The GP2 nearly-man
Sergey Sirotkin is a Russian racing driver whose feeder-series career was defined by consistency just short of the very top. Across two full seasons in the GP2 Series — the championship that became FIA Formula 2 in 2017 — he twice finished third, a record of front-running pace that ultimately carried him to a Formula 1 seat without ever delivering a title.
Two third places in GP2 (2015–2016)
Sirotkin's headline junior results came in GP2, not in the rebranded F2 era. In his 2015 rookie GP2 campaign with Rapax, he finished third in the standings on 139 points, taking his first series victory in the Silverstone feature race and adding several further podiums.
For 2016 he stepped up to the benchmark squad ART Grand Prix, inheriting a seat vacated by reigning champion Stoffel Vandoorne. He again finished third in the championship, this time on 159 points, with two race wins and three pole positions. Two consecutive third places at one of the most competitive teams on the grid cemented his reputation as a quick, technically diligent driver — and one whose backing and test work with the Renault F1 programme were steadily building a path to the top.
A one-round F2 cameo (2017)
When GP2 became the FIA Formula 2 Championship in 2017, Sirotkin did not contest a full campaign. By then his focus had shifted to Formula 1 reserve and test duties. His only F2 appearance that year was a one-round substitute outing at Baku for ART Grand Prix, deputising for the injured Alexander Albon. He finished both races of the weekend in the points — a tidy, low-key return rather than a championship bid.
Reaching Formula 1
Sirotkin's GP2 form and a strong post-season test at Yas Marina earned him a Williams race seat for the 2018 Formula 1 World Championship. He contested the full season alongside Lance Stroll in an uncompetitive car, scoring a single point at the chaotic Italian Grand Prix. He had earlier won the Formula Abarth European Series in 2011 on his way up the junior ladder.
Sirotkin never won a GP2/F2 title, but his back-to-back third places in 2015 and 2016 made him one of the standout almost-champions of the category's final GP2 years.