Richard Verschoor claims the championship lead and his third win of the season in the F2 Feature Race at the 2025 Austrian GP.
Starting in third, Verschoor was quick to make his way up the field and into the lead around the Red Bull Ring. In race full of overtakes and small collisions, it was Alex Dunne and Leonardo Fornaroli who completed the podium.
So Far This Weekend…
In what was one of the tightest qualifying sessions of the Formula 2 Season so far, Fornaroli secured his second pole position of the year. The top 11 drivers separated by less than three tenths of a second, with Fornaroli edging out Victor Martins by 0.014 seconds. Verschoor qualified fourth, while Championship leader Dunne qualified down in seventh.
While he may have secured his first reverse race pole position, John Bennett failed to score points in a dramatic Sprint Race. Red Bull Junior Pepe Marti claimed his second sprint race victory of the year, climbing up from fifth. With two multi-car collisions at Turn 1, it was the three car crash that left Sami Meguetounif upside down that brought out the only red flag of the race. With another four car crash on the final lap, Marti managed to hold off Joshua Durksen for the win.
Lights Out
Feature Race pole sitter Leonardo Fornaroli managed to hold off the pack as the lights went out for the F2 Feature Race. MP Motorsports’ Richard Verschoor who was quick off the line, managing to pass Victor Martins before turn one.
Pepe Marti got the best start of the field, moving up to fifth. The Red Bull Junior moved up seven places in the opening two laps. In the midfield, Gabriele Mini was forced to retire due to engine problems, while ART’s Miyata also made his way to the pit after the opening laps to also retire.
Undercuts and Overtakes
With the DRS Train in full swing, the drivers jostled for position around the Red Bull Ring. Sebastian Montoya picked up a puncture after contact with John Bennett, dropping down to the back of the field.
Dunne joined the podium fight, moving up into the third place battle, with Martins, Stanek and Marti. With the half of the field on the alternate strategy, it was Martins, Marti and Dunne who pulled into the pits first on Lap 7. Swapping their supersofts for softs, they set themselves up for an undercut.
Martins took the lead of race, managing to undercut Verschoor and Fornaroli, while Marti and Dunne undercut Stanek for fourth.
As It Happened…
Red Bull Junior Marti continued to show his form around his teams home track, moving past the Invicta driver for third. With Dunne hot on his tail, it wasn’t long until the Irishman charged past into third on Lap 11.
While Dunne, Fornaroli and Marti fought for the final podium place, Martins and Verschoor fought for the lead. The Williams Academy driver pulled a cutback on Lap 15, Verschoor was able to re-overtake only a few laps later.
Halfway into the race, McLaren Academy driver Dunne had moved into Martins DRS. It didn’t take long for Dunne to steal second place, breaking late into turn four of the Red Bull Ring.
On the Alternate Strategy, Montoya had moved up from last, passing Kush Maini for the current race lead. With both drivers yet to stop for their mandatory pitstops, Montoya fought hard to recover from his earlier damage.
Crawford, who was unable to compete in the Sprint Race, made his move past Stanek for 11th on the road.
10 Laps To Go
With only ten laps to go, the fight was on for the final place on the podium. Martins failed to find grip, with Fornaroli attempting to pass on Lap 33, Martins again cutting back to hold his position.
With Martins sliding out on Turn 1, it was Campos’ Marti who tried to pass. The pair made contact, with Marti running into the back of the ART Grand Prix driver. Marti received a ten second penalty for the collision, while Martins struggled to hold his position.
Fornaroli picked up the pieces of the collision, sliding into third. While at the front of the field, Vershcoor extended his lead on his championship rival to over two and a half seconds.
Falling out of DRS, Martins had to fight Browning and Crawford for fifth.
After running last with bent suspension, Montoya charged up into 5th. His alternate stragey paying off, the Prema driver, who finished the race on supersofts, passing Brownings and Martins for sixth.
Oliver Goethe was the final retirement of the race, spinning out into the gravel in Turn 3. Goethe, joins Shields, Mini and Miyata, who also retired from the Feature Race.
Verschoor Clinches Victory
While Dunne had a late charge, he was no match for Verschoor, who managed to stay over a second ahead. Fornaroli completed the podium of the F2 Feature Race at the 2025 Austrian Grand Prix.
Following his post race penalty, Marti dropped down to seventh, promoting Crawford, Montoya and Browning.
With an additional 25 points to his name, Richard Verschoor overtook Alex Dunne for the Championship lead. Verschoor sits 6 points clear of the Dunne as the F2 Championship heads to Silverstone next weekend for Round 8.
Feature Image Credits: Formula 2 via X
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