The second half of the 2025 Formula 2 season kicked off at Silverstone, and it delivered a full weekend of drama, rain, and reshuffling. Jack Crawford triumphed in a wet and wild Feature Race, while Leonardo Fornaroli took his first F2 win in the Sprint.
Despite a tough weekend, Richard Verschoor retains the championship lead, but the gap is closing fast as the title fight tightens heading into the final stretch.
The Chronicle Headlines:
- Jak Crawford wins in a chaotic wet Feature Race — his third victory of the season and a major title statement.
- Leonardo Fornaroli claims his first F2 win in the Sprint Race, leading home a double podium for Invicta Racing.
- Victor Martins takes pole but falters — strong one-lap pace undone by a poor start and late-race struggles in the wet.
- Luke Browning’s mega recovery drive earns him P3 in the Feature after gaining 6 places, plus a feisty Sprint showing at home.
- Dunne doubles up on podiums with P2 in both races, holding firm in tricky conditions and keeping his title bid on track.
- Beganovic rebounds from Sprint stall to finish fourth in the Feature, climbing through the field in style.
- Montoya continues his hot streak, finishing inside the top five in both races and showing relentless racecraft throughout.
- Late penalty drops Browning out of Sprint points, promoting Martins to P8 after their last-lap contact.
- Tyre gambles, Safety Cars and surprise gains shake up the Feature Race order.
- Unlucky weekend for Minì, with a Sprint penalty and a DNF plus a 5-place grid penalty in the Feature after contact with Goethe.
- Dürksen spins out of podium contention in the final laps of the Feature Race, triggering the final Safety Car and losing vital points for the championship fight.
- Verschoor stays on top of the Championship standings, but Crawford now jumps to second ahead of Dunne after his Feature race win.
Free Practice – Martins Quickest as Silverstone Finds Its Rhythm
Victor Martins topped the timesheets in a lively opening session at Silverstone, edging out local favourite and Williams’ teammate Luke Browning by just 0.051s in a flurry of late improvements.
The ART Grand Prix driver set a 1:41.699 on his final flying lap, reclaiming P1 after a back-and-forth with Browning and PREMA’s Sebastián Montoya, who had set the early pace.
DAMS’ Jak Crawford looked threatening throughout and briefly led the timing sheets, but a lock-up into the final chicane scuppered his last push. He settled for P3.
Montoya finished fifth in the end, narrowly behind Dino Beganovic, while Leonardo Fornaroli showed early promise for Invicta before fading to seventh.
There was a short red flag stoppage mid-session after Rafael Villagómez spun into the gravel at Turn 16, but running resumed with 17 minutes to go, and the top spots changed hands quickly from there.
Championship leader Richard Verschoor ended the session in P8, with Ritomo Miyata and Roman Stanek rounding out the top 10.
TOP 5 – FREE PRACTICE RESULTS
P1: Victor Martins (ART Grand Prix) – 1:41.699
P2: Luke Browning (Hitech TGR) – 1:41.750
P3: Jak Crawford (DAMS Lucas Oil) – 1:41.862
P4: Dino Beganovic (Hitech TGR) – 1:41.923
P5: Sebastián Montoya (PREMA Racing) – 1:41.962
Qualifying – Martins on Top Again
Victor Martins kept his Silverstone momentum rolling with a second pole of the season, mastering a stop-start Qualifying session that punished track limit violations and rewarded last-minute perfection.
Drivers headed out on soft tyres, but early laps were scrapped left and right for exceeding track limits. Just before the 20-minute mark, a red flag was triggered by Amaury Cordeel, who spun at the final corner and came to a stop mid-track. The Rodin Motorsport driver lost his best lap as a result — standard penalty for causing a red flag.
Once the session resumed, the top of the timesheets became a revolving door. With five minutes to go, lap times tumbled as track conditions improved, and the battle for pole heated up.
In the final seconds, Victor Martins posted a 1:39.731 to grab the top spot, just 0.065s ahead of Rodin’s Alexander Dunne. Jak Crawford slotted into third, continuing a quietly consistent weekend.
“Today was ours,” Martins said post session. “I think we did a great day again. FP was really strong. We knew exactly what to improve for quali… from the first few corners in sector one on my last lap, I knew if I was just doing not more than what I should do, I was going to get at least a top three again.”
Roman Stanek took fourth, with Sebastián Montoya continuing to show confidence in fifth.
At the tail end of the top ten, Leonardo Fornaroli jumped up to P10 on his final lap, swiping reverse grid pole away from Arvid Lindblad in the dying seconds.
Pepe Martí, last round’s Sprint Race winner, had a disastrous session and finishing only 19th.
TOP 5 – QUALIFYING RESULTS
P1: Victor Martins (ART Grand Prix) – 1:39.731
P2: Alexander Dunne (Rodin Motorsport) – 1:39.796
P3: Jak Crawford (DAMS Lucas Oil) – 1:39.971
P4: Roman Stanek (Invicta Racing) – 1:40.065
P5: Sebastián Montoya (PREMA Racing) – 1:40.138
Sprint Race – Fornaroli’s First Win in a Thrilling Silverstone Showdown
With 20ºC in the air and track temperatures hovering around 28ºC, the eighth Sprint Race of the season got underway on British soil — and it didn’t disappoint.
Drama started early for Dino Beganovic, who stalled on the formation lap. The Swedish driver had been due to start P3, but this forced him to begin from the pit lane, throwing away a key opportunity.
At lights out, Kush Maini launched into the lead, diving ahead of Leonardo Fornaroli. But the Invicta Racing driver wasn’t done, reclaiming P1 with a bold move just a few corners later.
Behind them, Sebastián Montoya surged into third with a clean start, getting ahead of Roman Stanek and Joshua Dürksen. The Colombian clocked the fastest lap early on.
Pepe Martí had a lightning launch, gaining six places off the line, while Richard Verschoor, the season leader at the start of the race, dropped six the other way.
Sprint Strategy Kicks In as Tempers Flare
British fans were treated to a fierce scrap between Luke Browning and Arvid Lindblad for P8, who gave a wheel-to-wheel fight that brought the home crowd to its feet.
The race shifted again on Lap 8 after a clash between Gabriele Minì and Alexander Dunne. Dunne locked up defending and made contact with Minì, resulting in a puncture for the Irishman. Minì sustained front wing damage but managed to carry on. However, the collision brought out a yellow flag two laps later so marshals could retrieve debris, and Minì was handed a 10-second penalty for causing the incident.
As tyre degradation crept in, the final six laps became a test of management, but Montoya wasn’t settling. The PREMA driver attacked Maini for second and quickly pulled clear to begin chasing down Fornaroli.
Elsewhere, Ritomo Miyata was handed a 10-second penalty for gaining an advantage, while Maini came under pressure from Stanek in the fight for P3. The Alpine junior defended with grit, but not for long.
Pepe Martí, still charging from the back, tried to snatch the final point in P10 from Lindblad but ran wide in the attempt, rejoining safely but without gaining the spot, and losing an extra one.
Fornaroli Eyes History as Montoya Closes In
With three laps to go, Fornaroli held a 1.6-second cushion over Montoya, looking poised for his maiden Formula 2 victory. Behind them, Maini and Stanek were still at it for P3.
Max Esterson spun with one lap to go, bringing a brief yellow flag, while Dunne retired from the race. Then, late drama struck between the two Williams Academy drivers. Browning and Martins made contact, nearly throwing away both their races, but somehow kept it on track.
At the flag, Leonardo Fornaroli crossed the line first, sealing his maiden F2 win and continuing the Italian Sprint legacy at Silverstone after Kimi Antonelli’s triumph last year.
The Invicta driver was all smiles after securing his maiden win:
“Very happy about today’s race, P1 finally. Really happy about my pace, I managed to be quick at the start, but without destroying my tyres, and with this I was able to defend from Sebastián. So very happy about today, now let’s focus on tomorrow’s Feature Race.”
Montoya finished second, with Stanek finally breaking through to snatch third from Maini on the last lap. The Indian driver had to settle for P4 after a gritty drive, while Dürksen beat Crawford to fifth by just 0.001s.
An exhilarating final lap capped off a brilliant Sprint at Silverstone.
It was a double podium for Invicta, a breakthrough for Fornaroli, and yet another reminder of Montoya’s rising star, who got the fastest lap of the race and is now firmly embedded in the fight at the front.
The Colombian driver shared his thoughts on the battle for P1:
“It was quite difficult to try and overtake Maini at the beginning because he was quite strong, but as soon as he started to drop, we were able to pass. I tried to catch Fornaroli at the end, but he managed the tyres quite well.”
Post-Race Penalty Alters Points Finish
After the flag, Luke Browning was handed a 10-second time penalty for causing a collision with Victor Martins on the final lap at Turn 7. The Stewards deemed the Hitech driver fully at fault, noting that he never had his front axle alongside Martins’ car and still had space to avoid contact.
The penalty drops Browning from P7 to P12 in the final results, promoting Martins into the points in eighth and moving several drivers up one position apiece.
TOP 5 – SPRINT RACE RESULTS
P1: Leonardo Fornaroli (Invicta Racing) – 36:53.118
P2: Sebastián Montoya (PREMA Racing) – 36:54.522
P3: Roman Stanek (Invicta Racing) – 37:02.513
P4: Kush Maini (DAMS Lucas Oil) – 37:04.306
P5: Joshua Dürksen (AIX Racing) – 37:04.984
Feature Race – Crawford Clinches Third Win in First Wet Race of the Season
Sunday brought very different conditions to Silverstone — fully wet, with a delayed start after earlier weather disruptions in F3. It was the first time the F2 grid faced proper wet conditions this season, but they went ahead with a standing start.
Jack Crawford made the most of it. From P3 on the grid, the DAMS driver launched brilliantly to snatch the lead, while pole-sitter Victor Martins struggled off the line and slotted into third behind Alexander Dunne.
Joshua Dürksen also had a rapid getaway, fighting in P5 ahead of Roman Stanek and Sebastián Montoya. Both Arvid Lindblad and Luke Browning gained three spots, while Pepe Martí surged forward with six early overtakes once again.
Browning and Lindblad brought the home crowd alive with a tense scrap for P8 — contact, but no damage. Crawford continued to stretch his lead out front, setting fastest laps and pulling nearly two seconds clear of Dunne.
Further back, Browning passed Richard Verschoor for P7, with Dino Beganovic following through. The Swede was flying after his Sprint stall and soon battled past Montoya — who wasn’t thrilled about radio messages from the team, urging him to hold position.
Strategy Games and Slick Tyre Standoff
Fornaroli and Lindblad had a brilliant wheel-to-wheel fight for P10, with the Briton holding firm. Fornaroli kept the pressure high but couldn’t force an error from the Campos driver. Meanwhile, drivers began managing tyres and anticipating more rain — but it never came.
Dürksen pounced on Stanek for P4, with Browning and Beganovic sweeping through as the Invicta driver faded. Browning’s momentum continued as he fought tooth and nail with Dürksen — eventually overtaking him in front of the cheering British fans.
Montoya, ever aggressive, attempted a bold move around the outside of Stanek for P7. The Czech driver fought back and reclaimed the spot. At the front, Crawford kept things calm, holding off Dunne and Martins while DRS was finally activated on Lap 15.
Tyre wear intensified, and with F3 cars already running, some teams considered a switch to slicks. Maini and Lindblad gambled with eight laps to go — the first to pit.
Dunne pressed Crawford just before the stops, trying to pass on track. Contact followed between Minì and Goethe after their own tyre swaps, and a yellow flag was triggered. Browning pitted for wets again.
Then came a Virtual Safety Car: Stanek went off and got stuck, just as Crawford pitted — a perfect bit of timing that allowed him to rejoin in front. A full Safety Car followed with four laps to go. When the pit lane opened, the rest of the leaders boxed, and Crawford retained the lead.
Final Chaos and Victory in the Rain
The race resumed with two laps to go, everyone on wets and the rain back in force. With no DRS and fading grip, it became a battle of survival.
Victor Martins lost pace dramatically, and Dürksen spun out of podium contention, triggering another yellow flag. Martins tumbled down the order, and another Safety Car was called almost immediately after, as Dürksen’s car sat stranded on the main straight.
That opened the door for Pepe Martí and Rafael Villagómez to sneak into the points.
The race ended under Safety Car, in heavy rain, with Jack Crawford taking a superb win — his third victory of the season. Dunne secured second, while Browning completed a heroic drive to P3 after gaining nine positions.
Beganovic claimed fourth, and Montoya brought it home P5 — more solid points in his growing tally. Lindblad took fastest lap and finished P8, while Verschoor remains championship leader.
Crawford shared his excitement after the race:
“Great race today, taking the win. Had a great start, managed to hold on to the lead for a while. Obviously, Alex was quite fast behind me, the race was drying out, we had to make a quick decision to go slicks or wets and we made the pit stop at the right time, right when the VSC came out, managed to keep the lead, What a day!”
TOP 5 – FEATURE RACE RESULTS
P1: Jack Crawford (DAMS Lucas Oil) – 1:03:05.304
P2: Alexander Dunne (Rodin Motorsport) – 1:03:05.531
P3: Luke Browning (Hitech TGR) – 1:03:06.142
P4: Dino Beganovic (Hitech TGR) – 1:03:06.673
P5: Sebastián Montoya (PREMA Racing) – 1:03:07.057
A Post-Race Penalty for Minì
Gabriele Minì received a five-place grid drop for the next race, following his contact with Oliver Goethe during the Feature Race. The Stewards found the PREMA driver fully at fault for the Lap 3 incident and, since he did not finish the race, converted his 10-second penalty into a grid drop.
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Don’t miss the next chapter as the Formula 2 championship continues after a short break at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium at the end of July.
Feature Image Credit: Formula Motorsport Ltd
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