The F2 weekend at the 2025 Hungarian Grand Prix saw the highest of highs and some crushing blows as the grid battled for the advantage heading into the summer break. Some bolstered their points hauls to leapfrog up the standings, while some of the grid’s frontrunners floundered after on-track battles left them empty handed. With four weekends to go after summer, will this weekend’s action be make-or-break in the ever-changing campaigns of the grid’s up-and-coming talent? Read our report now to find out.
The Chronicle Headlines
- Roman Stanek secured his first-ever Formula 2 pole at the 2025 F2 Hungarian Grand Prix, posting a commanding 1:28.779 in qualifying, leading an Invicta 1-2 with teammate Leonardo Fornaroli.
- Josep María Martí stood atop the podium for the third time this season, securing victory in the Sprint.
- Leonardo Fornaroli secured a win three weekends in a row, this time winning the Feature Race to sit at the top of the drivers’ standings with four rounds to go.
- Jak Crawford finished third in both the Sprint and Feature Races, meaning the American is now firmly in championship contention heading into the final four rounds.
- Arvid Lindblad and Luke Browning were demoted in the Sprint after being dealt penalties for leaving the track and gaining an advantage. Lindblad dropped from P4 to P10, while Browning was stripped of points entirely, plummeting from P5 to P12.
Free Practice – Browning Kicks Off the Weekend
Luke Browning laid down an early marker in Budapest by going fastest in Free Practice for Hitech TGR. The Williams Academy driver left it late but delivered a clinical final lap to set a 1:30.609, edging out MP Motorsport’s Oliver Goethe and Rodin’s Alexander Dunne in an ultra-competitive session.
It didn’t take long for the drama to begin; the red flags were out within the opening ten minutes after Ritomo Miyata came to a halt at the exit of Turn 1. The ART Grand Prix driver had to abandon his car, bringing the session to a temporary stop.
Once action resumed, Joshua Duerksen was quick to get into a rhythm, setting the early pace with a 1:32.879 for AIX Racing. However, with the track rubbering in, lap times quickly plummeted as drivers began trading fastest sectors.
Goethe Remains Strong
Oliver Goethe picked up where he left off in previous rounds, and continued to chip away at his own benchmark, lowering the session’s best to 1:30.742, putting him firmly in control entering the final 15 minutes. Stanek briefly moved up to second with a strong lap for Invicta Racing, reducing the gap to just 0.176 seconds.
Dunne then jumped to second before Browning slotted in just behind Goethe, 0.131 seconds off the pace with a few minutes to go. But the Briton had one more push lap in him and delivered right at the flag, going purple in sector three to take the top spot.
Behind the top three of Browning, Goethe and Dunne, Roman Stanek held fourth, while Duerksen improved late on to claim fifth. Victor Martins finished sixth for ART Grand Prix, followed by Campos Racing’s Arvid Lindblad. Dino Beganovic was eighth, with Verschoor slipping to ninth by the flag, and Gabriele Minì completing the top ten.
It was a competitive start to the weekend, with just half a second covering the top eight drivers.
Qualifying – Stanek Claims Maiden Pole
Roman Stanek claimed his maiden pole position in F2 with a commanding qualifying session. The Invicta was consistently among the quickest throughout the session and ultimately posted a 1:28.779 to secure top spot. He led a front-row lockout for the team, with Leonardo Fornaroli just 0.146 seconds behind after a brave late run.
Red Bull Junior Arvid Lindblad was the first to set a representative 1:30.319, but the benchmark was quickly lowered as drivers began their push laps. Oliver Goethe continued to show strong form, going quickest, before Stanek bettered that on his first attempt with a 1:29.107.
Stanek looked comfortable on the soft compound tyres. The Invicta extended his lead with another solid lap, meanwhile Fornaroli stayed in the garage longer than most, opting to avoid traffic by running later. When he did appear, he briefly went quickest, but unfortunately for the rookie, his lap time was quicly deleted for exceeding track limits.
Most of the field pitted for new soft tyres for the final push laps, and it was Stanek who again improved, dipping into the 1:28s with his pole-setting time. Crawford responded with a strong lap for DAMS Lucas Oil, briefly climbing to second before being displaced by Fornaroli’s clean final effort.
Luke Browning managed to find time late on in the session to sit fourth, continuing his strong weekend after topping practice. Duerksen secured fifth for AIX Racing, while Goethe ended up sixth after failing to improve on his earlier effort. Martins, Lindblad, Dunne and Martí rounded out the top ten.
Sprint Race – Martí Holds His Nerve
Josep María Martí secured his third win of the season in a thrilling Budapest Sprint Race, fending off a ferocious final-lap attack from Alexander Dunne. The Campos Racing driver converted reverse-grid pole into a deserved victory, though he was made to work for it across 28 intense laps.
Martí got away well at lights out, while Dunne slow off the line, allowed Lindblad to shoot through into second. That made it a Campos 1-2 in the early stages, while the field behind jostled for position.
Further back, Joshua Duerksen and Gabriele Minì were involved in a scrap just outside the points. It all came to a head when Minì misjudged his braking into Turn 9 and clipped the rear of Roman Stanek, sending the Invicta driver into a spin; Minì was later handed a ten-second time penalty for causing the collision.
On lap eight, Lindblad made a lunge down the inside of Martí at Turn 1 and briefly took the lead. Martí responded immediately with a slick switchback at Turn 2 to retake P1, but their battle invited Dunne and Martins into the fight, and by lap 10 the top five were running within DRS range of each other.
Lindblad eventually began to drop out of range from Martí, and Dunne capitalised with a brave move at Turn 1 on lap 19 to snatch second. Martins also attempted to pass Lindblad but was forced to back out, allowing Jak Crawford to sneak through and move into fourth.
Martí’s Lead Diminishes
A safety car was deployed on lap 22 when Sebastián Montoya stopped on the main straight. The neutralisation wiped out Martí’s lead, setting up a five-lap sprint to the finish.
At the restart, Luke Browning made a move on Martins into Turn 1 to grab fifth. Crawford continued to pressure Lindblad, and finally made it count on the final lap, passing the Brit into Turn 1 with DRS.
Up front, Martí locked up slightly at Turn 5 on the final tour, opening the door for Dunne to attack. The two went wheel-to-wheel through the final sector, but Martí defended bravely and crossed the line just ahead of the Rodin driver. Crawford took third, while Lindblad and Browning completed the top five. Martins held sixth, Fornaroli recovered to seventh, and Verschoor claimed the final point in eighth.
However, even after the race there were more surprises in store; Lindblad and Browning were both handed five-second post-race penalties by the Stewards for leaving the track and gaining an advantage. Lindblad was penalised for a lap 20 incident, when he took an off-track excursion at Turn 3 defending from Victor Martins. The move forced Martins to lift, and allowed Crawford to pass the ART driver. The Stewards ruled that Lindblad gained a lasting advantage and demoted him from fourth to tenth.
Browning’s penalty related to a final-lap incident once again with Martins, when the Brit went off at Turn 7 while defending from the Frenchman. Browning kept the position after leaving the track, which the Stewards determined to be an unfair gain. As a result, Browning was dropped from fifth to twelfth, falling out of the points entirely.
Feature Race – Fornaroli Takes the Lead
Leonardo Fornaroli delivered a masterful drive to take his first Formula 2 Feature Race win in Budapest and head into the summer break in P1 – despite a five-second time penalty hanging over him for pit lane speeding. The Invicta Racing driver led a 1-2 finish for the team ahead of Roman Stanek, with Jak Crawford completing the podium.
The race began behind the safety car after rain left the track damp. Stanek retained the lead from pole, and Fornaroli followed closely – the pair quickly began to pull clear from Crawford in third.
Luke Browning made an early move on Crawford for third but ran wide at Turn 2 and had to relinquish the position. Shortly after, Amaury Cordeel retired on lap six, bringing out a Virtual Safety Car. Once racing resumed, Arvid Lindblad, on the alternative strategy with medium tyres, made decisive moves on Goethe and Duerksen to climb into the top five. His Campos team-mate Martí lost ground in the early stages, dropping to P11.
Another VSC followed after Victor Martins stopped on track at Turn 12. At the restart, Goethe ran wide while battling Lindblad, falling behind Duerksen and Dunne.
Pit Stop Shake-Ups
The pit stops began shortly after; Browning, Goethe and Minì among the first to switch from soft to medium tyres. Stanek and Crawford pitted on lap 15, but it was Fornaroli who made the overcut work by staying out one lap longer and rejoining ahead of both. However, Fornaroli was hit with a five-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane, forcing him to push hard and build a gap. The rookie did exactly that, putting in a string of fastest sectors to stretch the margin over Stanek to over seven seconds by lap 29.
Crawford launched an attack on Stanek on lap 28 but locked up at Turn 1, failing to make the move stick. That allowed Fornaroli to disappear up the road while the pair behind squabbled for position.
The alternate strategy runners began to fall back as their tyres faded. Lindblad, still fighting in the top ten, came under intense pressure from Beganovic and Goethe. Meanwhile, Minì and Miyata pitted late, promoting others up the order. Fornaroli crossed the line with a comfortable buffer, neutralising his penalty and taking a deserved victory. Stanek and Crawford completed the podium, while Browning took fourth after a consistent and strategic drive.
Verschoor finished fifth, ahead of Lindblad, Beganovic, Goethe, Dunne and Martí, who recovered well to round out the points.
Looking Ahead
Four rounds remain in the F2 season after the upcoming summer break, but it’s all still to play for. In F3, rookie Rafael Camara stormed to take the Championship this weekend with one round to go – now, last year’s champion Fornaroli leads the F2 grid. Will the young Italian hold his own to go two-for-two Championship wins, or will it be a photo finish between the veterans?
Featured Image: Formula Motorsport Ltd