Attempting to look through the overwhelming amount of global Open-Wheel series can be a daunting prospect, but in the same breath that means there isn’t a shortage of talent for Formula One academies to scout talent from.
Some talents have surprisingly gone unnoticed despite being on the second tier of open-wheel racing, whether that be Formula 2 or the US-based Indy NXT, there are several names that you should be watching on the timing ladder in 2024.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli
Likely the most hyped F1 prospect to enter Formula 2 next season, Antonelli has utterly dominated every full open-wheel championship he’s entered so far, having four separate championships to his name entering Formula 2 in 2024 with arguably the best team in Prema Racing, the very squad that have nursed his career since his move to cars in 2021.
Winning both the Italian F4 championship and German ADAC Formula 4 championship in the same season in just his second year in cars would’ve already alerted multiple driver academies to his talents, especially since this was only his second year racing cars, winning 22 of the 37 races he competed in across the two categories, even with it being a spec-series, an outrageous form to say the least, in fact, his lead was that convincing in the ADAC F4 championship, he wasn’t present for the 3 races at the Lausitzring and still convincingly won the championship by 47 points over the nearest competition.
Not content with resting throughout the winter in 2023, he won the Formula Regional Middle East championship held across January and February, before finally gaining the FRECA (Formula Regional European Championship with Alpine) championship throughout the rest of the season. So, his four championships in the space of two years, with utterly smashing the competition in 2022 earning him a spot in the Mercedes Driver Academy and a seat with Prema in Formula 2 for 2024, although his teammate is as of now unconfirmed for the next year’s campaign, there is reasonable cause to suggest it will be Ferrari Junior Oliver Bearman, who notably won both races around the Baku City Circuit in 2023. However, his form was erratic at the best of times.
Franco Colapinto
Although he came up short against his fellow South American Gabriel Bortoleto in the 2023 FIA F3 Championship, considering he was also in the MP Motorsport team which usually tends to hover around mid-pack, with the likes of Prema, ART and Trident usually being ahead of the Dutch Outfit, finishing P4 in the standings is impressive when you stack him up to his direct competition in his teammates, 13th and 17th respectively.
Franco Colapinto was also given a Formula 2 drive at the last round of the 2023 season in Abu Dhabi, taking advantage of the fact that the F3 championship ended in Monza a couple of months earlier. Finishing 19th alongside a retirement may not look impressive, but the fact he was remotely close to the rest of the pack that are familiar with cars they’ve been racing all year is credible in and of itself, especially with the temperamental nature of the Formula 2 tyres that do take a few rounds for a rookie to get used to. Clearly, MP Motorsport was impressed enough with his outing that they signed him for 2024 alongside Dennis Hauger, who is a Formula 3 champion, so he will have a tremendously talented benchmark to measure himself against.
Although more eyes will likely be drawn to Gabriel Bortoleto by way of him being the 2023 F3 Champion, Colapinto has admittedly gone under the radar as a result, with other notable achievements being 3rd in Formula Renault Eurocup, 3rd in the New Zealand-based Toyota Racing Series and 3rd in the Asian Le Mans series. With this kind of CV, surprisingly, he’s not getting as many plaudits as he maybe should be.
Ritomo Miyata
Coming from Japan the 2023 Super Formula and SuperGT Champion will be attempting to prove his worth in the global Formula 2 series, whilst also winning the Japanese Formula 4 championship twice as well as utterly dominating the Super Formula Lights series in 2020, the feeder series to Super Formula itself.
Going in the opposite direction to compatriot Ayumu Iwasa who is going to Super Formula, Miyata will be attempting to make the jump into the global spotlight after beating the highly touted F1 prospect Liam Lawson to the title whilst also nursing another national championship in SuperGT, a series with race-modified Japanese Supercars known as the GT500 class. Knowing how fierce the competition is within the Super Formula Series, being filled with ex-Formula 1, ex-Formula 2 and WEC talent, to come out on top as a younger driver is incredible, to say the least, even if it is his fourth season.
Incredibly he will be one of the older drivers in the currently selected Formula 2 grid for 2024 as a result of his extra years in the Japanese Motorsport Circuit, but the Super Formula champion should certainly be observed closely given his clear talent with the addition of brand new Dallara chassis for the series next year playing into his hands slightly, with every driver likely having to at least partly re-learn their cars. To expect him to win the title would be very idealistic, especially in the middling Carlin team, so there could be some erratic form throughout the year, but with the likes of Honda planning a Formula 1 return in 2026 and will almost certainly be searching for a Japanese driver, it is seemingly all adding up for Ritomo Miyata.
Christian Rasmussen
Winning the Indycar equivalent of Formula 2 in 2023 through the Indy NXT series, Danish driver Christian Rasmussen is making waves by earning a part-time Indycar drive in 2024, although the phrase “part-time” is slightly skewed seeing as the only round he’s missing is the Indianapolis 500 in May.
With two seasons in Indy NXT he would impressively only finish outside the points 5 times out of the 28 races he competed, initially finishing P6 in the championship before following it up with a championship win in 2023. Then once we go further back in his career he has the notable record of never finishing below 6th in any full-time championship he’s competed in, also having won the spoils in the US F2000 Championship and Indy Pro 2000 Championship in back-to-back years, giving him 3 distinct championship wins before he’s even reached his Indycar drive.
Not to say that open-wheel is his only form of experience, with sportscar LMP2 drives in the IMSA series also heralding class podiums at the 12 hours of Sebring and 6 Hours of the Glen in 2023, despite these only being his 3rd and 4th attempts at endurance racing.
Although it may be a stretch to say that he could be Formula One bound as his focus will likely be on Indycar for at least the immediate future, it would be short-sighted to suggest that he won’t in the future, especially if he kick-starts his Indycar career.
Louis Sharp
Descending the ladder to British Formula 4 to look at New Zealander – Louis Sharp, who won the championship on the second attempt, although the first attempt was certainly not in vain with 3rd, even after missing the opening round due to his age.
Winning the title in a climactic finale at Brands Hatch on the same weekend as the British Touring Car Finale also managed to win him the public opinion of “UK’s national racing driver of the year 2023”, notably being the first from outside Europe and the youngest to win the coveted national accolade. Looking to pursue the likes of other British talents Oliver Bearman and Zak O’Sullivan within Formula 2 and Formula 3 next year, with the ultimate aim of course being Formula 1.
Already targeting the testing of GB3 and Formula 3 machinery and already having a day on the Mercedes F1 Simulator by winning the British Formula 4 title, emulating the likes of Lando Norris doing so, is a massive step in that Formula 1 pursuit. Keep a close eye on the progress of the young Kiwi.