Dino Beganovic qualified on provisional pole at the 2025 F2 Imola GP Qualifying. This comes after a tough few qualifying sessions since the start of the 2025 season. The Hitech TGR driver clocked in a lap time of 1:27.418 just before the session was paused, placing him at the top of the time chart. Beganovic was also the first winner of the Aramco Pole Position Award in F2, which made its debut at the Imola GP.
Dino Beganovic on his first pole position at the Imola GP
Having been a part of the Ferrari Drivers’ Academy since 2020 and a familiar face to the Tifosi. It definitely meant alot to Beganovic to have got his first pole position at the Imola GP. The Swedish driver spoke on the excitement of achieving this career milestone and the confidence boost it gave. Especially after a rather difficult start to his first full season in the F2 series.
“Yeah, super happy to get my first pole. Kind of a home Grand Prix for me as well, just living not far from here in Maranello, wearing the red colours from Ferrari this weekend and feeling the support from the Tifosi. And to do it here is very special, but also coming off a tougher start of the season in Bahrain and Jeddah, it’s nice to come back to Europe like this and start my season here.“
“Well, especially after coming off a difficult start of the season, it definitely helps, and it’s more a relief for me to get it done here in Imola and quite early in the season. So definitely boosts me, the team to keep pushing in this direction.”
Expectations for the Sprint Race
With the top 10 reversed for the F2 Sprint Race. Pole sitter Beganovic will be starting the Imola Sprint Race in P10. Regardless, he will be trying to maximise the points earned. He also says he will be using it as an opportunity to gather data for the Feature Race on Sunday.
“I don’t know what to expect yet, but we’re going to the race and trying to learn as much for Sunday and try to give us all the best package we can have for Sunday and look for the big points and obviously try to move forward as well tomorrow and maximise our result.“
Speaking on the Red Flag brought out during Qualifying
Beganovic’s final flying lap that brought him to pole position came right before the red flag was called. The red flag came as a result of DAMS’ Kush Maini. He had crashed into the barriers at turn 4 of the track. Beganovic also touched on what was going through his head as he saw the impending red flag on screen.
“Yes, I was seeing it on the big screen, and I was just praying that it will not come out before I finish my lap. Got a bit of flashbacks from Monaco last year, but yeah, managed to cross the line in time.”
The Qualifying session was later not resumed even with close to 6 mins left on the clock. This decision will have a significant impact on the F2 championship standings. Especially with championship leader Richard Verschoor qualifying P19.
In response to the question from Pit Debrief, Beganovic shared his own thoughts on the decision. Stating he was shocked by the decision and that he definitely could have improved his lap time in the remaining time.
“Yeah, this time. I was surprised it didn’t get restarted as well. I didn’t feel like the job was done at all.I was ready to go for another run and another push.”
“I’m a bit surprised, but like Victor [Martins] said, there is probably a reason behind it. I don’t know what exactly, but yeah, a bit surprising. That’s how it was this time.“
Importance of starting the weekend right
When speaking on how important it was to start the weekend right. Beganovic spoke on the role Qualifying played and goal of being in the top 10. Tying his answers to how he and Hitech TGR will be moving forward on the weekend with him on pole.
“I think obviously it’s important to start the weekend well. Qualifying is a big part of the weekend, and obviously, you want to be on the right foot. Being in the top 10 is key in Formula 2, so being in the mix all the time is going to take you a long way in the championship in the end of the season.“
“So it gives confidence but also obviously motivation to keep going in the weekend the way you started. So we will try to do the same now.”
Graduating F3 and returning to a familiar track.
This wouldn’t be a new track for the F2 rookies like Beganovic himself. Having raced and qualified at the Imola GP during his F3 and F4 seasons. This made it an even playing ground for all the F2 drivers.
Racing at the familiar track definitely was a lot easier for the Swedish rookie however he emphasised that it was the key factor to his pole position lap. Citing the hours spent at the simulator and the race preparations as the biggest contributors to nailing the lap.
“Yeah, in the end it’s always nice to come back to a track you know well. It’s special for me because I have very good memories from here but at the end of the day we do a lot of preparation in the simulator with the team and I think a clear thing is me watching my first quali in F2 in Qatar, never driven the track or the car before as a rookie to jump in, I did a good job straight away. So, in the end, being familiar it helps, but it’s not the key, it’s I think mainly the preparation you do before the event that is really important especially in F2 and F3 as you have very little time to adjust to things.“
New beginnings and new mindsets
Beganovic constantly qualified towards the back end of the grid in the earlier races of this season. Now having qualified in provisional pole, he cites it as a “new beginning” for him and the team as the series moves to Europe.
“Well, like you say we were straight on the pace end of last year when I jumped in the F2. Not as much in the beginning of this year. We had some struggles in the beginning of the season but now coming to this part of the season, coming back to Europe, it feels like a kind of new championship for me.”
“That’s kind of the mindset I have, a new beginning and that’s how I’m going to approach it and keep looking that way until the end of the season or at least for the next couple of races.“
Thoughts on Imola potentially not returning on the calendar
With the Imola GP’s contract ending this year, its place on the ever-growing F1 calendar is in questions. Following recent comments from Stefano Domenicali raise further questions over whether the track will be returning on the calendar as a permanent race weekend.
This track definitely means alot to the Ferrari Drivers’ Academy driver. He won his first single-seater victory at the circuit. This was in 2020 during Beganovic’s Italian F4 Championship where he started from pole at the Imola GP. Beganovic mentioned his desire to continue returning to the track in future seasons, listing it as one of his favourite.
“I love this track, great memories from here. I took my first single seat to win and pole here a couple years ago, so I really love this track. It’s one of my favourite tracks in the world, and it would really be a shame to not come back here.“
“Like Sebas [ Sebastian Montoya] said, it has everything, the historical part, the legendary part, the technical part of the track, so yeah, I would love to come back here in the future.“
