FORMULA 2 ENGINE CONTROVERSY CONTINUES AFTER PREVIOUS DRIVERS’ DECLARATIONS
Formula 2 previous drivers have been actively highlighting the controversy about the engines lately on social media.
The Formula 2 engine is a 3.4-liter turbocharged V6 supplied by Mecachrome, capable of producing 620 horsepower at 8750 rpm. It uses a special sustainable fuel and incorporates a fly-by-wire accelerator system.
Unfortunately, it is not new to see drivers retiring due to engine issues during the races, or even going on anti-stall when leaving the grid for the formation lap. For example, Dennis Hauger lost his hopes for a title in the 2024 season after having to start from the pit lane due to an engine issue, when he was originally meant to get away from pole position at the Austrian Grand Prix feature race.
On specific rounds last year, such as Bahrain and Spain, the PREMA cars also did not have an easy life during qualifying and races, where both Bearman and Antonelli ended up 2 seconds a lap slower than the rest of the grid at some points.
The same kept happening with Gabriele Minì in 2025, especially at Baku when he was on course for a double podium, but overheating issues denied him of doing so.
After leaving Formula 2 once the Monza round ended, the previous Trident driver Maxwell Esterson took part at the epic Petit Le Mans with the Porsche 963 GTP, fans claimed the American did a very good job despite his bad campaign in F2, and he answered the following on X (previously Twitter):
“Thank you. The disparity between cars and engines in F2 affects performance more than most people probably know (why I no longer wanted to do it).”
It was not only Esterson who stated this issue about the Mecachrome engines used in Formula 2 cars. During a podcast in the Youtube channel “DURALAVITA”, the new KIRO Cupra driver in Formula-E Pepe Marti, spoke out about the same issue during his campaign in Formula 2 with Campos as a Red Bull Junior:
“Arvid and I had the same engine, it is what we had and we can not change it. For the first four races, besides Bahrain, we had a pretty poor engine, not that poor at Jeddah though.”
“Mainly at the triple-header Imola, Monaco and Barcelona, we had a terrible engine, but after this I ended up getting a good one, they took it away from me in the following round, and then i got it back again. Two races later they took it away from me again.”
“Now that I am out, I can say it, the Formula 2 world is a bit weird and hard to understand.”
Among fans, the issue with the engines in Formula 2 is becoming increasingly well known, and to this day no one really understands why. Although several theories have been made, we still can not confirm anything about what is going on with Mecachrome in Formula 2.
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