Victor Martins wins feature FIA F2 race in Qatar, as Leonardo Fornaroli’s second place was enough to secure the 2025 drivers’ title.
It was a great start from Martins, taking the lead from Fornaroli going into Turn 1, while Dunne took P4 from Oliver Goethe at Turn 3. The Rodin driver was chasing Roman Stanek for third, but ran wide at the final corner. It allowed Goethe and Nikola Tsolov to close in, although Dunne was able to hold off the chasing pair. Martins then set the fastest lap and by the start of Lap 3, he had built up a 1.7s gap to Fornaroli, with the Italian coming on the radio to complain of his Soft tyres to his Invicta team.
Further behind them, Sebastián Montoya used the DRS to good effect to get ahead of Tsolov for P6 into Turn 1. Martins was 4.1s clear of Fornaroli by the start of Lap 5, and it looked like Invicta were struggling on the Soft tyres, as Dunne overtook Stanek for P3 into Turn 1. The pit window opened up at the end of Lap 6, and Fornaroli, Dunne, Montoya, Verschoor and Duerksen came in to swap to the Hard tyres.
The race leader was in on the next lap, joined in the pitlane by Goethe and Stanek. It was a slow stop for Martins, but he was still able to come back out ahead of Fornaroli and Dunne. At the front of the field, Dino Beganovic was the lead driver on the alternative strategy, and by the end of Lap 10, he had built a 7.1s lead to Arvid Lindblad.
But in the battle for the net race lead, Fornaroli and Dunne were closing in on Martins, the Championship leader 1.4s behind by the start of Lap 11. Verschoor was looking to fight his way through the field, and having overtaken Villagómez, he bided his time before overtaking Stanek, putting him in a net P7. The Safety Car was then deployed on Lap 15, with Oliver Goethe having stopped on track, just as Dunne and Tsolov were given five-second time penalties for an unsafe release in the pitlane.
Lindblad, Maini and Shields were the only drivers to pit for the Option tyres, giving them 16 laps to go on the softer compound. Racing resumed on Lap 17 of 32, and Beganovic once again was showing good pace, and had built a 1.7s lead to teammate Luke Browning by the start of the next lap. Martins was now up to fifth, leading the drivers who had pitted, but he was struggling to overtake Laurens van Hoepen, allowing Fornaroli to close in on the Frenchman.
Beganovic was 4.2s clear of Browning at the start of Lap 22, while Fornaroli was now 1.1s behind Martins, just as Lindblad, on his Soft tyres, continued to reduce the gap. But by Lap 25, the Option tyre runners were starting to struggle, as Dunne closed in on Lindblad for seventh on the road. However, the Campos Racing driver held him off at Turn 1.
In the battle for the net race lead, Fornaroli was now within DRS range of Martins, while Dunne went to the inside of Lindblad at Turn 1 to take seventh place. After a superb stint, Beganovic was called in to fit the Softs at the end of Lap 27, coming back out in P12. Browning and Bennett then pitted on Lap 29, leaving Martins and Fornaroli to fight for the race win.
However, the ART driver was 1.1s clear of Fornaroli, as Dunne closed in, looking to build the five second gap he needed to keep third ahead of Lindblad. But out in front, Martins had done enough to win the Feature Race, but the day belonged to Fornaroli, as he claimed the 2025 FIA Formula 2 title by finishing second. Dunne was third, ahead of Lindblad, with Montoya fifth, Verschoor sixth, Tsolov seventh, Stanek eighth, with Beganovic and Browning rounding out the top 10.
Leonardo Fornaroli moves to 211 points and with a 41-point advantage over Jak Crawford and Richard Verschoor, takes an unassailable lead into the final round. Luke Browning is fourth on 162 points, as Alexander Dunne rounds out the top five on 149 points. Heading into the final rounds, Invicta Racing lead the way on 296 points, but second-placed Hitech TGR, on 261 points, and Campos Racing in third on 239, can still win the Teams’ Championship. DAMS Lucas Oil are fourth on 196 points, as MP Motorsport round out the top five on 193 points.
Result: https://x.com/MsportXtra/status/1995118981397512194?s=20
Here’s how F2 sprint panned out in Qatar
