FIA President Jean Todt has revealed that under its new owner, Liberty Media, the GP2 Series is to be rebranded as Formula 2.

"Rationalising the pathway to Formula One has been a major goal of the FIA in my time here and the designation of a new F2 would achieve that goal," Todt told the FIA's Auto magazine.

Only last week, the sport's newly appointed Managing Director, Motor Sports, Ross Brawn, admitted that he not only wants to see a clear 'step ladder' for youngsters as they make their way in the sport, he wants to see the 'feeder' series incorporated into the F1 programme.

"I’d love to see Formula Two and Formula Three be part of the show, and to have those drivers coming up through into Formula One," he told an audience at a book presentation in Oxford, according to Reuters. "So you go to a race and see the young guys in Formula Two and Formula Three come through into Formula One, you get to know the names and support them.

"Any MotoGP fans know that the riders work their way through and you see them in the lower formulae. We want to recreate that in Formula One."

Formula 2 (F2) has enjoyed a somewhat patchy history. Originating in the late 1940s as a smaller and cheaper version of Grand Prix racing, it underwent numerous formula and name changes until it became what many remember it as in the mid-1960s.

The first F2 champion was Jacky Icky in 1967, and though the series produced many great champions who went on to star in F1, none went on to win the world championship.

Following the 1984 season, the FIA replaced F2 with F3000, a series that was intended to be a cheaper stepping stone up the racing ladder and which made use of the (now unwanted) 3-litre Ford DFVs previously used in F1.

While F3000 later became GP2, in 2009 Formula 2 was revived by the FIA as a one-make series, with Jonathan Palmer's MotorSport Vision operating the championship and maintaining the cars. This reincarnation of the series lasted just four seasons.

Established in 2005, following the discontinuation of F3000, GP2 was now seen as the official 'feeder' series for F1. To date, of the twelve GP2 champions, only three have gone on to win in F1 and only two - Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton (the first GP2 champions) - have gone on to win the world championship.

In recent years, with drivers such as Max Verstappen leapfrogging GP2 and coming straight into F1 from GP3 or F3, some GP2 champions haven't even made it to F1, Davide Valsecchi and Fabio Leimer being prime examples.

Whether being included in a Formula One race weekend will cause team bosses to seek out F2 talent over F3, GP3 or whatever, remains to be seen.