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2025 F2 Azerbaijan Grand Prix
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2025 F2 Azerbaijan Grand Prix – Weekend Roundup

Theo Silk

The 2025 F2 Azerbaijan weekend proved to be as chaotic as it was fast. Red flags and championship upsets took centre stage as the Formula 2 World Championship is heating up towards the backend of the season. Jak Crawford took feature race victory in Baku, while Dino Beganovic grasped his maiden victory in F2 during the sprint. Leonardo Fornaroli is looking behind him in the standings as the American driver is closing the gap in the championship.

The Chronicle Headlines

  • Jak Crawford has closed the gap to Leonardo Fornaroli after winning the feature race from pole – He capitalised on the mistakes made by his championship rivals.
  • Dino Beganovic took a maiden F2 victory in the sprint – Passing Rafael Villagomez for P1 off the line ensured a commanding victory.
  • Joshua Durksen’s formidable drive to 2nd from 15th on the grid in the feature race – The Paraguayan climbed 13 places to challenge Crawford for the race win.
  • Championship leader’s challenging weekend – Leonardo Fornaroli beaten to pole by Crawford, as he unravelled his own weekend in the feature race.
  • Alex Dunne went from hero to zero in Baku, after topping the timesheets in practice to retiring in the feature race – a weekend to forget for the Irishman.
  • Multiple red flags disrupted the qualifying session, with Amaury Cordeel, Victor Martins and Roman Stanek the culprits.
  • Martinius Stenshorne and Laurens van Hoepen debut for Trident after Sami Meguetounif and Max Esterson parted ways with the team. Stenshorne had an unfortunate weekend, retiring from both the sprint and the feature races.

Free Practice – Dunne on Top as Fornaroli Struggled

Alex Dunne edged out Jak Crawford and Dino Beganovic in a tightly contested practice session at the 2025 F2 Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

The 19-year-old Irishman topped the time sheets ahead of the American DAMS Lucas Oil driver by just under five thousandths of a second with a time of 1:55.720. It must surely be destined to be an action-packed weekend if it were to be this close.

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Alex Dunne during Practice/Qualifying on the streets of Baku // Credit: Simon Galloway/LAT Images

Championship leader Leonardo Fornaroli failed to break the top ten in 13th as Luke Browning looked promising in 4th. On Hitech’s progress this season, the British championship contender said:

“I think we all feel connected, the guys have put a great car down, and me and Dino are working on ourserlves a lot between each event, and that’s where you are seeing the progression come from.”

With much speculation surrounding Arvid Lindblads future, the 18-year-old British-Swede found himself in 17th place. He brought out the Virtual Safety Car with six minutes to go, putting a brief pause to proceedings.

Alex Dunne, Luke Browning, Ritomo Miyata and John Bennett were the others to find the escape road throughout the session. The drivers had to get to grips with a tight Baku circuit before qualifying.

Qualifying – Crawford Pole Position in Red Flag Encompassed Session

After a chaotic session, championship leader Fornaroli had to start the feature race behind Crawford on the front row. Rafael Villagomez took sprint pole.

It was the American’s second pole position of the season – his first in Saudi Arabia – with a time of 1:54.791. The Aston Martin development driver finished ahead of his Italian rival, with his eyes fixed on a third feature race win of the season – previously victorious in Monaco and Silverstone.

This weekend was a great opportunity for him to close the gap to his competitors in front as he sat fourth in the championship.

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Jak Crawford on track during Practice/Qualifying in Azerbaijan // Credit: Simon Galloway/LAT Images

A brief delay to the start of the session due to a loose exit curb was only the start of what was a chaotic qualifying.

Roman Stanek set the benchmark for Invicta Racing. However, Alex Dunne replicated what he did in practice, shooting up to the top of the timesheet.

Red Flags Galore

Dunne’s Rodin Motorsport teammate Amaury Cordeel brought out the first red flag after a snap of oversteer sent the Belgian into the barriers at turn 13. He would start the race at the back with his time of 02:38.8 not classified, as it did not reach the target time of 2:02.826 – within 107% of the fastest time.

Fornaroli surpassed an improvement from Dunne, but Crawford’s lap-time snatched provisional pole from the pair. The 20-year-old Italian almost bettered the American’s time, but trailed by a mere 0.019s.

Further red flags prevented Crawford’s time from being beaten. Victor Martins found the barriers first, while a turn one incident brought out another red flag with a minute to go. Stanek rejoined the track dangerously, colliding with John Bennett, which put an end to the session.

Sprint Race – Beganovic Achieves Maiden Victory in F2

Dino Beganovic won commandingly in the Baku Sprint on Saturday, as Hitech achieved a 1-2 finish.

It was pandemonium on the opening lap. Beganovic snatched the lead from polesitter Rafael Villagomez at the start, but contact between the Mexican and Josep María Martí at turn one abruptly ended both drivers’ races on the opening lap.

Oliver Goethe tried to squeeze his MP Motorsport car down the inside of John Bennett at turn two, which did not go in the German’s favour, as he too retired from the race.

Martinius Stenshorne was having a great race, passing Sebastian Montoya for second place. He was on track for a maiden podium in Formula 2 on his debut weekend for Trident.

However, the McLaren Development Driver unexpectedly slowed down and had to retire following an exhaust system failure. The stranded Trident brought out the safety car once again.

“After a promising start, an exhaust system broke, a component not under the team’s control, forcing him to retire.

“It’s a real shame because Stenshorne’s pace was competitive and there was a real chance of fighting for the win.” – Giacomo Ricci, Trident Team Manager

A Battled Restart

Alex Dunne and Luke Browning battled on the restart, with the Irishman overtaking the Brit for third. The other McLaren Development Driver fought his way to the bottom step of the podium from seventh on the grid.

He could not hold onto it though, as Dunne went deep at turn one on lap 15 and to manage the flat spots on his tyres for the remainder of the race.

Browning on the other hand took second from Montoya, who suffered an issue towards the latter stages of the race.

Sebastian Montoya in Baku during the 2025 F2 Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Credit: PREMA Racing.

Laurens van Hoepen and Kush Maini both received post-race penalties. The former received a 10-second penalty by the stewards as he was deemed to have caused a collision between Ritomo Miyata and Arvid Lindblad on the opening lap. The Dutch debutant remained in 17th.

The latter received a three-place grid drop for the Baku feature race for making contact with the back of Amaury Cordeel’s Rodin Motorsport car.

Feature Race – Crawford Fends Off Durksen, While Championship Rivals Struggle

Jak Crawford won his fourth race of the season and the sixth of his Formula 2 career, beating his championship rivals to the line in Baku at the 2025 F2 Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Aston Martin Development Driver narrowly fended off a threatening Joshua Durksen, who gained a formidable 13 places to second from a starting position of 15th. Sprint winner Dino Beganovic completed the podium in third after battling his way up the field from 9th.

Leonardo Fornaroli could not retain his lead after snatching Crawford’s advantage at the start. A chaotic reshuffle in pit lane, caused by Martinius Stenshorne’s turn one crash on lap five, meant the Italian was held for longer than he would have liked.

This mistake was accompanied by a ten-second time penalty for later colliding with Alex Dunne on lap 13, consequently ruining his chances of victory.

Luke Browning and Alex Dunne both struggled in Azerbaijan, following Browning’s poor start and Dunne’s unfortunate collision.

Ultimately, Browning finished in 19th after missing out on the opportunity to pit stop during the safety car.

Dunne also had a difficult race. The McLaren Development Driver lost his place to Trident ‘s newbie Stenshorne on the opening lap. It was later followed by an incident where championship leader Fornaroli collided into the back of the Irisman. The Rodin Motorsport driver later retired on lap 25.

A post-race penalty for Pepe Martí meant the Spaniard dropped from sixth to 11th. The stewards deemed that there was contact between the Campos and the car of Stenshorne, which put the debutant in the barriers.

Martí was given a 10-second time penalty, with his Campos teammate Arvid Lindblad promoted to sixth.

Durksen’s Formidable Race

The 21-year-old Paraguayan was given a one-place grid penalty for rejoining the track in an unsafe manner ahead of debutant Laurens van Hoepen on a flying lap.

He won his first F2 race for AIX Racing last year in the Azerbaijan Sprint, as the Paraguayan clearly runs well on the streets of Baku.

“I think we just hit it right with the setup, with the track conditions and everything. We were quick here last year we just didn’t get it right in qualifying,” adding, “the pace was just good, I felt comfortable in the car, I felt confident.” – Joshua Durksen, AIX Racing

The Championship Picture – Crawford Closes the Gap to Fornaroli

Jak Crawford’s strong weekend meant the American DAMS Lucas Oil driver leapfrogged both Luke Browning and Richard Verschoor in the standings.

“It’s a great day for me, a great day for the Championship. I feel like I did a great race, although not quite with the ultimate pace, but I managed my track position well and very happy with the result.” – Jak Crawford, DAMS Lucas Oil

Leonardo Fornaroli retains his championship lead with 188 points, but the gap between the Italian and Crawford has reduced to 19 points.

Arvid Lindblad sits seventh in the standings, trailing his Campos teammate Josep María Martí, who sits in sixth.

Following a successful weekend in Baku, Dino Beganovic surpasses both Roman Stanek and Sebastian Montoya, after a sprint race win and a feature race podium.

Formula 2 will return in Lusail, Qatar, from 28-30th November for the penultimate race of the 2025 season.

Feature Image Credit: PREMA Racing

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