INFOGRAPHICS – Despite a failed debut, do Martins and Hadjar still have their chance of being titled in F2?

Zero points for Victor Martins. Five small points for Isack Hadjar, despite a better pace than his friend from the French FFSA Team. The two Frenchmen in F2 could hardly imagine a worse start to the season, especially for the first who arrived with the label of grandissimo favorite. For the second, the results are all the more bitter, Gabriel Bortoleto having hit him and forced him to give up in the first round of the Main Race.

LIGHTS OUT!@zane_maloney gets a rocket ship start from P3 to lead into T1 🚀

Isack Hadjar is tapped into a spin and gets collected 😔#BahrainGP #F2 pic.twitter.com/uu8tN94QEi

- Formula 2 (@ Formula2) March 2, 2024

However, nothing is lost yet. It's only one round, and fortunately, for the two Tricolores, the F2 This year is experiencing the longest season in its history with 14 meetings and 28 races. Burning a cartridge in 2024 therefore has fewer consequences than in the past. And to go in their direction, the champions at the end of the season have not always had a good comeback.

What the statistics say

This is the case of Mick Schumacher in 2020. Titled in F2 with 215 points at the end of the season, the former driver Haas scored only two points during the opening round in Austria, thanks to a seventh place in the sprint. Of the last ten champions of the discipline, the one who rides today with Alpine en Endurance had, by far, the worst start to the season.

Others like George Russell (10 points), Felipe Drugovich or Nyck de Vries (12 points each) were able to limit the damage. Conversely, some champions have simply crushed the competition, like Stoffel Vandoorne in 2015 with 43 points, Jolyon Palmer in 2014 with 38 points or Charles Leclerc in 2017 with 36 points, during the first Grand Prix.

Over the last ten years, five leaders in the classification after the first race weekend have managed to win the championship at the end of the season. Looking at the other half of the glass, hope for Hadjar and Martins is still present, with five leaders failing to materialize at the end of the year. However, the latter systematically competed for the F2 title, before finishing on the podium at the end of the championship (Lando Norris, 2nd in 2018; Lucas Ghiotto, 3rd in 2019; Callum Ilott, 2nd in 2020; Guanyu-Zhou, 3rd in 2021; Theo Pourchaire, 2th in 2022).

It is therefore difficult to say whether the poor starts of Victor Martins and Isack Hadjar in 2024 will cost them the title at the end of the season. We will have to do the accounts next December. Until then, the two Frenchmen have 26 races to return to the fight for the championship and try to take the lead, or even win.

Alors Zane Maloney, author of a perfect weekend and provisional leader in F2, will he end up champion like Charles Leclerc or more recently Théo Pourchaire, both first after the first meeting, or rather like Lando Norris or even Théo Pourchaire who failed in 2018 and 2022? Will Isack Hadjar and Victor Martins have the build, pace and success to win the title despite failed debuts like Mick Schumacher in 2020? Response in the coming months.

Kelman Marti

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