Arvid Lindblad took the win in FIA F2 sprint race after penalty to Richard Verschoor, as Campos was 1-2 with Joseph Pepe Marti in second.
Pole-sitter Verschoor has a great start to retain the lead while Martí jumped ahead of Gabriele Minì to take second after lining up in P3, going around the outside of the PREMA Racing driver at Turn 1. Lindblad also had a good first lap for Campos, going from sixth on the grid to fourth, and he was right on the back of Minì going into the final corner of the first lap.
However, the Briton’s progress was briefly halted as the Virtual Safety Car was deployed, with the marshals having to clear Cian Shields’ car from the track. The AIX Racing driver hit the barrier at Turn 1 and stopped by the side of the road. Racing resumed on Lap 3 and both Campos drivers were flying. First, Lindblad used the DRS to get ahead of Minì going into the final corner.
His teammate Martí then went around the outside again at Turn 1 to start Lap 4, this time on Verschoor to take the lead of the race. Verschoor though returned the favour on the next lap, pulling off a similar move on the Campos driver to retake the position. Crucially though, his overtake later earned him his five-second time penalty after being judged to have forced Marti off track to complete the move.
Onto Lap 6 of 20 and the race began to settle down as the drivers looked to manager their Medium tyres. Out in front, Verschoor had pulled out a 1.5s gap on Martí, who was now coming under pressure from Lindblad. Behind them though, Minì was holding off the challenges of Roman Stanek and Alexander Dunne. The change for P2 came on Lap 8 as Martí ran wide at Turn 8, giving Lindblad the position.
The Spaniard went off-line again at the final corner, and this time it was Minì who overtook him. However, the Campos driver retook the position with the help of DRS down the Main Straight. Minì then lost fourth place to Stanek at Turn 27, but their battle allowed Dunne to close in. The trio went three-wide into Turn 1, and the Rodin Motorsport driver came out on top to take P4.
Minì was able to stay ahead of Stanek for P5, but the Invicta Racing driver bided his time before making the move down the inside at the opening corner on Lap 12. As Lap 15 got underway, Jak Crawford used DRS to get ahead of Leonardo Fornaroli into Turn 1, pushing the DAMS Lucas Oil driver up to seventh. The American was flying and was right on the back of Minì through the entirety of the lap.
He looked to make another move into Turn 1 but collided with the PREMA driver before spinning into a stoppage, bringing out the Safety Car. Action resumed on Lap 18 and Verschoor stayed ahead of Lindblad, but Minì’s struggles continued, as Fornaroli overtook him for P6 down the Main Straight. DRS was enabled on Lap 19, but Verschoor was 1.2s ahead of Lindblad as they approached the second sector.
On to the final lap, and Verschoor’s penalty was confirmed meaning that while the MP driver crossed the line first, Lindblad followed and claimed P1, making him the youngest winner in the Championship’s history. Teammate Martí followed him across the line to finish in second ahead of Dunne. Verschoor dropped to P4 ahead of Stanek, with Minì getting back through on Fornaroli on the final lap to claim P6, while Martins rounded out the points in eighth.
Result: https://x.com/MsportXtra/status/1913624427654210023
UPDATE: Following the conclusion of the Jeddah Sprint Race, John Bennett and Ritomo Miyata have been handed penalties for various incidents. Firstly, ART Grand Prix driver Miyata has been assigned a 10-second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage.
During the race, Car 25 of Rafael Villagómez initiated an overtake at Turn 1 and was ahead of Car 15 at the exit of Turn 1. The driver of Car 15 then went off track and rejoined ahead of Car 25 after Turn 2. After reviewing video evidence and hearing from both the team and driver, the Stewards determined that Miyata had left the track and gained a lasting advantage over Car 25 at Turn 2.
The incident amounted to a breach of Article 27.3 of the FIA Formula 2 Sporting Regulations, and the Stewards elected to apply the standard 10-second time penalty to the ART driver as a result. The penalty moves Miyata from P18 in the order down to 19th. It promotes TRIDENT’s Max Esterson up one position.
Finally, Van Amersfoort Racing’s Bennett has been handed a 10-second time penalty. The Van Amersfoort Racing driver did not follow the Safety Car into the pitlane as ordered by the Race Director, breaching Article 12.2.1.i of the FIA International Sporting Code by failing to follow the Race Director’s instructions.
After hearing from the driver and team representative, Stewards considered that Car 24 entered the pitlane in order to not interfere with the race restart, and considered the action a mitigating factor. As a result, the Stewards handed Bennett a 10-second time penalty. The VAR driver remains 20th in the Sprint classification.
Here Miyata reprimand: https://www.fia.com/system/files/decision-document/2025_jeddah_event_-_infringement_-_car_15_-_drove_through_another_teams_pit_box.pdf
Here’s DRS infringement driver list: https://www.fia.com/system/files/decision-document/2025_jeddah_event_-_infringement_-_drs_activitation_1_of_2.pdf
[The story is as per press release]
