No need to embellish F2’s drama when the season’s such a thriller
his realisation of “who his dad was” (motorcycle legend Mick Doohan) and his journey to karting, and we learn that Michael Schumacher bought the young Doohan a kart for his third birthday.
The Doohans’ touching relationship is explored throughout, with Mick admitting he thought karting would be “a bit of a hobby” for his son and that he “never thought we’d be here”.
The episode also reflects on Theo Pourchaire’s rookie season in 2021 before looking forward to what was expected to be his title-winning campaign (spoiler: he didn’t win). Pourchaire admits that it’s his “last chance, apart from a miracle” to win the title. It covers the opening weekend in Bahrain, during which Pourchaire was forced to retire from the sprint race, before he and Doohan came to blows in Sunday’s feature, although the ART driver ultimately won the race.
Episode two, The Boy From Brazil, focuses on champion Felipe Drugovich. He reflects on his torrid 2019 F3 season, where he felt like he was being “punched in the face every race”, before his surprise F2 move the following year to MP Motorsport, and winning on his debut. After that came his disappointing season with Virtuosi, of which MP team manager Jeremy Cotterill says “it’s nice to be able to say I think you’d have been better off staying here” – something Drugovich himself would likely admit. It also captures well his jovial relationship with team-mate Clement Novalak and how they eventually took the team to victory.
The Saudi Arabian round is covered, albeit briefly, with Drugovich winning the feature race, before the episode quickly moves on to Barcelona to cover his double victory. Monaco is also covered, but is somewhat glossed over for such a busy race weekend, especially given the close fight with Pourchaire.
Episode three, The Magic City, bizarrely introduces the Miami Grand Prix – a weekend at which F2 didn’t race. It’s used as a guise to introduce Charouz driver Enzo Fittipaldi, who used to live in the city, and
his brother Pietro, the Haas F1 reserve driver. The episode then looks back at his horrific startline accident with Pourchaire in Jeddah in 2021, in which he suffered a shattered heel and bleeding on the brain.
It then returns to the ongoing season at Imola, where Fittipaldi took his maiden podium, before switching attention to the series’ lone US driver Logan Sargeant. Somewhat strangely, it begins with his failed 2020 F3 title challenge, before covering his junior role within the Williams F1 team, with sporting director Sven Smeets saying it is “very clear” that Sargeant has what it takes for F1. Unfortunately the episode feels like an unnecessary diversion from the main storylines, especially given the limited screen time.
The first three episodes make a start in explaining the action, but they fall somewhat short of doing justice to such a thrilling campaign. Six more episodes are due before the end of the year – let’s hope they can pay a fitting tribute to a stellar season.