Williams Racing Junior Zak O’Sullivan has announced he will not be racing at the F2 2024 Azerbaijan GP weekend or beyond, citing funding issues.
The ART GP driver took to X to announce he is withdrawing from this season’s Formula 2 Championship, stating that ‘the simple issue comes down to funding’. Having won two races this season, including the Monaco Feature Race, Zak O’Sullivan has suffered a string of poor results towards the tail end of the F2 season. The Brit sat in 13th in the championship prior to his withdrawal.
O’Sullivan’s statement on X included a thanks to the team for all of their support during the season;
“Firstly, I want to thank ART GP and Williams Racing for all of the support they have given me. This year we have had some incredible moments, multiple wins and a big highlight of winning the feature race in Monaco.
Unfortunately in our sport, there are more factors at play than just the stopwatch. The simple issue comes down to funding, I won’t be able to complete this F2 season with ART GP.
I’m gutted to not be able to show my talents for the rest of the year, but I want to say thank you to all of my sponsors, Williams Racing and all of the supporters who are alongside me during this journey. Your support has been invaluable and I can’t wait to be able to drive for you and with you again soon.”
The news of O’Sullivan’s withdrawal comes amidst an increase in discussion surrounding the lack of funding available to drivers in feeder series, including the future of Paul Aron, who was dropped from the Mercedes Junior program. The Estonian currently sits 4th in the Formula 2 Championship, but does not receive any funding from a Formula 1 team to support his career.
Similarly, a talking point of recent has been the F2 to F1 pipeline; while drivers are banned from participating in a series such as F2 once they win it, the previous two winners Théo Pourchaire and Felipe Drugovic have failed to secure Formula 1 drives. Meanwhile, Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Oliver Bearman have been confirmed to be making the move to Formula 1 in 2025, while sitting in P6 and P14 in the drivers standings respectively. This poses the question: does the feeder series pipeline need to be revised and more support given to the future of racing?
Featured Image credit: Formula Motorsport Ltd
[adrotate banner=”10″]
Get 10% off all official F1 Merch at TheRaceWorks.com using code ‘EF1‘ at checkout.