This weekend’s Formula 2 round in Bahrain had plenty of on-track action with a chaotic sprint and split strategies in the feature race. Feeder Series takes you through our conclusions from the first full weekend of F2 racing in 2025.

By Calla Kra-Caskey

On Friday, Oliver Goethe topped practice, and Leonardo Fornaroli took pole position for the feature race ahead of the Williams duo of Victor Martins and Luke Browning. Pepe Martí took victory in Saturday’s sprint race ahead of Richard Verschoor and Joshua Dürksen before the latter was disqualified for a technical infringement. Sunday’s main race featured three drivers in their first full F2 campaigns on the podium, as Alex Dunne won from Browning and Fornaroli. 

• Pre-weekend roundtable: F2 rookies Montoya and Dunne relishing the series’ steep learning curve
• Qualifying report and quotes: Dominant Fornaroli beats Williams junior duo to maiden F2 pole in Bahrain
• Sprint race report and quotes: Martí takes second F2 win from 11th in Bahrain sprint after last-lap pass
• Feature race report and quotes: Dunne: Maiden F2 win ‘probably means just as much to my dad as it does to me’

1. Dunne’s bounceback victory

Dunne made history on Sunday when he became the first Irish driver to win a race in the modern F2, but his weekend wasn’t all smooth sailing.

After qualifying fourth on Friday, the McLaren junior had a difficult sprint race. He was involved in several incidents, and despite running as high as fourth early in the race, he fell out of the points after the second safety car. Two penalties – one in-race for a safety car violation and one post-race for causing a last-lap collision with Ritomo Miyata – meant Dunne was 19th and last among the classified finishers.

By contrast, Dunne’s Sunday was near perfect. He made it from fourth to second in the first lap and passed Fornaroli for the lead on lap seven. Imitating Zane Maloney’s winning strategy from last year, Dunne extended his soft-tyre stint until he pitted on lap 16. He then retook the lead on lap 18 as the pit stop cycle concluded, eventually winning by more than eight seconds. 

Dunne has shown strong pace throughout his single-seater career, but he has also developed a reputation for being involved in incidents like Saturday’s. While that remains an area of growth for the 19-year-old, he demonstrated impressive composure to bounce back and dominate the feature race – a promising sign for the year ahead. 

2. Strategy matters – but so does the start

The first feature race of the year meant mandatory pit stops came into play for the first time. Sunday’s race featured a dramatic split between those running the soft-hard strategy and those running the hard-soft strategy. Nine drivers, including six of the top eight on the grid, opted for Maloney’s winning strategy from 2024, and early on it looked to be the right decision.

On lap 10, as John Bennett took the first pit stop of the race, all of the top eight had started on the soft tyre, with Sebastián Montoya in 13th the only soft-shod runner lagging behind. Browning in ninth paced those on the hard tyre.

The pit cycle shuffled the field, but within the two strategy groups, the early order was largely maintained. Before the pit stops, Dunne led from Fornaroli, Martí and Martins. At the chequered flag, that order remained, with Browning slotting in between Dunne and Fornaroli for second. Martins finished fifth after qualifying second but suffering from costly wheel spin at the start. 

Victor Martins’ poor start cost him in the feature race | Credit: Dutch Photo Agency

Browning pitted from eighth on lap 13, meaning that despite starting on the hard tyres, he spent more time on the soft compound. He set the fastest lap of the race on lap 15 and overtook new Williams stablemate Martins for his eventual finishing position of second on lap 23.

Browning’s strong second stint showed the power of using the soft tyre effectively around the high-degradation circuit. It was also a good sign for the 23-year-old, who told Feeder Series on Thursday that his primary goal was ‘not making a mistake when it really matters’.

3. Campos comebacks make up for poor qualifying

The weekend started on a sour note for Campos, with Martí qualifying 11th and Arvid Lindblad qualifying 16th. But both drivers found pace over the weekend, with each one scoring points in both races and Martí taking victory in the sprint race. 

Last year, Martí managed a second- and a third-place finish from 11th on the grid. Although he managed one podium this year rather than two, his comebacks were similarly notable. In the sprint race, he made it up to sixth on the first lap alone thanks to an excellent start. His late pace was particularly impressive, and on lap 19, following a safety car restart, he made it up to fourth. Taking advantage of a battle for the lead between Beganovic and Dürksen, Martí made it into second on the penultimate lap before passing Dürksen for victory on the final tour. 

Martí once again had a great start in the feature race, using his soft tyres to make it up to fifth on the first lap. After running as high as third before the pit stops, the Spaniard finished the race in fourth, shuffled down the order by Browning on the alternate strategy. He was again rapid in the final laps, finishing just 0.434 seconds behind polesitter Fornaroli in third. 

Lindblad likewise had two strong comeback races, albeit in quieter fashion. He only made it into the points on lap 19 of the sprint before passing Dunne, Browning and Villagómez in the closing laps to take fifth, his first points in F2. In the feature race, Lindblad was one of the final drivers to pit, doing so on lap 17. He then used his soft rubber to climb from 17th to eighth in the next 13 laps and finish in the points once again.

Both Campos drivers have clear speed and excelled in the latter stages of a race as their tyres wore down. If they can improve their qualifying performances – neither driver has qualified in the top 10 this year – good results are sure to continue.

4. The standings are unexpected

We’re only two rounds into a long, 14-event season, but so far the newer drivers have been the class of the field. The top three in the standings – Fornaroli, Dunne and Browning – are all competing in their first full year of F2, with rookies Beganovic, Lindblad and Minì joining them in the top 10. Rookies have finished on top in both qualifying sessions and the only feature race so far.

Various drivers have repeatedly told Feeder Series that experience is crucial, but at the moment, the standings don’t quite reflect that notion. Returnees Martí and Verschoor complete the top five, a group separated by only five points. Championship favorite Martins has struggled with starts in all three races so far, and Dürksen, who led after round one, fell through the standings thanks to a disqualification from the sprint and a 10th-place finish in the feature. DAMS, whose drivers Crawford and Maini are each in their third seasons of F2, are one of two teams who have yet to score a point.

Plenty can and will change over the next 12 rounds, but F2 could certainly be on for a second rookie victor in two years. 

Results and standings after round 2 in Bahrain

Results	P1	P2	P3
Qualifying	Leonardo Fornaroli, 1:44.008	Victor Martins, +0.155s	Luke Browning, +0.248s
Sprint race (23 laps)	Pepe Martí, 46:24.663	Richard Verschoor, +0.922s	Dino Beganovic, +1.870s
Feature race (32 laps)	Alex Dunne, 59:40.123	Luke Browning, +8.244s	Leonardo Fornaroli, +19.433s

Standings	Drivers	Teams
P1	Leonard Fornaroli, 26	Hitech, 37
P2	Alex Dunne, 25	Campos Racing, 31
P3	Luke Browning, 25	Invicta Racing, 30
P4	Pepe Martí, 23	MP Motorsport, 27
P5	Richard Verschoor, 21	Rodin Motorsport, 25
P6	Dino Beganovic, 12	ART Grand Prix, 12
P7	Victor Martins, 12	AIX Racing, 11
P8	Joshua Dürksen, 11	Prema Racing, 10
P9	Arvid Lindblad, 8	Van Amersfoort Racing, 3
P10	Gabriele Minì, 7	DAMS, 0

Read our takeaways from the previous round here.

Header photo credit: Dutch Photo Agency