F2 | Feature Race | Qatar GP | Martins claims long-awaited win; Fornaroli crowned 2025 F2 Champion - Motorsport

Spread the love

ART Grand Prix’s Victor Martins finally returned to the top step with his first Feature Race win since 2023, while Invicta Racing’s Leonardo Fornaroli sealed the 2025 FIA Formula 2 title by finishing 2nd, full report and results below.

On Friday, championship leader Leonardo Fornaroli kicked off the weekend on a high by setting the pace in Free Practice. Although he qualified 2nd later in the day, he inherited pole after Ollie Goethe received a three-place grid penalty for both races. But on Sprint Saturday, it was Goethe’s teammate Richard Verschoor who stole the spotlight, delivering a dominant drive to secure a record-equalling eighth win in F2. However, for Fornaroli who still leads the title race, the Italian lines up on the front row alongside Victor Martins for the season’s penultimate Feature Race.

With his main rivals starting further down the grid, Fornaroli stands a real chance at claiming the title this weekend. To clinch the championship today, he needed to outscore Jak Crawford by 19 points, Verschoor by 11, Luke Browning by 10, and ensure Alex Dunne doesn’t outscore him by 18.

Lights out for the Feature Race!

The formation lap went underway as majority of the field looked to have opted to start on the option tyre, with the exception of both Hitech drivers. As the lights went out, it was a great launch off the line for Martins as Fornaroli slotted in behind the Frenchman. Heading down to Turn 2, Dunne wasn’t afraid to get his elbows out as the Irishman challenged Roman Staněk for 3rd. Meanwhile, Goethe momentarily ran wide and made a trip through the gravel traps. On Lap 2, Dunne ran wide in the final corner. In return, Goethe had managed to close in on the Irishman as they headed down to Turn 1.

Further down the field, Sebastian Montoya executed a brilliant overtake around the outside of debutant Nikola Tsolov into Turn 1. Tsolov decided to sensibly tuck in behind the Colombian driver. On Lap 3, Fornaroli hopped onto the radio to feedback to his team that he’d start to struggle with his tyres. Meanwhile, Dürksen started to chase down Tsolov but ran wide into the gravel trap out of the final corner.

As Rafael Villagomez joined the fight, Verschoor managed to catch the pack. Ultimately, this became a three-way battle for the lower points-scoring positions. Further down the field, Beganovic lunged down the inside of Dürksen as they headed into Turn 1.

First pitstops of the race

Dunne and Fornaroli were the first drivers into the pits. Soon enough, more drivers headed into the pit lane for their mandatory pitstops. As Staněk and Goethe continued up ahead, Montoya and Verschoor Dürksen and Ritomo Miyata were next into the pits. On the next lap, Martins boxed for a set of hard tyres. Luckily for the Frenchman, despite a slow stop, he rejoined the track ahead of Fornaroli and retained the net-lead. Next into the pits were Staněk and Goethe. Soon after his stop, Miyata returned to the pits as he jumped out of his car. The Japanese driver looked to have an issue related to his tyres.

After a great out-lap, Fornaroli had caught up with Martins quickly, demonstrating he had the pace to challenge the Frenchman for the win. Further down the field, a snap of oversteer saw Montoya run across the gravel trap. The stewards had noted Dunne for an unsafe release. The situation was soon escalated and was under investigation.

Safety car ends Beganovic’s momentum

On the alternate strategy, the race was going well for Beganovic, who was the quickest driver on track. Hitech’s bold strategic choice looked to have been paying off for the Swede. As the race continued to unfold, many drivers were stuck in a train.

Meanwhile, Staněk found himself aggressively defending from Verschoor. Soon enough, around the outside of Staněk, the Dutchman claimed 14th from Staněk. Chasing down John Bennett, Browning claimed 3rd from the VAR driver but was still yet to pit.

Safety car for Goethe

Goethe’s weekend continued to go downhill as he was seen slowing down. He’d managed to find an escape road and hopped out of his car. A safety car was then deployed for Goethe as he marked the second retirement of the race. Meanwhile, as the stewards’ investigations continued, time penalties started to flood in. James Wharton received a five-second time penalty for speeding in the pit lane. Next, Dunne and Tsolov both received five-second time penalties for unsafe releases during their pit stops.

As the safety car returned to the pits, Beganovic got his foot to the floor and got the race going once again at the final corner. Wharton’s debut weekend continued to go downhill as he received a ten-second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage. Out in-front, Beganovic’s blistering race pace allowed him to drive off into the distance. Having built a five second gap, the Swede was still faster than those who’ve pitted.

Meanwhile, for Arvid Lindblad who’d pitted during the safety car, he was able to close the gap to Fornaroli and continued to catch the Italian. As Dunne slowly approached the rear of Lindblad’s car, the Irishman attempted a move around the outside of Lindblad as they headed down to Turn 1. On the next lap, he attempted the same move as the Briton defended from Dunne once again.

Beganovic pits on Lap 27

As we reached the closing stages of the race, Lindblad was noted for safety car infringement. However, after several unsuccessful attempts, Dunne lunged down the inside of Lindblad to finally claim 7th. With 4 laps to go, Beganovic had finally made his way into the pits and rejoined the track behind Staněk in 12th. Laurens van Hoepen and Browning were next into the pits. As it stood, with Fornaroli in 2nd, the closest challenger to the Italian in the championship was Verschoor, who was 7th. The Dutchman would’ve needed a 5th place finish or higher to bring the fight to Abu Dhabi.

Triumphant win for Martins

Further down the field, Beganovic had made his way to 9th and was running out of time to challenge Staněk for 8th. On the final lap of this Feature Race, all Fornaroli needed to do was cross the line safely to be crowned the 2025 F2 Champion. Out in-front, Martins secured his first Feature Race victory in two years. But the bigger story was Fornaroli, whose trademark consistency paid off once again as the Italian was crowned the 2025 F2 Champion.