Fittipaldi told Feeder Series, recounting the win from the F2 paddock in Melbourne.

While this win brought well-deserved attention to Fittipaldi, he isn’t the only new face at Van Amersfoort’s F2 team in 2024.

Fittipaldi’s teammate this season is Mexican rookie Rafael Villagómez, who has stepped up to Van Amersfoort’s F2 team after two seasons racing for the same outfit in F3.

After just three rounds this year, Villagómez has already scored eight points, twice as many as he managed to score throughout his three seasons racing in F3.

‘Great vibes from the team’

Feeder Series also caught up with Villagómez in the F2 paddock in Melbourne, where he said things were “so far so good” in F2. He mentioned familiarity with the team members from his time in F3. “It’s just a great group of people, a great team,” he said.

Villagómez recounted his disappointment with his first weekend in Bahrain, with a messy practice session and an “alright” qualifying. In the races, he finished 19th and 12th. A week later, in Saudi Arabia, the weekend started poorly. Villagómez crashed in practice, rendering his car too damaged to participate in qualifying.

“I was annoyed with myself first of all because it was just a silly mistake,” Villagómez said of the crash. He explained that he pushed as hard as he could from the initial laps to be at the limit in qualifying. “But it was a bit misjudged,” he said.

The mistake could have derailed Villagómez’s entire weekend. Instead, he knuckled down and treated Friday’s sprint race as a learning opportunity and a chance to “get the feel of the track”. He finished 14th. 

In the feature race the next day, he pushed hard from the beginning and felt the pace was there. “We had a great car all around, the strategy was great and yeah I think the pace was just consistent and I was just able to move up positions,” he said.

Villagómez finished the race in ninth, scoring his first F2 points. “Obviously I was happy, but in a way you always want more, you’re always looking for more,” he said.

At the next round in Melbourne, Villagómez was among the points again after another strong showing of race pace. He finished seventh in the feature race after starting in 17th. He could have possibly scored even more points that day had he not run into the gravel on lap 18, which cost him two places.

Villagómez highlighted his great relationship with teammate Fittipaldi. “He has a lot of experience, he’s very open about what are the main difference[s] with F3, what are the key areas, so he’s been super helpful,” he said.

“We just sit down and we go through stuff, and he’s like ‘ok, you maybe need to do this because it’s quite important, how about this’ … if I’m struggling in some areas he’s very open to guide me,” he said. 

“It’s great vibes from the team, so, so far it’s going great.”

‘You just feel this fire in the team’

Fittipaldi is also getting along well with Villagómez. “I’ve known him already for a few years now, so yeah, the relationship is very good. It’s his rookie season, he’s just trying to learn as much as possible from me and the team,” Fittipaldi said.

“I know that from my experience and data he can look at and just see what he can do better … because you know it’s not easy coming into a championship this competitive, especially being a rookie.”

Meanwhile, Fittipaldi regarded his breakthrough feature race win in Saudi Arabia as a “good confidence boost” for the entire Van Amersfoort team. It is only the second time the team has won in Formula 2 since joining the grid in 2022.

“But you know how F2 is, lots of ups and downs, and it’s trying to have less downs and more ups to fight for the championship, and that’s our goal this year,” Fittipaldi said.

He spoke positively about the atmosphere within the team and said it gave him extra motivation to succeed.

“I have a very good relationship with every mechanic, engineer, performance engineer, team manager, basically everyone in the team and … it’s very clear that the goal is there and the goal is the same for everyone and that’s win races,” he said.

“You just feel this fire in the team which for a driver is super important and that’s what I feel in Van Amersfoort … and that gives me an extra motivation as well,” he said.

“We work very well together, the chemistry is there and I’m just very much looking forward to seeing what we can do.”

Header image credit: Dutch Photo Agency