Richard Verschoor capped off a remarkable Spanish GP with his second consecutive podium, claiming third place in the F2 Feature Race to maintain his position as a leading championship contender despite recent setbacks threatening to derail his title ambitions.
The MP Motorsport driver’s composed drive to the final step of the podium followed his surprise sprint race victory on Saturday, demonstrating both his resilience and the strength of his package as the 2025 championship battle intensifies.
Speaking to the media including Pit Debrief after the F2 Spanish GP, Verschoor said that both his performance and his team’s meticulous preparation had pleased him. “To be honest we had a long debrief yesterday [Saturday, post F2 Sprint Race] because yesterday, I stalled for the first time this year so we wanted to make sure that everything was right today, and I’m happy that we put in the work yesterday in order to get a very good start today which eventually gave me the podium today so yeah happy with the work of the team of course.”
Perfect start sets up podium challenge
The foundation for Verschoor’s F2 podium finish was laid at the race start, where he made crucial gains that elevated him into contention for the final step of the rostrum. After Saturday’s starting difficulties, the Dutch driver and his team left nothing to chance in their preparation.
His strong getaway allowed him to position himself behind Sebastián Montoya for the majority of the race, setting up an intense battle that would test his racecraft and tyre management skills.
“The pace after that, I think, was strong, but I was just behind Seb [Montoya] the whole time, but still, I think we did a very strong race,” Verschoor reflected on his pursuit of the PREMA driver.
Tactical race management under pressure
Verschoor’s third-place finish came after one of his most challenging F2 races of the season, requiring constant attention to multiple threats whilst managing tyre degradation across both compounds.
“It was definitely one of the more difficult races I’ve done. I was just trying to stay in the DRS to the car in front in order to have the best chance for Jack not passing me,” he explained, describing his tactical approach to defending from Jak Crawford’s late-race charge.
The complexity of his situation—needing to stay close enough to Montoya to prevent Crawford from mounting a successful attack—showcased Verschoor’s understanding of modern F2 racing dynamics.
“I’m not sure if he would have even without the safety car because his tyres were dropping off quite a bit, especially if you start to follow closely behind, but we will never know. In the end, I’m happy to have taken third place, and it was definitely a close call, but I cannot lie to say that I was not excited when the safety car came out.”
Championship confidence restored
The Barcelona weekend’s success has repositioned Verschoor firmly in championship contention, with the Dutch driver expressing confidence in both his own form and his team’s capabilities heading into the second half of the season.
“Well I feel like we have been the whole year. We have been very strong, very consistent. I really feel good with the team, and they’ve given me a good car like 95% of the time and the times where we didn’t we managed to turn it around,” Verschoor stated when asked about his title credentials.
His assessment highlighted the importance of consistency in F2, where mechanical reliability and setup versatility often prove as crucial as raw pace in determining championship success.
“I think that’s very important in this championship. Austria is a very good track for myself. I’ve had very good results. Many Dutch fans as always and last year I was on pole, so I think we have all the ingredients to do well there.”
Richard Ver-oomed away at the start of the Feature to go from P5 to P3 💨#F2 #SpanishGP pic.twitter.com/YG9FxFAD0S
— Formula 2 (@Formula2) June 1, 2025
Strategic approach to risk management
As a championship contender, Verschoor has had to adapt his approach to risk-taking, particularly in strategic decisions that could significantly impact his points haul.
When asked by Pit Debrief about how he calculates the risks and rewards when racing, he said, “Well, in terms of risk reward, I guess the strategy is the biggest one that you can risk.”
“I’m always someone that likes to do something different, but, for example, today the risk to have the safety car in the beginning was just too high, so we decided to go with the same as the front riders did,” he explained.
This mature approach to race strategy reflects his understanding that championship battles are often won through consistent points scoring rather than spectacular individual performances.
“I think you know, especially if you’re fighting for a championship, at some point you have to step back a bit in terms of how much risk you can take. And that’s what we did today and in the end it played out well, but let’s see what kind of risk we have to take in the future.”
Bouncing back
The Barcelona weekend represented a crucial reset for Verschoor after a challenging period that included illness affecting his Imola performance and the turn one incident in Monaco that cost him valuable points.
“Yeah even I mean Imola was just very sick on Friday, so I think that’s just a different kind of race where you know it was just all to blame on me not being fit. But yeah, that meant we barely scored any points and in Monaco, of course, we had the turn one incident, which was a shame, but even with all of that we were still kind of in the mix.”
His ability to maintain perspective despite these setbacks demonstrated the mental resilience required for championship success in such a competitive series.
“So I think we just you know, we’re just focussing race by race. Of course, I want to fight for a championship, but it’s still round six if I’m not mistaken. So yeah, it’s still early. We have many races to go.”
Maximising potential at challenging venues
Perhaps most impressively, Verschoor’s Barcelona success came at a circuit where he historically struggled, suggesting that both he and his MP Motorsport team have found a new level of performance.
“We are just focussing to do the best job we can. To be really honest, when I went to Barcelona I knew it was not my best track personally. If you look at my results in the past. But I think the team has been giving me a very strong car and I think this weekend we made the most out of that and that’s very important.”
