Rain, Rain, Go Away–Feature Cancelled, No Champagne Sprays: F2 Melbourne

Written by Lily Dixon

March 20, 2025

In Melbourne, 22 racers and 11 teams made their way onto the 2025 F2 grid, marking the new era with tons of new rookies due to five of their last year’s rookies leaving for the big leagues of Formula 1. 

Free Practice

Free Practice

The first free practice session of the season saw three red flags, with many drivers not getting the chance for a flying lap. Rodin Motorsport’s Alexander Dunne was the first to crash, sliding through the gravel before hitting the barriers with 34 minutes left on the clock. The session resumed briefly before Oliver Goethe spun at Turn 10, landing in the same gravel trap where Dunne had come to a stop minutes earlier. The final red flag came when two drivers spun to a stop—Arvid Lindblad at Turn 10 and Amaury Cordeel at Turn 13. With two minutes left on the clock, the session was not resumed.

Victor Martins posted the quickest lap time with a 1:32.587, followed by Kush Maini (1:32.736) and Joshua Dürksen (1:32.827).

Before the weekend, three teams were penalized for breaching regulations in preseason testing at Barcelona. As a result, all six of their drivers received a ten-place grid penalty for both the Sprint and Feature Races in Melbourne. Stewards also recommended that each penalized driver sit out one day of Bahrain testing later in the season to neutralize the advantage. Additionally, teams will be fined €10,000 per affected car.

The drivers affected by the penalties are:

• DAMS Lucas Oil: Jak Crawford & Kush Maini

• Rodin Motorsport: Amaury Cordeel & Alex Dunne

• TRIDENT: Max Esterson & Sami Meguetounif

Qualifying

Those watching qualifying saw a unique sight, with drivers racing on their first out lap for track position. Because of the rain and the frequent crashes that day, teams sought not only the clean air at the front of the pack but also the advantage of avoiding a poor lap time in case a yellow or red flag disturbed the session.

Teams were right to do so—immediately as push laps began, Max Esterson and Oliver Goethe collided while fighting for position. Race control noted the incident, and the session resumed shortly afterward.

Martins set 1:31 times early on and continued improving each lap, cutting his time down to the mid-1:29s. However, Gabriele Minì was faster, securing pole for the Feature Race on Sunday.

Dunne and Crawford finished crucially in the Top 10, with their ten-place grid penalties set to be issued in the upcoming races.

Minì’s fastest time was a 1:29.286, with Martins lining up next to him in Parc Fermé P2, just 0.114 seconds behind. Crawford rounded out the top three ahead of Richard Verschoor, Dunne, Roman Stanek, Dino Beganovic, Luke Browning, Joshua Dürksen, and Leonardo Fornaroli in P10—putting him on pole for the Sprint Race due to the reverse grid format.

Later that day, Minì lost his debut race pole position after being found to have impeded Crawford at Turn 4 during qualifying. He was handed a three-place grid penalty for both the Sprint and Feature Races.

Sprint Race

Come Saturday, Fornaroli and Dürksen lined up on the front row, immediately battling for position as the race started. Dürksen, in the AIX car, had the advantage going into Turn 1. Further back, movement in the field saw Beganovic drop from fourth to sixth after being passed by Verschoor and Stanek on the run to Turn 1.

It was clean racing until Lap 3 when Martins’ car stopped on track after he hit a barrier exiting Turn 5. His race came to an abrupt end as the damage to his suspension was too significant to continue. The Virtual Safety Car was deployed to remove his car and clear debris from the track.

Racing resumed on Lap 4, and immediately, Browning pressured Fornaroli for the P2 spot but was unsuccessful, slotting behind the Italian driver.

But it wasn’t just the fight up front that saw brilliant overtakes. Beganovic took the restart as an opportunity to get revenge on Stanek, reclaiming fifth from the Invicta driver. Further back, Minì made a move on Campos Racing’s Josep María “Pepe” Martí to take P8.

The time for overtaking action came to an end on Lap 7 when TRIDENT’s Esterson spun at Turn 6, hitting the gravel. The Safety Car was deployed, and after four laps, racing resumed once again.

As the grid bunched up for the restart, the fight for the lead intensified, but Fornaroli was too late to attack—Dürksen had already pulled a full second clear by the end of the lap.

On Lap 12, Beganovic spun at the exit of Turn 9, dropping to P17 after battling Stanek for fifth. He was lucky to continue, as Meguetounif spun at a similar spot just two laps later, ending his race and bringing out the second Safety Car of the day.

With six laps remaining in the 23-lap race, Dürksen extended his lead while Fornaroli fought off a long DRS train, staying under pressure until he crossed the checkered flag. The only other late-race movement saw Dunne passing Lindblad for P9—though it didn’t matter, as points in F2 Sprint Races only extend to P8.

The AIX driver won the first Sprint Race of 2025, hoisting the Paraguayan flag as he celebrated with his team. Fornaroli and Browning rounded out the podium, followed by Verschoor, PREMA racer Sebastián Montoya, his teammate Minì, and Martí in the final points-paying position of P8.

Feature Race

Punishing rain fell on Sunday, forcing the cancellation of the Feature Race due to extreme conditions and driver safety concerns. Martins, who had secured pole, will now have to wait until lights out in Bahrain—just under a month away—to potentially taste victory.