This past weekend, the fourth round of F2 in 2025 took place at the Imola GP—the first of three consecutive rounds. As the European leg of the calendar kicked off, it was an eventful weekend on track. After narrowly missing out on a win in Jeddah, DAMS Lucas Oil’s Jak Crawford’s redemption came on Saturday as he stood on the top step of the podium for the Sprint Race. On-track action shook up the championship standings, however, one claimed his position at the top, and that was Rodin’s Alex Dunne. It was a faultless weekend from the Irishman who emerged from the Feature Race as the first repeat winner of the season.
Before F2 heads to the Principality of Monaco this weekend, we take a look at the winners and losers of the Imola GP.
Winners of the weekend
Alex Dunne
From the get-go, the Irishman looked to be quick starting the weekend off strong by topping the timings during practice. After an early conclusion to qualifying, Dunne was one of several drivers who were denied a second chance at improving their lap times. However, the Irishman’s lap was enough to slot him into P5. Eyes onto Saturday, Dunne was in a good position to fight forwards. Having started P6 for the Sprint, the Rodin driver managed to finish the race in P5—scoring more valuable points for his championship.
Heading into the Feature Race, Dunne wasn’t widely seen as a frontrunner in the battle for victory. But, the Irishman’s race pace was truly unstoppable. Gaining positions off the line, Dunne was filled with confidence. In the opening stages of the race, the Irishman quickly radioed his team, expressing his confidence in going for the win and identifying Campos Racing’s Arvid Lindblad as his main rival. After a great pit stop from the Rodin team, Dunne jumped several drivers—including Lindblad—for track position. After nailing the safety car restart, the Irishman cleared rivals on the alternate strategy and charged to victory.
In 2025, Dunne becomes the first repeat winner of the season. With another 29 points secured, the Irishman sits at the top of the Driver Standings with 64 points to his name.
Hitech TGR’s Luke Browning & Dino Beganovic
Amid media turmoil over Hitech’s Director Oliver Oakes resignation from Alpine, the Hitech pair still delivered strong weekend. It started off with a decent performance in Qualifying from both drivers. On Friday, Beganovic was one of few drivers who squeezed in a final flying lap before Qualifying ended early. Benefitting from a stroke of luck, the Swede secured his maiden F2 pole position. Meanwhile, Browning managed just one flying lap, forcing him to settle for P7. Headed into both races, the Hitech duo were in good places to secure a decent amount of points.
On Saturday, a good launch off the line for Browning immediately put him in a position fighting for a spot on the podium. Leading a mini DRS train—with Dunne and ART’s Victor Martins behind him—the Williams junior drove a brilliant race to hold onto the final spot on the podium. However, further down the field, Beganovic struggled to keep up after dipping his wheels in the gravel—dropping him out of the point-paying positions. Onto the Feature Race, Beganovic’s quick-reactions off the line allowed him to maintain the lead, with Browning slightly further down. Both driving great first stints, an overcut worked in favour of Browning which allowed him to jump ahead of the Swede out of the pits.
From then on, the Briton and Swede drove a stable race with decent race pace to secure their spots on the podium. Overall, a double podium for Browning, pole position and a podium-finish for Beganovic, you could say it was a good weekend for Hitech.
Arvid Lindblad
Apart from Dunne, the other driver who looked to have strong pace this weekend was Lindblad. Since securing his first win in Jeddah, the Briton’s momentum looked to have continued into this weekend. Again, Lindblad was one of several drivers who were denied a chance at improving their times during Qualifying on Friday. However, this did not stop the 17 year-old from storming through the field on pure pace. Having qualified P6, Lindblad started P5 for the Sprint Race on Saturday. A strong start off the line, Lindblad launched himself into P3 and was quick to get a move done on ART GP’s Ritomo Miyata to secure P2. After a strong performance in the Sprint, the possibility of another podium was on the cards for Lindblad.
During the Feature Race, another incredible launch off the line put the 17 year-old in P3 immediately— benefitting from ART GP’s Victor Martins who stalled from P3. After an impressive pit stop from the Campos team, Lindblad managed to jump in front of Invicta Racing’s Leonardo Fornaroli. However, getting stuck behind drivers on the alternate strategy and struggling to clear them ultimately costed him a shot at the final podium spot. Nevertheless, the Briton looked to be finding his momentum with lots of positives to takeaway from the weekend.
Jak Crawford
After a podium finish in Jeddah, Crawford delivered a composed drive on Saturday to claim redemption and the top step of the podium. Qualifying behind teammate Kush Maini—crashing late in the session and brought out the red flags—in P10, the deletion of Maini’s lap promoted the American to P9. Meaning, the American started the Sprint Race on the front row. For the Sprint Race, the American started alongside ART GP’s Ritomo Miyata in P2. A great launch off the line allowed Crawford to claim the race-lead from Lap 1. Controlling the race out in front, the American safely brought home his first win of the season—his third in F2.
On Sunday, however, a clean drive from Crawford meant securing more valuable points for his championship. Having started P10, the American driver managed to finish the Feature Race in P6—walking away from the weekend with an additional 18 points.
Sebastian Montoya
After a strong debut in Melbourne, Montoya and PREMA have struggled to find performance. Scoring no points since then, the Imola GP looked to be a step forward for the Colombian driver. Aside from Beganovic, Montoya was the other driver who lucked out during Qualifying as he managed to squeeze in another push lap in the nick of time before the red flags came out for Maini. Securing his best starting position of the year so far, a time enough for P2 had put Montoya on the front row alongside Beganovic for the Feature Race on Sunday. Starting P9 on for the Sprint, the rookie did not manage to move up the field—finishing in P9 just outside of the last points-paying positions.
Chasing his first F2 podium or win, the 20 year-old faced heartbreak as he stalled as the formation lap went underway and struggled to get going. This meant it would be a pit lane start for Montoya. Despite the setback, the Colombian driver delivered an praise-worthy recovery drive through the field to finish P6—scoring his first points since the season-opener.
Losers of the weekend
Trident
Trident and both of its drivers have had a tough start to the year. Still struggling to piece together a strong race weekend, Trident have yet to show any notable performance. In order to attempt to challenge drivers and teams further up the grid, both Sami Meguetounif and Max Esterson are yet to find some pace. The Trident duo qualified P16 and P18 respectively. Once again, making the task of scoring points even more difficult for them. In the Sprint Race, it was disaster off the line for Meguetounif who stalled at the start. Although he managed to get going again, the Trident duo endured a lonely run at the back of the field, finishing P17 and P21.
However, there was some consolation on Sunday, as Meguetounif climbed from P16 to score his first point of the season—and his F2 career—during the Feature Race. On the other hand, Esterson is one of four drivers left yet to score any.
Kush Maini
Prior to his crash during Qualifying, Maini’s lap was enough for the Top 10. However, after crashing on his second push lap and triggering the red flag that prematurely ended Qualifying, Maini had his lap time deleted—dropping him to the back of the grid for both races. Similar to the Tridents, this made the task of scoring points even more difficult. With only one point on the board, 2025 has been a slow start for Maini. Driving to P13 during the Sprint, the Indian driver struggled to progress up the field during the Feature on Sunday. Once again, leaving another race weekend without scoring any points. In his third season in F2, Maini would want to hope his experience comes in handy moving onto the next race in the triple-header.
Victor Martins
The Imola GP was far from ideal for the Frenchman. Showing consistency once again on Friday, Martins managed to qualify P3, putting him in a good place to fight out infront. For the better of his future, Martins entered the season under serious pressure to perform. However, his 2025 campaign so far has been marked by misfortunes. Having started P8 for the Sprint Race on Saturday, the Frenchman narrowly missed out on a podium finishing P4. Although Martins secured a solid five points, he needs to deliver in the Feature Race—the higher scoring race—to make a serious impression as a title contender.
On Sunday, sisaster struck for the Frenchman during the Feature Race. Stalling on the grid during the start, the possibility of a podium or win slipped away. Despite the setback, the Frenchman pushed on to finish P12, just outside the points. Heading to Monaco, Martins would hope to have a better weekend.
As the F2 Imola GP concludes, Formula 2 is back racing this weekend on the streets of Monaco from May 23rd to 25th.
