F2 facing key talks after achieving major breakthrough

Bruno Michel, the CEO of F2 and F3, has confirmed his organisation is in discussions about a permanent return to North America following its breakthrough this month.

The cancellation of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian rounds in April - F2 would have raced in both countries, and F3 in the former only - allowed Michel to finally gain a foothold in North America with F2, in particular.

Michel was already in talks with the Canadian promoters about a race at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve appearing on the F2 calendar for 2027. The loss of Bahrain and Saudi Arabia advanced those conversations, and the event by a year.

With Miami and Montréal three weeks apart on the F1 calendar, Michel spied a further opportunity for F2 to make its mark, leading to the series debuting in North America over the F1 weekend of May 1-3, and delivering superb racing.

Asked by RacingNews365, in a small media roundtable with Michel, whether Miami and Canada could become permanent fixtures on the F2 calendar, he said: "We're discussing.

"Let's say that, Montréal, we really are discussing. Miami is a bit more complicated, for one simple reason, in that Miami already has support races, and they're good. They have the Porsche and McLaren trophies, and that's why it's not so easy. Honestly, the logistics are quite complicated.

"But yes, there is a possibility. We haven't started discussions for the future yet, because it was really about making the situation happen, and that's what's happened.

"But we'd love to come back. We'd love to have F2 in America anyway, and I'm sure there will be other opportunities. Because, as we know, Formula 1 is also racing in Austin and Las Vegas, so there are a lot of possibilities.

"For sure, it's important for F2, which had never been in North America, to be there. It's very important for F2 to be seen, and it's very important for American drivers to be willing to come to F2, like Colton [Herta] or Sebastian [Montoya] have done, and to try to reach F1 after that.

"So yes, for the whole F1 group, and not only for F2, it's important to have F2 racing in North America, definitely."

'We had no paddock'

Michel has revealed that talks with Miami and Canada for this year commenced over the Australian Grand Prix weekend in early March, when it became apparent that the US-Iran war, which had started a few days earlier at the end of February, could have an impact.

Naturally, given how integrated the F1 and F2 calendars have become, it began to make sense for the two series to continue to be united in North America

"The interesting thing is that I had been talking to Montrëal a bit earlier, but about the future, not about '26," said Michel.

"Montreal had asked me whether we would come for '26, but I had to say, 'No guys, my calendar is already finished. We're not going to change it'.

"So I thought [due to the war], maybe there's a possibility, and since we were trying to optimise all the costs of coming to North America, it made complete sense to discuss with Miami as well, to have all the freight going to America, and then from Miami to Montréal by truck. It was quite a simple thing to think about."

Thinking about the two events was one thing, trying to organise, however, was another, not least given the support races taking place in Miami.

"It was not completely obvious for them," said Michel. "It was a question of organisation. Miami immediately said they were interested, but we had no paddock, so we had to create one from zero, quite far away. It was really difficult to put together."

In the end, despite the complications, Miami proved to be an overwhelming success, with Montréal expected to follow suit.

Now it is a question of the discussions that will take place over the coming months as to whether F2 finds a permanent home in the years to come.