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Arvid Lindblad became the youngest F2 winner in history after race leader Richard Verschoor received a five-second penalty late in the F2 Sprint Race for the 2025 Saudi Arabian GP. His teammate Pepe Martì and rookie Alex Dunne rounded out the podium.
Roman Stanek, who was supposed to be on Sprint pole, received a three-place grid penalty. Richard Verschoor started the race from pole position in his place.
Lights Out in Saudi Arabia
Verschoor led the field down to turn one, Martì immediately around the outside of Minì for P2. There was an incident at the back of the field with Shields, but they continued racing. Our top five in the first sector was Vershoor, Martì, Minì, Lindblad, and Stanek.
Shields car was stopped on track, and the marshals pushed his car through the runoff under double yellow flags in Turn 1. They were not able to move it completely out of the way on their own. After most of the drivers had driven past the area, race control released the Virtual Safety Car so they could remove the car safely.
VSC Restart
Verschoor got a good start, but Minì was under pressure from Lindblad. The Red Bull Junior went down the inside of Minì, taking the place. Pepe Martì took the lead from Verschoor down into Turn 1 as Minì attempted to go around the outside of Lindblad to retake third.
After his attempt, Minì was now under pressure from Roman Stanek. Verschoor went around the outside of Martì down into Turn 1, taking the lead back from the Red Bull Junior. Now, Martì was under threat from his Campos teammate Arvid Lindblad.
Crawford, our pole sitter for tomorrow, was close behind Victor Martins for the last points position. Verschoor broke DRS to Martì behind with 14 laps to go.
The two Campos drivers Martì and Lindblad were dueling for the two podiumj positions as Minì was falling into Stanek’s clutches. Pepe Martì went wide, making way for Lindblad and putting himself under pressure from Gabriele Minì. Martì went wide again a few corners laters, letting Minì through. However, Martì took the place back into Turn 1, and Minì almost lost fourth to Stanek trying to take third back from Martì.
Drama Between Minì and Stanek
Minì kept the place off track, so there was talk of him letting Stanek past. Not long after, Stanek overtook Minì for fourth place, but Minì came back at him quickly. While the two were squabbling for position, Alex Dunne was able to overtake them both for fourth place, though Minì almost kept the place as the two were side-by-side.
The Prema driver was continuing to struggle, and Stanek continued to put pressure on Minì. Stanek went down the inside at Turn 1, Minì going wide. Roman Stanek held onto the position ahead of the Alpine junior.
Out front, Richard Verschoor continued to set fast laps and keep the gap to Lindblad behind at almost two seconds. The battle between Stanek and Minì continued as he tried to overtake him, but he went wide once again at Turn 2. He went wide at Turn 2 many times while attempting to overtake or hold position, catching the slight attention of the stewards.
Jack Crawford, who had gotten past Martins for P8, was putting pressure on Fornaroli in P7. He took the place into Turn 1, where many drivers were making moves this race.
Stanek broke the DRS to Minì behind, and MInì was under pressure from Jak Crawford who had been making moves. As Crawford went down the inside of Minì into Turn 1, he locked up, making contact with Minì and spinning around.
Late Safety Car
Jak Crawford lost the engine, stopping on track and causing a Safety Car. The field was forced to drie through the pitlane, and a few drivers chose to put on the super soft tyres.
The Safety Car entered the pits at the end of Lap 17 of 20, creating a close fight to the end. Verschoor went early, but he was under immediate pressure from Lindblad and Martì. Minì, who had been struggling, was overtaken by Stanek’s Invicta teammate Fornaroli. Victor Martins went down the inside of Minì in the hairpin, but the Italian driver held on to the position.
Alex Dunne put pressure on Martì for the final podium position with two laps to go. Verschoor already broke the DRS to Lindblad behind.
Five Second Penalty for Verschoor
Our race leader Richard Verschoor received a five-second penalty on the penultimate lap for pushing another driver off track. Second-place driver Lindblad was barely over a second behind, with many drivers close behind. Because of the late Safety Car, the field was compressed.
As a result, rookie Arvid Lindblad took his maiden win in Formula 2, making history as the youngest driver to win inthe series at 17 years old. It was a Campos Racing one-two with Pepe Martì close behind. Verschoor was dropped down to fourth position after the penalty was applied. He was also noted for a Safety Car infringement, which will be investigated after the race. There were a few other incidents between drivers that will be investigated after the race as well.
Arvid Lindblad secures his maiden win in the F2 Sprint Race for the 2025 Saudi Arabian GP ahead of teammate Pepe Martì and rookie Alex Dunne.
Photo Credit: Red Bull Content Pool
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