Leonardo Fornaroli edges out Victor Martins to feature FIA F2 race pole in Austria, as Nikola Tsolov has it in F3.
F2:
Invicta Racing driver Leonardo Fornaroli earned his second Aramco Pole Position Award of the 2025 season, securing top spot in Spielberg on his final lap. The Italian set a 1:15.229 late on to deny ART Grand Prix’s Victor Martins by just 0.014s. Richard Verschoor completed the top three in his MP Motorsport car, the top trio covered by just 0.024s.
PREMA Racing’s Gabriele Minì set the early pace on a 1:15.888 but that was bettered by compatriot Fornaroli shortly afterwards, as he set a 1:15.769. Martins had gone purple in the middle sector but wound up just 0.001s off the provisional pole time with his first effort of the session.
Fornaroli found another improvement on his second attempt and lowered the time to beat to a 1:15.574. Joshua Duerksen then got to within two-tenths of that to go second for AIX Racing. After a lull in the pitlane as everyone waited for the ideal conditions in the final stages, drivers returned to the circuit with just over 10 minutes to go.
Minì went to provisional pole on his next lap but was immediately beaten by Verschoor, who set a 1:15.253. Fornaroli couldn’t find the time to go back to P1 as he went second for Invicta, but Martins then found 0.010s to go to the top of the times.
With enough time for a final attempt, Fornaroli went for another lap and set a 1:15.229 to re-take P1 from Martins by just 0.014s. Verschoor ran wide on his last effort and couldn’t improve on third, ending up 0.024s down on the pole sitter.
Minì wound up fourth ahead of Amaury Cordeel in fifth for Rodin Motorsport. Roman Stanek followed in sixth ahead of Championship leader Alexander Dunne, who rescued his session in seventh having been 18th going into the final attempts.
Duerksen was eighth ahead of Campos Racing’s Josep María Martí and John Bennett in 10th for Van Amersfoort Racing, with the British VAR driver set to go from reverse grid pole.
Result: https://x.com/MsportXtra/status/1938604755741249569
UPDATE: Following the conclusion of Formula 2 Qualifying at the Red Bull Ring, Campos Racing drivers Arvid Lindblad and Josep María Martí have been handed grid penalties. Firstly, the Briton was referred to the Stewards after the session having allegedly impeded the MP Motorsport car of Oliver Goethe as well as DAMS Lucas Oil’s Jak Crawford between Turns 6 and 7.
After reviewing video evidence and hearing from the drivers and their team representatives, the Stewards determined that Lindblad had unnecessarily impeded both Goethe and Crawford, breaching Article 31.6 of the FIA Formula 2 Sporting Regulations. As a result, the Stewards elected to apply the standard grid drop for both the Sprint and Feature Races. Lindblad will serve a three-place grid penalty in both races in Spielberg.
Finally, Martí was referred to the Stewards after it was alleged he had impeded Car 21 of Cian Shields at Turns 6 and 7, breaching Article 31.6 of the FIA Formula 2 Sporting Regulations. Having reviewed video evidence, heard from both drivers and both team representatives, the Stewards determined that the Spanish driver had unnecessarily impeded the AIX Racing driver. As a result, he has also been given a three-place grid drop for both the Sprint and Feature Races this weekend.
F3:
Nikola Tsolov was in supreme form on Friday afternoon in Spielberg as the Campos Racing driver took the Aramco Pole Position Award with a dominant Qualifying effort. The Bulgarian led after each lap and took P1 with a 1:20.743 ahead of AIX Racing’s Brad Benavides and TRIDENT’s Noah Stromsted, as Championship leader Rafael Câmara finished seventh.
Tsolov got off to a fine start by putting in a 1:21.598 on his first flying lap, with his Campos teammate Mari Boya in second, but over half a second behind after the first set of times. The Bulgarian improved on his next attempt to a 1:21.282, as MP Motorsport’s Tim Tramnitz went up to second, 0.064s behind, while Câmara rounded out the top three.
Several drivers chose to push on for a third flying lap, and Alessandro Giusti was one of a few able to eke out more performance. The MP driver went up to third, just behind teammate Tramnitz, and 0.097s off top spot. After returning to the pit lane for a second set of Soft tyres, the drivers were back out on track with just over 10 minutes to go.
Câmara led the pack and went fastest on a 1:21.011, but the Brazilian was quickly beaten by Tsolov, who went top by 0.084s with a 1:20.927. The Red Bull Junior driver continued to improve and on his next attempt, completed a 1:20.743 to seal his second Pole Position of the season.
Benavides then went to second place on his final lap for AIX, finishing 0.176s off Tsolov’s time, with Noah Stromsted going to third for TRIDENT. Bruno del Pino was the lead MP driver in fourth, with Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak in fifth for Campos, and Callum Voisin sixth for Rodin Motorsport.
Câmara could not improve on his final attempts and wound up in P7, while Ugo Ugochukwu, who spun on his final attempt having set the fastest middle sector, settled for P8 with PREMA Racing.
Home favourite Charlie Wurz made it three TRIDENT drivers in the top 12, by qualifying 10th, with Giusti in 11th and James Wharton in 12th for ART Grand Prix. That means Wharton is set to start from reverse grid pole in Saturday’s Sprint Race.
Result: https://x.com/MsportXtra/status/1938603281002963304
[The story is as per press release]
