The 2010 FIA Formula Two Championship season was the second year of the FIA Formula Two Championship. The championship began on 18 April at

Silverstone Silverstone is a village and civil parish in the West Northamptonshire unitary authority area of Northamptonshire, England. The village is about south-southwest of Towcester and northeast of Brackley, both accessed via the A43 road, A43 main ...

and concluded on 19 September at the

Circuit Ricardo Tormo Circuit Ricardo Tormo, also known as ''Circuit de Valencia'' is a motorsport race track located in Cheste (Valencian Community, Spain) and built in 1999. The track is named after Spanish, two-time world champion Grand Prix motorcycle racing, Gr ...

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

, after nine double-header rounds. For most of the season, the championship battle revolved around a pair of British drivers, returning driver

Jolyon Palmer Jolyon Carlyle Palmer (born 20 January 1991) is a British former racing driver, broadcaster and journalist, who competed in Formula One from to . Since retiring from racing, Palmer has been a pundit for the BBC, Channel 4 and F1TV. Prior to ...

and

Formula Renault UK British Formula Renault Championship referred to one of two Formula Renault championships that were held in the United Kingdom. The main series was Renault Sport UK's Formula Renault 2.0 UK championship which was held from 1989 to 2011 and was ge ...

graduate Dean Stoneman. Stoneman and Palmer won eleven of the season's eighteen races – Stoneman won six and Palmer five – but more podiums for Stoneman helped him in the long run, and eventually sealed the championship title, and a prize test for the

Williams F1 Williams Racing, legally known as Williams Grand Prix Engineering Limited and competing as Atlassian Williams Racing, is a British Formula One team and constructor. It was founded by Frank Williams (Formula One), Frank Williams (1942–2021) ...

team, with a race to spare. Palmer finished a comfortable second place in the standings, 42 points behind Stoneman and 85 ahead of his nearest rival. Third place in the standings remained a five-way battle until the final race with newcomers Sergey Afanasyev of Russia, another British driver Will Bratt and Belgium's Benjamin Bailly, as well as returnees

Kazim Vasiliauskas Kazimieras "Kazim" Vasiliauskas (born 2 August 1990) is a Lithuanian former racing driver. Racing career Karting Vasiliauskas was born in Kaišiadorys. He competed in kart racing from 1999 to 2007, winning several Lithuanian and Baltic champi ...

of Lithuania and Austria's

Philipp Eng Philipp Eng (born 28 February 1990 in Salzburg) is an Austrian professional racing driver, and BMW Motorsport works driver. Career Karting Eng started karting in 2003, by competing in KF2, Intercontinental A Junior karts, competing in the Andre ...

all in contention for the remaining

FIA Super Licence The FIA Super Licence is a driver's qualification allowing the holder to compete in the Formula One World Championship. It is issued and managed by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). Requirements Super Licence To qualify for ...

awarded to the top three championship finishers. Despite not winning a race, it was Afanasyev that prevailed, scoring points in all but three races including four podiums. Vasiliauskas' only victory of the season came in the final race of the season in Valencia, and allowed him to jump from seventh pre-race to an end fourth place in the standings, four points behind Afanasyev. Bratt finished fifth, winless but with four podiums, ahead of three-time winner Eng by two points and Bailly, a winner at his home round of

Zolder The Circuit Zolder, also known as Circuit Terlamen, is an undulating motorsport race track in Heusden-Zolder, Belgium. History Built in 1963, Zolder hosted the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix on 10 separate occasions in the 1970s and 1980s, a ...

was 12 points further behind. Eighth-placed Nicola de Marco was the only other race-winner on the season, winning at

Brno Brno ( , ; ) is a Statutory city (Czech Republic), city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava (river), Svitava and Svratka (river), Svratka rivers, Brno has about 403,000 inhabitants, making ...

and Valencia.

Regulation changes

As announced at the FIA's World Motor Sport Council meeting in December 2009, Formula Two cars in the 2010 season had a base power of , up from in

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

. The overboost also increased from to , giving a maximum power of . Races were also extended to 40 minutes in duration, and implemented the 25–18–15–12–10–8–6–4–2–1 point-scoring system as was introduced to the

2010 Formula One World Championship The 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 64th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. Red Bull Racing won its maiden Constructors' Championship with a 1–2 finish in Brazil, while Red Bull Racing's Sebastian Vettel won the Drive ...

Drivers

The number of drivers admitted to the series had been expected to increase to 30. However, this was altered back to 24, with only 22 drivers appearing on the Silverstone entry list.

Driver changes

; Entering FIA Formula Two Championship * Russian drivers Sergey Afanasyev – who was

International Formula Master International Formula Master, also known as Formula Super 2000, was a European-based junior single seater formula. The series was conceived as a competitor for Formula Three and made its debut at Valencia in 2007. European television channel Eur ...

runner-up – and Ivan Samarin made their debut in the series. * Formul'Academy Euro Series champion Benjamin Bailly graduated to the championship. *

Euroseries 3000 Auto GP, sometimes referred to as the Auto GP World Series and formerly known as both Euro Formula 3000 and the Euroseries 3000, was a European formula racing series. The series' roots can be traced back to 1999 and the Italian Formula 3000 serie ...

champion Will Bratt debuted in the series. *

Johan Jokinen Johan Daniel Valentiner Jokinen (born 20 June 1990 in Copenhagen) is a Danish racing driver, who last raced in the 2012 Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 season for Manor MP Motorsport. Career Formula Ford Jokinen began his formula racing career ...

switched from the

Formula 3 Euro Series The Formula 3 Euro Series was a European-based junior single seater formula for Formula Three chassis that was launched (in its current form) in 2003 as a merger of the French Formula Three Championship and German Formula Three Championship. The ...

to the championship. * After all taking a year's sabbatical,

Natalia Kowalska Natalia Kowalska (born 31 December 1989 in Koszalin) is a Polish racing driver. Career Kowalska started her career in Kart racing in Poland. In 2007, she moved to formula racing, driving a partial program in the Formula Renault 2.0 Northern Eu ...

Ajith Kumar Ajith Kumar Subramaniam (born 1 May 1971) is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Tamil cinema. To date, he has starred in over 63 films, and won four Vijay Awards, three Cinema Express Awards, three Filmfare Awards South and three Ta ...

and Julian Theobald all returned to racing competition. *

International GT Open The International GT Open is a grand tourer-style sports car racing series founded in 2006 by the Spanish GT Sport Organización. It was a spin-off of the now-defunct Spanish GT Championship, but is now a distinct series featuring FIA GT3-spec ...

driver Plamen Kralev switched to Formula Two. * Benjamin Lariche, who had a dual programme in the

Formula Renault Eurocup Formula Renault Eurocup was a Formula Renault motor racing championship. Eurocup raced only on European circuits. It served as a support series to the Formula Renault 3.5 Series as part of the World Series by Renault from 2005 to 2015. Renault S ...

and the Formula Renault 2.0 West European Cup in 2009, joined the championship. *

Mihai Marinescu Mihai Marinescu (born 25 January 1989) is a professional Romanian racing driver formerly competing in the World Series by Renault, Formula Renault 3.5 Series. He was born in Brașov, Romania and currently works as a race engineer for Jenzer Moto ...

, who competed in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series with Interwetten.com Racing, joined the championship. *

Formula Palmer Audi Formula Palmer Audi, officially abbreviated to FPA, and sometimes informally abbreviated to Palmer Audi, was a one-make class of open wheel Formula racing founded in 1998 by former Formula One driver, Jonathan Palmer. It was based in the Unite ...

graduates

Ramón Piñeiro Ramón Piñeiro (born 29 October 1991 in Barcelona) is a Spanish racing driver. Career Formula BMW Piñeiro began his formula racing career in 2008 in Formula BMW Europe with Fortec Motorsport. He finished twentieth in standings, taking five ...

and Paul Rees moved into the series. *

Kelvin Snoeks Kelvin Manuel Mathijs Snoeks (born 12 September 1987 in Haarlem) is a Dutch racing driver. In 2010 he competed in the FIA Formula Two Championship. Snoeks stayed in Formula Two for the 2011 season. He is currently racing in the DTM Trophy, whic ...

, who had a season in International Formula Master joined the series' grid. *

driver Dean Stoneman made his series debut. *

A1 Grand Prix A1 Grand Prix Operations Ltd. operated as A1 Grand Prix (A1GP) was a "single-make" open-wheel auto racing series that ran from 2005 until 2009. It was unique in its field in that competitors solely represented their nation as opposed to themse ...

driver

Parthiva Sureshwaren Parthiva Sureshwaren (born 21 February 1981) is a former racing driver from India. Career A1 Grand Prix Sureshwaren drove in the 2006-07 A1 Grand Prix season for A1 Team India at the Australian round, replacing Narain Karthikeyan. He did so ...

moved into the series. * After competing in the

GP2 Series The GP2 Series was a form of open wheel motor racing introduced in 2005 following the discontinuation of the long-term Formula One feeder series, Formula 3000. The GP2 format was conceived by Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore, while Ecc ...

in 2009, Ricardo Teixeira switched to the FIA Formula Two Championship. ; Leaving FIA Formula Two Championship * Third-placed

Mikhail Aleshin Mikhail Petrovich Aleshin ( rus, Михаи́л Петро́вич Алёшин, p=mʲɪxɐˈil pʲɪˈtrovʲɪtɕ ɐˈlʲɵʂɨn, born 22 May 1987) is a Russian professional racing driver and the 2010 champion of the Formula Renault 3.5 Series ...

returned to the Formula Renault 3.5 Series with Carlin. *

Mirko Bortolotti Mirko Bortolotti (born 10 January 1990) is an Italian auto racing, racing driver from Trento. He has won the Italian Formula 3 Championship in 2008, the FIA Formula Two Championship (2009–2012), FIA Formula 2 Championship in 2011, the Eurocup M� ...

joined the

Ferrari Driver Academy Ferrari Driver Academy is a driver development program by the Formula One team Scuderia Ferrari to promote young talent within its own organisation, with several drivers being selected and funded by the team, while under long-term contracts. Ov ...

and moved into the

GP3 Series The GP3 Series, or GP3 for short, was a single-seater motor racing series launched in 2010 as a feeder series for the GP2 Series, introduced by GP2 organiser Bruno Michel. GP3 followed the entire European leg of the Formula One series and the ...

with the

Addax Team Addax, or Barwa Addax was a Spanish motorsport team owned by the bank Addax Capital, which competed in the GP2, GP3 and GP2 Asia Series. Team history GP2 Series Barwa Addax was formed as a result of Alejandro Agag purchase of the Campos R ...

. Robert Wickens and

Tobias Hegewald Tobias Hegewald (born 3 August 1989 in Neuwied) is a German Auto racing, racing driver. Career Karting Hegewald spent three seasons racing in professional karting, including a 5th place in the 2002 Junior Monaco Kart Cup at Intercontinental A, ...

also moved to the series. * Alex Brundle switched to the

British Formula 3 Championship The British Formula Three Championship was an international motor racing series that took place primarily in the United Kingdom with a small number of events in mainland Europe. It was a junior-level feeder formula that used small single sea ...

with T-Sport. *

Natacha Gachnang Natacha Gachnang (born 27 October 1987 in Vevey, Switzerland) is a Switzerland, Swiss race driver and the cousin of former Formula One driver Sébastien Buemi. In 2010 she was a member of the first all-female crew to race at Le Mans 24 hours since ...

joined the newly created

FIA GT1 World Championship The FIA GT1 World Championship was a world championship sports car racing series, developed by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation, SRO Group and regulated by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), that was held from 2010 to 2012. I ...

with Matech Competition. * Pietro Gandolfi moved into the Italian Prototype Championship. * Ollie Hancock switched to the World Sportscar Masters series. * Sebastian Hohenthal, Jens Höing, Jason Moore and Germán Sánchez all retired from auto racing. * Carlos Iaconelli and

Edoardo Piscopo Edoardo Piscopo (born 4 February 1988) is a former Italian racing driver. Career Formula BMW After previously competing in karting, Piscopo began his single seater career in Formula BMW USA in 2005, where despite missing the first rounds he ...

switched to

Auto GP Auto GP, sometimes referred to as the Auto GP World Series and formerly known as both Euro Formula 3000 and the Euroseries 3000, was a European formula racing series. The series' roots can be traced back to 1999 and the Italian Formula 3000 serie ...

with

Durango Durango, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Durango, is one of the 31 states which make up the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 Federal Entities of Mexico, situated in the northwest portion of the country. With a population of 1,832,650 ...

and

DAMS A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, ...

respectively. *

Julien Jousse Julien Jousse (born 21 January 1986 in Saint-Raphaël, Var) is a professional racing driver from France. Career Formula Ford After spending time in karting between 1997 and 2001, Jousse began has circuit racing career in 2002 in the Formula For ...

moved to

Superleague Formula Superleague Formula was an Open wheel car, open wheel single seater Formula racing, motor racing formula, which started in 2008, at Donington Park in the United Kingdom. The league introduced team sponsorship by association football clubs. It u ...

. * Henri Karjalainen moved into the Finnish GT3 Championship. * Miloš Pavlović took a two-year hiatus. * Champion

Andy Soucek Andy Christian Soucek (; born 14 June 1985) is a Spanish- Austrian professional racing driver. Career Soucek was born in Madrid, Spain. His father is an Austrian of Czech descent and his mother is French. He holds dual Austrian and Spanish nati ...

became

Virgin Racing Virgin Racing (subsequently Marussia Virgin Racing) was a Formula One racing team which was under management of Manor Motorsport, Wirth Research and Richard Branson's Virgin Group and competed in with a List of Formula One constructors#Team's ...

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

test and reserve driver. *

Henry Surtees Henry John Surtees (18 February 1991 – 19 July 2009) was a British racing driver and the son of John Surtees. He died during a Formula Two race at Brands Hatch when he was struck by a wheel which came off another car which had spun into a wa ...

died in a racing accident during the series' 2009 event at

Brands Hatch Brands Hatch is a motor racing circuit in West Kingsdown, Kent, England, United Kingdom. Originally used as a grasstrack motorcycle circuit on farmland, it hosted 12 runnings of the British Grand Prix between 1964 and 1986 and currently hosts ...

. *

Tristan Vautier Tristan Philippe Alain Vautier (born 22 August 1989) is a French professional racing driver who is currently competing in the 2025 IMSA SportsCar Championship for Proton Competition and in the 2025 European Le Mans Series for CLX Motorsport, CLX ...

switched to the

Star Mazda Championship The USF Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires, formerly known as the Star Mazda Championship, Pro Mazda Championship, and later Indy Pro 2000 Championship, is an open-wheel racing series serving as the third step on the Road to Indy la ...

with

Andersen Racing Andersen Racing was a professional auto racing team that competed in Firestone Indy Lights and Star Mazda competition. It was owned by Dan Andersen, who founded the U.S. F2000 National Championship in 1991 and his brother John Andersen. The team w ...

Calendar

A nine-round calendar was published on 21 October 2009. The series ventured outside of Europe, racing in Marrakech, after being an all-European series in 2009.

Results

Standings

Drivers' Championship

References

External links

The official website of the FIA Formula Two Championship
{{Formula Two years FIA Formula Two Championship seasons FIA Formula Two season 2010

Formula Two Formula Two (F2) is a type of Open-wheel car, open-wheel formula racing category first codified in 1948. It was replaced in 1985 by Formula 3000, but revived by the FIA from 2009 FIA Formula Two Championship season, 2009 to 2012 FIA Formula Two C ...