The Worst F2 Driver

The 2024 Italian Grand Prix saw the debut of Niels Koolen in Formula 2. The Dutchman has since become a rival to Lord Mahaveer Ragunathan himself for the title of worst F2 driver in history. So, let's take a look at his career!
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Copyright Disclaimer: Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. There are certain scenes from the Formula 1 calendar where race footage is used. All those rights are property of FOM. Other photos and news elements are used solely for the purpose of assisting the original content illuminate a more in depth story

[@PyroBun_2844]

The fact we managed to find a worse F2 driver than Mahaveer is genuinely impressive.

[@RdeCGaming]

We need a race between koolen, samaia, raghunathan, deledda, toth and chovanec

[@Fanofl4ndo]

tf did Toth do to be in this list

[@therealf.b.i9468]

Mahaveer would smoked them all cuz he's actually improved by a heck ton

[@W123KartSport]

@@therealf.b.i9468 Put Jorda in there as well.

[@into_the_void]

And Mazepin

[@JayFerGaming]

​@into_the_void there's always one with the stupid comment, and it's you

[@Ana-yc5ox]

Koolen was the worst full time IndyNXT driver this year and showed the world how bad he is in F2

[@michaelmaclean6965]

He's somehow been a disgrace to F2 in it's least credible season yet

[@TheChrisD]

Sure about that? I mean, we had Lindsay Brewer for a lot of the year as well...

[@brandonreese1886]

100% the worst driver I've ever seen. Went to RA she litterally races on attrition letting lapped cars by and wrecking out actual competitors. ​@@TheChrisD

[@waynekerr67]

​@@TheChrisDbut at least she isn't repulsive to look at

[@Ana-yc5ox]

@@TheChrisD she wasn’t a full time driver

[@breeze5387]

Fun Fact: Rangunathan was 6.1 Seconds off the Polesitter in Baku back in 2019, Koolen was actually 6.7 Seconds down on the Polesitter in Baku this year, so Koolen is worse than Lord Mahaveer

[@EmilForsberg_GRYBO]

Slower yes, I just can not say that he is overall "worse" than our lord and saviour Raghunathan

[@CringeLord0119]

Not sure if the 107 rule is a thing in f2 but it should be

[@xvampirex11]

​@@CringeLord0119 I do think f2 uses the 107% rule but it still wouldn't matter in this case as the maximum laptime was 2:02.898 and Koolen did a 2:01.644 so within 107%... They really need to lower the 107% to like 105% and that would still make it possible to be 5.7 seconds or so off the pace tho..

[@CringeLord0119]

@@xvampirex11 unbelievable. It really should be lower

[@5secondpenaltyman]

i still dont know how he lost time under a safety car you gotta be a special kind of terrible driver to do that

[@RdeCGaming]

@@5secondpenaltyman he's so slow he can't catch up to the safety car

[@WelshMapping09]

​@@RdeCGamingThey should have made him the safety car driver.

[@5secondpenaltyman]

@@WelshMapping09 i think everyone would fall asleep before he is able to do 1 lap in the sc

[@Fanofl4ndo]

@@5secondpenaltyman he boxed and failed to catch up to the safety car

[@xgvto5374]

yeah that one blew my mind too

[@GreatCdn59]

To me, Mahaveer's legacy is better in 3 ways ..... 1) he raced for a whole season , 2) there is hardly any interviews of him anywhere, and 3) I still can't figure out where the hell he got his funding from. It's like he was dropped into F2 from outer space. Talent-wise, though, seems like Koolen is a contender for worst in a long while.

[@andrewschmier6749]

And from what we’ve seen from Koolen, he’s just slow, not slow and a wrecking ball like Mahaveer

[@daniricc]

And Mahaveer tested in F1 as well, that is surreal..

[@pokeboi5438]

Lord Rags also scored a point

[@mrtickleuk]

Where did Calderon get her funding from?

[@TheNoisyBoy]

​@@mrtickleukBeing a chick.

[@mandolo100]

I think Koolan is slower, but Lord Mahavir was worse.

[@powerdrake2906]

I think on raw pace Lord Raghunathan was faster. As his deficit to the other cars wasn't as big. Though unlike Koolaid I mean Koolen, he did have a full season to improve. But Lord Rags did cause more incidents and got banned from a race. Though who knows what Koolaid could have done if he was given a full season

[@generaldreagonlps6889]

@@powerdrake2906 Didn't he technically get banned twice but the second time didn't happen because he got the points in abu dhabi or something and it only applies to the next event.

[@powerdrake2906]

@@generaldreagonlps6889 Yes he did get banned twice. But the 2nd ban happened right before Abu Dhabi. And since race bans back them only applied to the next race after the ban. He was allowed to race anyway. This was changed so goobers like Mahaveer couldn't exploit the rules lol

[@mandolo100]

@@powerdrake2906 That's my point - Mahavir caused more damage and danger. I don't think Koolan would have done that given he was so far off the car's limit.

[@powerdrake2906]

@@mandolo100 Maybe but Koolen only had a few races. Given a full season who knows what havoc he could have caused lol

[@Racing_YT.]

“paying tribute to his birth year and driving like an absolute terrorist”- hey guys, will just dropped the joke of the century.

[@matthijs2295]

As a Dutch person i would like to identify Niels Koolen as Belgian :)

[@pakskefrietgamer]

Hey dont give us the bad ones, we still want verstappen back

[@kanevsorton]

@@pakskefrietgamer we trade niels for max, dutch max :)

[@WimCos]

Sorry man we already have Cordeel.

[@Nan0_07]

​@@WimCos Cordeel can have his moments, Koolen cant

[@HyperdriveTwo]

The Dutch racing legacy in F1 and F2 isn't so great! Klien, Albers, Doornbos (now seller of sex toys), Rothengatter, and now this nutter!

[@DawidSikora]

In Monza Koolen was 6th at restart and he went to 20th on the same track.. losing 14 places on one lap of Monza that has like 7 corners In Baku Sprint he was so much behind the penultimate driver Safety Car hasn't waited for him to join the queue. I kid you not, the restart was with him 30 seconds behind the next driver

[@kentaoji939]

We already seen many worst F2 drivers, including Koolen. But no one can touch the legacy of Lord Mahaveer Ragunathan.

[@Vettelius57]

Imagine an Aston Martin lineup with Stroll and this guy driving a Newey designed car 😭

[@lucho4037]

Stroll looks like prime Senna compared to this guy

[@superdawwe007]

*Stop it. Get some help*

[@therandomgamer18]

@@lucho4037 stroll is gonna look like a driver thats so good u can only imagine

[@glasgowdunlop6989]

@@therandomgamer18 dont give them any ideas!

[@therandomgamer18]

@@glasgowdunlop6989 wdym

[@DougieFresh765]

F1 review and Sting Ray Indycar on Sunday... and a F2 video on tuesday....fantastic

[@Duval-In-The-Wall]

This man does not have a top 15 finish in the standings of ANY level of racing lmfao

[@RunningOn7CylindersYT]

Koolen's results is how I expected Durksen's season to go since he also jumped from FRECA to F2 with little results in FRECA. But he's surprised me, even without the giga engine.

[@Duval-In-The-Wall]

Durksen’s been very good, deserves a better team

[@Vyse1984]

​​@@Duval-In-The-WallHe'll have a second season in F2. The problem is that both "stay with AIX" and "go to another team" have their positives and negatives.

[@aaronholloway1991]

What's this giga engine about? Supposed to be spec series right?

[@Fanofl4ndo]

Koolaid is slower than my grandma on a tricycle my grandma is cremated

[@adenkyramud5005]

A wise englishman would now say "I swear down on me nan's grave"

[@FilYRU999]

@@adenkyramud5005she has no grave tho

[@JohnWiku]

If you throw your grandma into the wind, she can be fast AF bro 😂😂

[@askomgreal]

Koolaid is actually good bro

[@W4LRUS7769]

Here after he got replaced by a driver that got P30 in F3 while his teammate challenged for the title

[@sirishbhat]

how can the dutch have Max and Koolen at the same time is beyond me

[@Butterfingers1989]

One had a plan and a father with experience, the other has no clue what hes doing and a father with just a big wallet.

[@WhiteG60]

There's only so much talent allotted to a given nation. Max got 75% of it, Nyck Devries got 24% and Koolen here got 1% of it.

[@drivingduck2234]

Dont forget lord mahaveer also raced undee Dutch License

[@Becky_Cooling]

@@WhiteG60 What does Richard Verschoor get then? Or Robin Frinjs?

[@WhiteG60]

@@Becky_Cooling It's less about what they get and more about what you don't. And that's that it's a joke! 😝

[@newsmithyoutube]

I really thought AIX didn't need the money anymore after they sacked Nissany and got bought out by the Saudis...

[@Wizzkidwas]

7:56 RITOMO MIYATA MENTIONED He's doing his best but he's paying the price for exposing the engines back in the pre season test

[@Cpr1234]

Doctor: Don't worry, Min Verstappen does not exist, he will not hurt you. Min Verstappen:

[@TVH13-NL]

8:19 No, they’ve won in Monaco in the Sprint Race with Barnard

[@TheQuestionaire]

He seems to drive and make crashes like it’s a god damn 2024 online open lobby

[@Siniset]

Those who offered him for the team as a good option probably explained that he was a regular point scorer in Indy NXT. Not mentioning that every driver gets points just by starting the race.

[@Matt212YT]

Justice for Niels!!!

[@edenkim4103]

@FP1Will here are worst F2 drivers: 1st: Tatiana Calderon 2nd: The Lord Mahaveer 3rd: Alessio Deledda 4th: Nieils Koolen 5th: The Lord Nissany

[@romanticlizard]

This show how motorsport has a big money problem. To many racing drivers are just untalented rich kids clogging up the seats while real talent doesn’t get a look in due to not being wealthy enough

[@Cramhead43]

0:23 PREACH IT

[@erwinderdoofe]

I think he is still a true racer if he raced fair and tried his best. Can't hate a guy for pursuing his love for motorsport. And money keeps our sport alive.

[@miawuwu2255]

There's something about driver being given the title of Lord Mahaveer x.0 . Guys like Alessio Deledda, Amaury Cordeel, and now Niels Koolen.

[@Duval-In-The-Wall]

Cordeel is miles better than that dross lol

[@miawuwu2255]

@@Duval-In-The-Wall in someway, yeah Cordeel was a better driver. His antics didn't really help too much, but he was faster than the other two

[@maximilianpircher49]

Since we are discussing the topic of bad F2 drivers, why is no one talking about Guilherme Samaia

[@AnggaTangerang]

You can be worst drivers in F2, but you can never be Lord F2 like Mahaveer.

[@peeetrsn8270]

As someone who's been massive racing fan since like 2 years of age and always dreamt about being racing driver, but simply never had enough money for the whole circus around, seeing people like him just makes me sad and angry...

[@goodshipkaraboudjan]

10th in Indy NXT looks great until you realise there were 12 cars on the grid...

[@ChipCheezey]

And the race was kinda chaos

[@FabJK4]

That's not true, there were 21 drivers. And he got awarded "Best mover of the race. By the way, he recieved that award THREE times in 2024.

[@powerdrake2906]

I dunno why but watching videos about awful drivers is more fun than watching the videos about amazing drivers. I mean no disrespect toward the drivers because if I had the money and means I'd definetly also give F2 a shot even if I had no business being there

[@TenorCantusFirmus]

It's that we seem wired to like "so-bad-it's-so-good" things because we find them hilarious!

[@MazeMouse]

Koolen is so bad that at the time of writing his Wikipedia page still lists him as a driver for AIX. Not even the Wikipedia editors care enough to keep his page up to date.

[@askomgreal]

Sadly, we have to accept that this guy would most likely get into f1 like stroll, mazepin and goatifi

[@slimjim5539]

Having you as a F1 commentator is a must😂

[@daniricc]

Fun fact: As bad as Mahaveer Raghunathan I've never seen, but who will explain how he even managed to have an F1 testing role, one with Alfa Romeo and the other with McLaren?

[@FluffyMuskrat111]

Maybe Alfa and McLaren have a "live crash test dummy" posision as part of the tester role

[@Samu-dx6eb]

You need to do video on the legend that is Philo Paz Armand. In the 2016 GP2 Austrian feature race he pulled off the move of the century by overtaking the entire field including the safety car in just two corners.

[@Apricot_Lover-r2c]

We need to boost this so Revell sees it, so we can get this video the views it deserves.

[@Posirep]

Koolen is slower than Lord Mahaveer....but at least Koolen seems to know how to follow protocol and operate his vehicle properly...albeit slowly. Something Lord Mahaveer never quite managed

[@julezz_6559]

The fact that he's managed by Alonso 💀💀

[@Eva.Aurora]

I'm *so* glad someone decided to do a video on this guy, it's actually comical how slow he really is.

[@squidd4319]

It's hard to believe that they even let drivers who are so far off the pace compete in the junior formulas... There are probably a thousand worthwhile prospects out there who could drive the car better but just don't have the money to actually race so we end up with this crap

[@TS0713]

Here after Ganassi gave him an NXT seat...

[@TheNoisyBoy]

3:45 did not see that coming and now my milk is everywhere

[@therealf.b.i9468]

I won't except any Mahaveer slander cuz he's actually quite fast now he's actually quite decent in gt3, he got a podium in Monza last year. His race craft however tho 😬😬😬😬😬😬😬😬😬

[@Sebastianraikkonen_actualname]

To answer your question how he was last on race 2 despite the start line crash it's because of the safety car lines and the first red flag. As not all cars had passed this point, the race order is deemed the same order as their grid position, as he qualified last and did not take the restart, this resulted in him being P22

[@Elias-iq2sc]

Koolen can never reach the legendary status of Lord Mahaveers heroics into sainte devote

[@satujodasrivathsav3050]

Lord Mahaveer has finally been vindicated 🙌

[@yudhabagaskara98]

Mahaveer is Schumacher compared to Koolen

[@adblox]

We need to see them on the grid together

[@TriViuM2k22]

Michael or Mick?

[@LorenzoCorrado19]

​@@TriViuM2k22 The latter

[@pepijnbeek739]

pretty sure even Mahaveer was fast enough not to be 86 seconds behind the lead

[@PunksterNL]

Koolan and Bartoleto sound like GPM2 names, when they didn't have the license.

[@davidmarecek1754]

Koolen was slow as sloth sure, but atleast he mostly stayed out of trouble and didn't čase havoc like lord Mahaveer (asside from that Baku pile up, in which he was just colateral damage). I'd say the Dutchman was more like Deleda 2.0

[@mynulkarimmahim5878]

Finally someone slower than James May

[@joshuakillewald8267]

Monlau Motorsport is the name that Van Amersfoort Racing enters as in the F4 Spanish Championship.

[@dominikhatala5924]

Imagine if he and Mahaveer drove Haas in 2021 it would be like Rosberg-Hamilton rivalry

[@aidan404]

Tbf he only came 10th in that NXT race cause there were like 5 multi car incidents

[@crystalracing4794]

If Jean Denis Deletraz (not Louis) had been born 30 years later, he would be remembered as one of the worst F2 drivers. Proves there's worse than Latifi

[@PapaVanTwee5]

Wait... I thought the Ferrucci was the worst F2 driver ever. I'm so confused now.

[@BoPunk]

This is what happens when your family tree doesn't have any branches.

[@CCA2020]

Watching this instead of revising for my exam tomorrow 👍

[@TriViuM2k22]

What could possibly go wrong

[@trentsayers951]

Aldas dropping a koolen video 2 days after Will! Big W for Will!!!

[@SpaceHCowboy]

Yeah, I seen that too, don't think it's the first instance either. Aldas is a lightweight, mid as mid can be compared to will.

[@trentsayers951]

@@SpaceHCowboy i like Aldas but Will is the Goat!

[@SpaceHCowboy]

@@trentsayers951 Rocketpoweredmohawk & Will are the absolute berries. 👌🏼

[@fqeagles21]

​@@SpaceHCowboywhat's will full Channel name?

[@fqeagles21]

​@@SpaceHCowboyLaw vs Is pretty good too

[@dukepy6936]

Durksen might have back problems from carrying the team, didnt notice that his teamate wasnt actually good

[@mikulitsi1819]

7:55 Oh noo you aren't disrespecting Miyata like this...

[@pursang6792]

The thing that tips the scale in Mahaveer's favor is the clip of him taking 2 minutes getting his car turned around in a run-off area. Then another clip showing someone explaining to him that he had to turn the steering wheel while backing up to ultimately getting turned around. On the other hand The Lord did spent time in the lower ranks instead of somehow just being allowing to skip these series like Koolen. I understand the concept and some need for pay drivers but there has to be a basement to what is allowed to be passed up the ladder.

[@mickvanbreugel6381]

Man can't even finish in top 3 at club races in karting 💀

[@Cloxxki]

Will the kind of guy to look for the underdog. I was as well. Surely he'd find some pace eventually?

[@Bananananananannananananna]

I decided to watch the f2 in monza and saw him in last by like a lot of time. He wasnt involved in any incidents so I thought it was a glitch until I saw him way far in the background while the cars were battling lol.

[@samiraperi467]

F2 needs a 107% rule.

[@scottlil01]

F2 does have the 107% rule. Despite how slow Koolen was, his times were still within 107% of the pole time in both races around 102% in Monza and 106% in Baku).

[@AlonsoRules]

Should be 105% - nobody should be seconds off in a spec series

[@bonezolo]

Imagine not even lasting a full season on F2 where SEVERAL awful drivers completed MANY seasons (Nissany, Daruvala and so on)

[@mtgteeto5286]

Proudly sharing birthdays (albeit on different years) with this absolute gem of a driver.

[@alcosta732]

Monlau is an engineering school based in Catalunya. They're most known for being the team behind Marc Marquez during his Moto3 and Moto2 stints. They're not that big, but they aren't a bad team per se

[@The_Doug124]

I noticed this during the race…he was 30 something off the rest of the field after lap two or something. Figured huh must’ve damaged his wing or something and boxed. It became apparent that wasn’t the case

[@theawfulgambler]

Plug socket trick worked, ta.

[@Nickoshot]

he might be a worse racing driver, but he isn't as iconic as the GOAT

[@Xs2...]

It seems like the cars on the other side of the ocean are more his thing, being Indy Nxt. The only names I recognize in that field are Siegel and Chadwick. His dad should tell him to knock it off, or go back to Indy Nxt. Or maybe Formula E ? Or he can always look at GT/LMP cars. Maybe that's more his thing. You have drivers who are better in a certain kind of car. So maybe formula cars are not for him.

[@frankdocter]

I’m available to take the seat. Can’t be much worse. And I’m Dutch as well.

[@theorenhobart]

the question is: are u wooden enough ?

[@ferdinandhendriks3507]

I thought he made an early stop because of 1st lap damage, was surprised he didn't.

[@jacksonbarinowski3966]

I didn't learn until today that Kimi Antonelli and Patrick Mahomes have a lot in common. And I still don't know why. Anyone care to enlighten me?

[@scrappy8494]

these drivers make me think that i have a shot in F2

[@mdftrasher]

Oh no! Vorden, thats 15 kilometers from here!

[@Wareh_31]

when i went to watch the f2 race in baku everyone was clapping and cheering whenever he went by us in the grandstand. at least he tried his best

[@wackojumey]

That yee yee ass haircut is a crime of its own

[@antoniodicicco1422]

i think i will meet him tomorrow at the fanatec gt 3h at Monza

[@dougtaylor7724]

There should be a decency law that bans showing the goofy picture of him putting his balaclava on.

[@SeamlessShelf35]

At least Raghunathan won a championship title (which was Boss GP) and scored a point in F2 and Deledda actually won a race (that being the Central European Zone Championship in 2019 in his only weekend racing in that series, as said by Josh Revell in his Deledda video). Yeah, that’s saying something.

[@lukaszspychaj9210]

Raghunathan winning boss gp is like you winning a football match against a 6 year old

[@JustSomeDinosaurPerson]

@@lukaszspychaj9210 Agreed. It ain't the flex OP think it is. Especially since the only reason Raghunathan even won the Boss GP title is because the guy who was ahead in the championship that year sat out a few races.

[@vtvToba-f2b]

Lord koolen

[@FP1Will]

Has a ring to it that

[@caillanan]

Cut in the prime of his career. The lad was putting up Raghunathan numbers on unreal efficiency.

[@KitKatastrophe]

Apparently Monlau was just another name VAR would enter minor series with, according to Wikipedia at least. I'm oversimplifying, of course.

[@satolatifi24]

Aix having a winning car and Koolen just chilling

[@maxbrandt1324]

Winning driver*

[@valraukardso7117]

Just get the 107% qualifying rule into F2 and you wont see drivers like this anymore.

[@franklinkz2451]

No one seen him going to Ganassi in their return to Indy Lights, NXT whatevs

[@Ballen_F1]

We need a race between Koolen, Samaia, Mazepin, Raghunathan, Deledda, Gelael and Toth

[@jonathaneveno6953]

Destruction Derby in the first 3 seconds by a skyrocket start from mazepin because the others were too slow 😂

[@caramba2345]

Judging by his career trajectory and the color of his F2 car, I wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up getting Sauber’s open second seat.

[@mikulitsi1819]

Honestly it was shocking first of all to see Koolen get to F2 after mediocrity in Indy NXT and then to see his lack of pace in Baku... I'm shocked he wasn't over the 107% tbf but also showed that F2 shouldn't have 107%. It really should be 105% like in Indycar

[@damonring1138]

This is what it would look like when Sophia floersch would join F2 or even F1

[@fqeagles21]

Will Pulling do the same?

[@OrioshQaaaa]

Did lilbro really drove number 33 car in Indy NEXT? Max Verstappen from wish

[@jumbojimbo706]

We like to think we’d all be max verstappen behind the wheel but we’d probably be worse than this fella