While all eyes will be firmly focused on the opening round of the 2025 Formula 1 World Championship, this weekend Melbourne also raises the curtain on both fiercely-fought Formula 2 and Formula 3 Championships.

With no fewer than six F2 drivers graduating to this year’s hallowed Grand Prix grid, the importance of success on the F1 undercard has never been more obvious for all to see.

This year’s line-up of young F2 hopefuls features 22 drivers from no fewer than 16 different countries. Britain is best represented with four rising stars all keen to make their mark.

Two of the next generation making their way up the motorsport ladder – Luke Browning and Arvid Lindblad – are already firmly on F1 radars; Browning is a member of the Williams Racing Driver Academy while Lindblad is in the Red Bull Junior Team. Both are F2 rookies having earned their promotion after finishing third and fourth respectively in last year’s F3 Championship. They are joined on the grid by fellow countrymen John Bennett and Cian Shields.

This year’s Formula 3 field is even more competitive with 30 young hotshots representing 22 different nations. British hopes will be pinned firmly on the shoulders of sophomore Callum Voisin – he was a race winner in 2024 and starts his second season as one of the favourites having also impressed in pre-season testing.

Other exciting young prospects familiar to UK audiences include Alex Dunne and Louis Sharp – both are recent winners of the prized British F4 Championship. Irishman Dunne steps into F2 while Sharp, a British-born Kiwi, teams up with Voisin for Rodin Motorsport in F3.

Browning and Bennett are ongoing members of the Motorsport UK Academy while Lindblad and Voisin are both alumni of the talent development pathway established to empower young athletes to make it to the top levels of the sport.

All four started their journeys towards the F1 pinnacle in UK junior karting before switching to single-seaters when their age allowed. And all four have their eyes firmly set on future F1 stardom with campaigns kicking off this weekend in Australia.

Thereafter the F2 calendar features 13 further double-header weekends concluding in Abu Dhabi in December. F3 also stars on the F1 undercard with double-headers at nine further Grands Prix reaching its climax at Monza in September.

With so much at stake in the two F1 feeder series’ and so many promising young talents on show, both championships are certain to be ultra-competitive and compelling viewing over the coming months.

(Photo: Arvid Lindblad from the Red Bull Junior Team)