F2 "a waste of time" without clear F1 path

Leimer was the last champion in F1's premier feeder category to not make it to grand prix racing, and now competes in the VLN, while his successors Jolyon Palmer, Stoffel Vandoorne and Pierre Gasly all belatedly stepped up after their titles.

Vandoorne and Gasly undertook Super Formula seasons before racing for McLaren and Red Bull respectively, while Palmer became Lotus’s test and reserve driver before stepping into a Renault drive.

Lance Stroll and Max Verstappen both joined F1 without competing in F2/GP2, instead graduating directly from European Formula 3.

Leimer says that the issue lies with F1, as smaller teams struggling financially and older drivers staying on makes graduation more difficult.

“Hopefully it [F1] changes or otherwise F2 makes no sense and is a waste of time, because if I have money, I can go from Formula 3 to F1,” he said.

“It needs to be more step by step like other sports. It’s not just me, it’s been over the last three or four years [with drivers] struggling to make it. I think that’s not correct."

The FIA has recently revamped its F1 superlicence system, putting more of an emphasis on F2 as a stepping stone to grand prix racing over other junior single-seater categories.

Leimer continued: “There are some older drivers in F1 that are trying to stay year after year in F1 and all the young people have no seat, because there are only two or three available and there are 20 guys [trying to] come in.

“It’s always the same problem and it has to change. It’s F1 at the moment, it’s way too much money and small teams struggle.

“They have to take a driver with lots of money to make the car quicker.”

Leimer says that there needs to be a route into F1 for the F2 champion each year.

"[F2] still has the same problems,” he said. “For me, the problem is a little bit for F2. They have to push the F2 championship and the champion has to go to F1 the next year.

“At the moment F2 is struggling a little bit because many drivers are asking ‘why am I spending so much money if I have nowhere to go in F1?’

“That’s a problem because not so long ago the top drivers were always going to F1. The problem is that many F1 teams are struggling for money so they have to take a pay driver.

“For me, there is something going wrong.”