Have we just witnessed the next wave of Formula One drivers at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix. Seven Formula 2 drivers took part in the Formula One FP1 session on Friday and some seriously made an impression.
Leonardo Fornaroli (McLaren), Paul Aron (Audi), Dino Beganovic (Ferrari), Ayumu Iwasa (Red Bull), Frederik Vesti (Mercedes), Colton Heta (Cadillac) and Luke Browning (Williams) all took part in the one-hour practice session.
It was the usual F1 protagonists at the top of the FP1 timesheets with Mercedes George Russell on top ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piasri, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
Italian Fornaroli, sitting in for McLaren’s Lando Norris was the quickest rookie setting the fifth fastest time (+853s). A reserve driver with McLaren F1, Fornaroli won the 2024 FIA F3 title in his second season and then went on to win the 2025 F2 title.
Paul Aron (Estonia) took Nico Hulkenberg place for Audi and was sixth fastest (+958s). Having won a number of kartsport titles, Aron has yet to win a single seater title. Rather, he has finished third in the 2019 Italian F4, both the 2021 and 2022 FR European Championship, the 2023 FIA F3 and the 2024 FIA F2 Championships. In 2025 he was a reserve driver for Alpine F1 and a test driver for Sauber while this season he is a test driver for Audi (previously Sauber) as well as being in reserve for Alpine.
Dino Beganovic (Sweden) in Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari was eighth quickest (+1.415s).
Beganovic won the 2022 FR European Championship with Prema Racing before moving to FIA F3 in 2023, finishing sixth. 2026 is his third season competing in the FIA F2 Championship and is currently sixth heading into the Barcelon F2 round.
Japanese driver Ayumu Iwasa sat in for Isack Hadgar at Red Bull. No stranger to FP1, Iwasa’s association with Red Bull (powered by Ford) is interesting as he is essentially a Honda backed driver and the current Super Formula champion (Team Mugen) and sits second overall this season, again with Team Mugen.
He came through the Japanese single seater series competing in F4, Asian Formula Renault before winning the French F4 Championship in 2020.He finished 12th in the 2021 FIA F3 season and then fifth and fourth overall in the FIA F2 2022 and 2023 seasons. He is currently the reserve driver for Visa Cash App Racing Bull’s F1 team. He set the 14th fastest time (+1.935s).
Danish driver Frederik Vesti took Kimi Antonelli’s ‘hot-seat’ with Mercedes. Vesti won the 2019 Formula Regional European Championship with Prema Racing and moved to FIA F3 in 2020 and 2021, finishing both seasons in fourth.
After finishing runnerup in the 2023 FIA F2 Championship, Vesti has been a Mercedes reserve driver while also competing in the European Le Mans and the IMSA SportsCar championships.
American Colton Heta replaced Sergio Perez at Cadillac for the session and, like his FIA F2 season so far, was less than impressive setting 21st fastest time (+4.334s). Herta is the only driver who has come through the American single seater career ladder (USF 2000, Indy Lights, IndyCar) as well as two European seasons (2015 & 2026) with Carlin competing in MSA Formula Championship (3rd), Euroformula Open Championship (3rd), Spanish F3 Championship (2nd) and British F3.
He’s been competing in the IndyCar Series since 2019 with his best result, second, in the 2024 season. This has including seven starts in the Indianapolis 500. For 2026 he is back in Europe and sits 13th in the FIA F2 Championship.
Brit Luke Browning has an impressive CV and took the place of Alex Albon with Williams F1 team. Unfortunately he sat out the entire session due to technical issues with the car so will take part in a FP1 session later in the season.
Browning won the 202 British F4 Championship with Fortec Motorsport before finishing third the 2021 ADAC F4 Champs then winning the 2022 GB3 Championship with Hitech Grand Prix.
Browning is a Macau Grand Prix winner (2023), also competing in the FIA F3 (15th). He finished third overall in the 2024 F3 championship alongside competing in six F2 races with ART Grand Prix. A full F2 season in 2025 with Hitech TGR saw him finish fourth overall. This season he is competing in the Japanese Super Formula Series with REALize Kondo Racing, as well as a reserve driver for Williams F1 Team.
What does this mean for VCARB’s Liam Lawson?
It should not be a problem. Lawson is proving a solid and reliable driver in F1. His consistent results across practice, qualifying and racing, particularly accumulating points and importantly, not crashing, makes his position difficult to replace. As for teammate Arvid Lindlblad, his rookie season has been reasonably impressive, and he has shown that he is fast – a prerequisite for any driver.
The fly-in-the-ointment could be Nikola Tsolov (Bulgaria). A Spanish F4 winner (2022), Tsolov finished runner up in his third FIA F3 season (2025). He’s made the jump to F2 and is having an impressive season, sitting second overall heading into the Barcelona F2 round. Yet to have his first drive in FP1, Tsolov is one to keep an eye on and may provide a headache for Red Bull as to where he fits in the F1 category.
There will be a shuffling of the pack heading into the 2027 season with a number of drivers coming off contract.
Lawson’s current contract, as well as teammate Lindblad, finishes this season. Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli, Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar, both Williams drivers (Sainz and Albon), Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll from Aston Martin, both Haas drivers (Ollie Bearman and Estaban Ocon), Audi’s Gabriel Borteleto and Nico Hulkenburg and Alpine’s Franco Colapinto come off contract at the end of this season.
What is not known is which ‘multi-year deals’ will carry over into 2027. That being the case, there is plenty to consider with the new wave knocking on the doors of established F1 drivers.
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