– With 18th place in the sprint race and fourth place in the main race, Oliver Goethe is in sixth place in the overall standings of the 2026 Formula 2 season after the season opener in Melbourne. The German, who also holds Danish and British citizenship, believes it will be his last chance in the junior series to make the step into Formula 1. What does it come down to now?
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“I think it’s very likely that it will be my last year in Formula 2, hopefully for the better,” Goethe told Kicker, having only managed 15th place in 2025. Nevertheless, he wants to take the positive experiences of the previous year with him and build momentum to make the big step forward in 2026.
“The goal is a strong start to the season, that’s what I lacked last year,” he says, and with the results in Australia, he has taken the first solid step towards that. “The confidence is there at the moment. The team has confidence in me, I have confidence in the team. I think we can work well together to really fight for the championship this season.”
Formula 2 results important
“With a strong season in Formula 2, especially at the beginning of the year, you start talking to Formula 1 teams,” says the clear goal of the 21-year-old, who dreams of the premier class. “And that is the goal for me. I think the potential for it is there.”
However, to really make it into Formula 1, it takes not only good results in Formula 2 but also the necessary luck to be in the right place at the right time. “Formula 1 is the goal, the dream. Everything I will work for is to make it into Formula 1. So that is definitely Plan A,” the youngster clarifies.
But Goethe is already thinking about an alternative future should he not make it into the biggest racing world championship: “If that doesn’t work out, you have to look at all the possibilities. At the moment we have nothing concrete for Plan B. We are just focusing on Plan A.”
Experiences in GT racing
With his start at the 24h of Dubai, however, he has at least already laid a foundation for an option: “But yes, I enjoy GT racing and endurance racing. I’m a fan of racing in general, so it’s definitely fun and exciting, but not as exciting as Formula 1.”
Another stumbling block on the way to the premier class was his exit from the Red Bull junior program, which dropped the 21-year-old after the season: “Yes, it’s obviously not ideal. Red Bull was a good academy to get into Formula 1 if you had the results. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the results last year. They are known for not really giving second chances if you don’t have the results.”
“That’s unfortunate because Red Bull brings many young drivers into Formula 1,” he says. “So that was the goal when I was with them. I appreciate all the support they gave me. I learned a lot while driving in the simulator there.”
Red Bull exit as an opportunity?
Despite this setback, Goethe is not giving up: “I don’t think it necessarily affects me strongly for this year. I believe if I can achieve the results and show other teams what I can do, then I will definitely be in contact and have the opportunity to at least drive a Formula 1 car or be in another junior program.”
He also has the support of Germany behind him: “Motorsport Team Germany has helped me a lot with other connections, especially to the German manufacturers. That is very helpful. When I was at Red Bull, I couldn’t do that, of course, as I was only focused on them.”
“But I think Motorsport Team Germany can definitely help me with other opportunities in the near future,” he says happily. “So I’m definitely grateful to be with them. Yes, I’m looking forward to working with them again this year.”
No national series in Germany
In Germany, formula racing is currently leading a shadow existence, as there is no national racing series in which young talents can prove their skills in a single-seater. This is a thorn in the side of Motorsport Team Germany, as Thomas Voss, Deputy Chairman of the Board of the ADAC Stiftung Sport and Head of ADAC Motorsport, Classic and Events, explains.
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“It’s a bit of a complicated topic,” he says. “Of course, we want and would like to offer formula racing in Germany again. I think I’ve been saying that like a prayer for many years. The problem is a bit the way there.”
“In formula racing, a certain monoculture has actually developed worldwide,” is his analysis. “Formula 4 up to Formula 1 in the various stages. Formula E has developed alongside it, but also without a base. That must also be clearly stated.”
Formula E needs a base
“Drivers are being sought from categories that actually have nothing to do with Formula E. I think a specialization will also emerge there in the next few years, once a base is there.”
“We would like to, but if you hear the figures from Italy or Spain, we would be at 1.5 million euros,” says Voss about the financial dimension. “This money is not available on the German market at the moment. In addition, we are currently in a mobility transition towards electric, possibly hybrid, whatever.”
“We have been having various discussions for years. Let’s talk about something else [than the internal combustion engine]. But this other thing is not yet far enough along that we could really bring it into a junior formula car.”
More formula racing for Germany
“I would wish that we had a wide range of formula cars again, as was the case in Germany in the past. Starting with Formula Ford, where the first steps were taken, still without aerodynamics, without all the data recording, so that you can just drive again. Up to Formula Renault, Formula BMW, Formula Volkswagen.”
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“Also a national Formula 3 as a superstructure to Formula 4, where you can give young people a perspective. When you see how many Formula 4 series we have worldwide, that shrinks down to a starting field of 30 Formula 3 drivers. That doesn’t work at all.”
“Think about how things should continue in formula racing. It’s really a task, but it’s also clear, and I repeat this too, Germany needs a formula.”
Junior work costs a lot of money
“But, and this must be said again and again, junior work costs money on the one hand and also takes time. It is not to be expected that tomorrow one of those standing here will become Formula 1 world champion, MotoGP world champion or anything else,” Voss clarifies.
“And the time, that is also our goal as ADAC with Motorsport Team Germany, we want to give that to the children and young people. That’s why we have set this support for several years. So that the pressure to perform doesn’t become too great and the children and young people can really develop.”
Back to Goethe, who was infected by the racing virus as a child, just like his 22-year-old brother Benjamin: “It came at about the same time. As soon as we were old enough to drive rental karts, we did. Growing up, my father drove historic cars and also GT3 races. So we always looked up to our father and always wanted to go go-karting.”
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“So I think it started at about the same time, probably a bit earlier for my brother because he’s a bit older. But yes, we started when we were very young and just drove rental karts for fun. And in competitions, I think we started at exactly the same time, me in mini-karts and my brother in cadets. We were about ten and eleven or ten and twelve years old at the time.”
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