No French drivers in F2: should we be worried about the future of Gasly, Ocon and Hadjar?

We have to go back eight years to find any trace of a grid of Formula 2 without French drivers. It was in 2018 that the season began without any French drivers at the start of a championship dominated by George Russell. In 2026, the situation is repeated: after three seasons with ART Grand Prix, Victor Martins has left the category to join the grid of the World Endurance Championship (WEC) with Alpine, builder of which he was a member of the academy F1 until 2024. The Parisian was the last representative of his country since the premature departure of Sami Meguetounif from Trident after the Monza meeting.

While Meguetounif wasn't exactly destined to go further, Victor Martins was long considered a great hope for Formula 1. But the best rookie of the 2023 season then struggled, due in particular to the arrival of new single-seaters that ART GP never really knew how to master.

His departure at the end of 2025 was planned long ago, but his successors are not yet ready. Alessandro Giusti and Théophile Naël are the most likely candidates, but both young men started their careers in Formula 3 They only competed last year and still need to gain experience at the third tier before aiming higher. However, both seem well-positioned to join the F2 grid in 2027 if they confirm the promising signs they showed in their debut season in 2025.

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French talent is not lacking in single-seaters

Giusti is particularly fortunate to be part of the academy Williamswhich also has no Formula 2 drivers in 2026, following Luke Browning's departure for Super Formula. It is therefore reasonable to expect the Grove-based team to promote Alessandro Giusti in 2027 if his season is satisfactory. As for Théophile Naël, while there is no F1 academy to support him, the driver from Saint-Étienne achieved a remarkable feat by winning in Macau last November, which propelled him into a new dimension. With Campos, the Teams' Champion in 2025, he can aim very high and reach F2 as early as 2027.

We must also consider Enzo Deligny, who will ride for VAR after turning down Prema due to the Italian team's very worrying financial situation. The Franco-Chinese rider was very solid in FRECA (3rd behind Slater and De Palo) and seems to have a bright future ahead of him. Finally, if we look even further down the pyramid of the carOther French talents are emerging: Jules Roussel won in Macau in F4 and could discover the FREC, where the French F4 champion, Alexandre Munoz, is also expected.

André Dupé scored his first FRMEC point in the Middle East and will compete in the FREC season with VAR to gain experience, at only 17 years old. We must also take into account Dorian Pinwho will not be driving a single-seater this year, but who is expected to make his first Formula 1 drive with Mercedes Benzwhere she was promoted to development pilot.

It goes without saying that the future of French single-seaters is secure, even if we'll have to be patient before seeing our young drivers shine in Formula 2. That doesn't stop the upcoming season from being particularly interesting to follow, with the debut of the highly anticipated Rafael Câmara, Formula 3 champion and protégé of the Classic Ferrari for sale Driver Academy.

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