A driver-promoting feeder formula could inject F1 with a rich stream of talent

13th February 2025

Rachel Roberts

Nineteen years ago, then-FIA president Max Mosley touted the idea of a promotion-and-relegation format in Formula 1, something he felt might come into effect in two years’ time. Of course, the idea never came to fruition, and while the grid remains a formidable place to break into, that’s not to say other forms of promotion aren’t witnessed in the sport today.

Motorsport headlines in February 2006 were taken up by Mosley’s proposition. Pitched as a way to promote financial stability, reduce costs, and maintain interest and a better structure, his idea centred on having 12 competitive teams on the grid, revamping GP2 to create a feeder series specifically for the new system, while limiting costs and making the transition to F1 easier for new arrivals.

"We should have a feeder formula for Formula 1, like a sort of F3000/GP2, but properly regulated for that purpose," he told the media of the day. "Then we say that whoever wants a super-licence must come through that formula – there will be no shortcuts apart from genuine ex-F1 drivers. And then have some sort of system where the best from that had an opportunity to go up and the worst of the F1 teams had to consider going down.”

Admittedly, Mosley knew the idea wasn’t fully formed, and the problems were clear to see: "One of the problems with bringing the costs down and making it prosperous and everybody can run at a profit and you have got 12 competitive teams, then there is a danger that it becomes a closed-shop and it is not possible to get in, even if you want to come in."

In other words, a feeder formula no one could access would defeat the whole point of its existence.

Mosley’s words feel familiar almost 20 years on, in the wake of the Andretti saga and Cadillac’s impending arrival to the 2026 grid; F1 seems a near-impossible sport to enter.

When the initial Andretti/Cadillac venture was proposed in January 2023, the other teams instantly met it with hesitancy, and as all new entrants need to be agreed upon by both the FIA and F1, this is naturally a difficult hurdle to clear. Cadillac paid an anti-dilution fee to compensate the other ten teams for a reduction in earnings now the slices of F1’s money pot have been further divided.

Just this January, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff expressed that the $200million (£160million) payment – as decided in the current (though soon to expire) Concorde Agreement – is too low, considering how lucrative F1 has become thanks to the Drive to Survive-inspired growth seen in the last few years.

Two decades ago, Mosley suggested a central fund pot to help his promotion/relegation idea come to life, but recognised it wasn’t something likely to come into existence; F1 teams would never make it a priority to financially support new competitors. Not then, and seemingly still, not now.

What Cadillac’s arrival does offer, however, is an opportunity for two new drivers to compete. While Mosley’s idea centred around teams, driver promotions have always occurred. F1’s feeder series, Formula 2, and the GP2 series it replaced, have acted as launching pads for young drivers since before Mosley’s comments were made.

GP2, formed in 2005, promoted 35 drivers in an 11-year spell, including future F1 Champions Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton. Its 2017 replacement, F2, has so far promoted 21 drivers in seven years, 12 of which are on the grid today including Charles Leclerc, George Russell and Oscar Piastri. And these numbers have undoubtedly been bolstered by the seven fresh faces we’ve seen join the paddock from 2024 to the start of the ’25 campaign alone.

2024 F2 Champion Gabriel Bortoleto graduates to Sauber, with runner up Isack Hadjar joining Racing Bulls and Kimi Antonelli heading to Mercedes. Franco Colapinto, after an impressive stint with Williams last year, joins Alpine as a reserve driver, while Jack Doohan (Alpine), Oliver Bearman (Haas) and Liam Lawson (Red Bull) start out on their first full Formula 1 seasons in 2025.

While it’s clear to see promotion in effect here, the fact is once you win F2 you cannot compete in the series again, and not every F2 Champion gets a senior seat. Take Felipe Drugovich and Théo Pourchaire, Champions in 2022 and ’23 respectively. Drugovich is now reserve driver for Aston Martin, though he’s unlikely to find a seat in the sport because we rarely see drivers leave F1, the Brazilian instead turning to endurance racing for time on track.

As for Pourchaire, he lost out on a seat at Sauber to Zhou Guanyu and though the Chinese driver has departed, the ship has already sailed for Pourchaire, who now serves as a test driver for Peugeot in WEC and left the Sauber Academy in December, all while F2 Champ Bortoleto seizes his new role. Timing is everything when it comes to getting an opportunity.

With limited options available to these talents, the arrival of new teams to the sport only seems like a good thing. Or maybe Mosley was on to something, maybe driver promotions should take precedence to team promotions, guaranteeing the F2 Champion a seat at motorsport’s elite level and seeing the series fully live up to its ‘feeder’ role.

Of course, it’s unlikely this will ever happen; talent is far from the only factor teams consider when selecting drivers, so automatic promotion is something they’d likely shirk.

Still, if the idea has been floating around for the past 20 years, then it may never truly disappear. Mosely’s vision could be realised in some form one day, Formula 1 has never been afraid to shake things up, after all.

Images courtesy of Motorsport Images.