Richard Verschoor and Oliver Goethe both stepped into their new team for 2025 earlier than most. At the end of 2024, they got the opportunity to race for them across a number of rounds before being signed full time. With last year done and dusted and pre-season testing complete, Everything F1 got the chance to hear from the drivers ahead of the start of a new season.
Richard Verschoor
Richard Verschoor will enter his fifth season of Formula 2 in 2025. This time, it will be a homecoming for the Dutch driver as he returns to the team that he began that journey with. Verschoor is a driver that has been consistent points-wise over the past few years—103, 108, and 106, respectively. Verschoor hopes that by returning to MP, it will be just what he needs to take things to the next level.
“Getting the chance with MP is also the reason why I’m doing another season of Formula 2. Obviously, the last few years I’ve struggled a bit, and it’s been a bit up and down. Then I got the opportunity to sign with MP Motorsport for the 2025 season, and I think it’s a great step forward for me. The team is very professional. I could feel straight away a big difference once I joined MP in Qatar. I think that’s very exciting for me, and it’s definitely the best opportunity I’ve had so far. I’m just really looking forward to being with them.” – Richard Verschoor
Verschoor’s aforementioned consistency has only seen him as high as eighth place in the overall standings. With two podium finishes and two fastest laps to his name already with the team since joining them last year in Qatar, Verschoor’s prospects for 2025 are very exciting.
Oliver Goethe
Oliver Goethe made the jump up into Formula 2 in the latter third of the 2024 season. He even abandoned the final round of the Formula 3 season in order to seize this opportunity. During his four race weekends with the team, the Danish German driver had a bit of a tumultuous time. Three DNFs and three non-point finishes were evened out with two race finishes in the points. This included an excellent fourth place in Qatar. But Goethe takes away a more positive outlook from his time in Formula 2 so far.
“I’ve been with MP for a few years now in my career in Formula 4 and in FRECA with them. So, I know the team boss and some of the other guys there really well. In general, I really love the atmosphere with MP. Doing the last four rounds, getting the opportunity to step in for Franco, I feel like we’ve done a good job. I feel like I’ve learned a lot for this coming year, and I have confidence in the team that we can do a great result.” – Oliver Goethe
Moreover, there are a couple of other reassuring elements that he can take away from his stint last season. The first silver lining that he can take away from this is that he finished on equal points as F2 veteran Roman Stanek. The other is that he finished ahead of full-time F2 driver Rafael Villagomez.
Verschoor and Goethe—what can we expect?
Having both drivers already bedded into the team is an advantage for MP Motorsport in 2025. Both are comfortable with their surroundings and confident in the team. The combination of Verschoor’s experience and Goethe’s relative youth also has the potential to make this pairing strong over the course of the year. Bad luck and inevitable Formula 2ness aside, MP Motorsport could be onto a winning combination with Verschoor and Goethe. We’ll just have to wait and see.
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Formula 2 commences its 2025 season in Australia from March 14th to March 16th.
Feature Image Credit: Red Bull Content Pool.