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The Formula 2 championship "makes no sense" and "is a waste of time" without a clear path to Formula 1, says 2013 GP2 champion Fabio Leimer.

Leimer was the last GP2 champion not to step up to F1, and now competes in the VLN, while his successors Jolyon Palmer, Stoffel Vandoorne and Pierre Gasly all belatedly graduated 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 stepped up to F1 without competing in GP2/F2, instead graduating directly to F1 from European Formula 3.

Leimer says 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 told Autosport.

"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.

"There are some older drivers in F1 that are trying to stay year after year 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 there needs to be a guaranteed route into F1 as the F2 champion.

"They have to push the F2 championship and the champion has to go to F1 the next year," he said.

"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.

"For me, there is something going wrong."