Female F2 driver on the way? 'Physically I'm ready'

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Sophia Floersch feels ready for F2
29 May at 19:00
  • Nicole Mulder

She is the first - and so far only - female driver to score points in Formula 3: Sophia Floersch. The 23-year-old German has her sights set on a move to Formula 2, but at the same time is realistic about her chances of achieving it.

Floersch, who has been part of the Alpine Academy since 2023, feels physically ready for the move to Formula 2. If she succeeded, she would become the second F2 driver ever after Tatiana Calderon. Calderon failed to score any points in F2 and quit after the 2022 season due to a lack of sponsorship. So the opportunity is there for Floersch to be the first female driver to score points in this class as well.

Sophia Floersch feels ready for F2

"I've raced against many guys who are now in F2, or I kind of grew up with them on karting tracks and are in F4 and so on. So I do feel ready. Yes, I’ve been training quite a lot to also be physically ready," the Van Amersfoort Racing driver replied to a question from GPblog. However, she stresses that there is more to it than that.

"Apart from the budget kind of thing, I think it always really depends on teams and partners as well. There's so many young drivers, so many drivers in our age who are wanting to race in Formula 3 and Formula 2 that there's a lot more drivers and actually places to be. So it's always kind of also luck or unlucky if you are racing or not," she adds.

Money and luck play big role

So apart from talent, the right opportunities as well as the right budget play a big role. "We all know that to actually get to F2 you just need a lot of money. Obviously having a team behind me, and pushing me is a big help," Floersch says of her team Van Amersfoort Racing. "And then we'll see if I can make the step, if we can make the step or or not."

Floersch therefore remains realistic when it comes to her chances of actually making the switch to F2. "So let's just keep on working. I'll do my thing and then I'll let management and sponsors and partners do the rest. And we'll see if it's going to happen. But that's the goal for sure," stressed the 23-year-old driver from Grünwald.

Impressive comeback after big crash

Floersch made an impressive comeback in Formula 3 in 2023. During the 2018 F3 Macau Grand Prix, the then-17-year-old Van Amersfoort Racing driver flew off the track at high speed through the air and through the fences. Besides Floersch herself, two photographers and a marshal had to go to hospital. Floersch had broken her back and underwent major surgery that lasted 11 hours.

In 2019, she returned to racing for a season in the FRECA, only to get back into an F3 car for a full season a year later. She also competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans alongside Beitske Visser and Tatiana Calderon. In the following years, she drove in the DTM, the WEC and the European Le Mans Series, before making a full-time comeback in Formula 3 in 2023. This year, she returned to her old team, Dutch Van Amersfoort Racing.