While not first on the road, Leonardo Fornaroli claimed the F2 Championship at the 2025 Qatar Grand Prix. The Italian driver has claimed the championship in his rookie season with one round to go.
Victor Martins was victorious in the F2 Feature Race at the 2025 Qatar Grand Prix. Marins edged out Fornaroli and Alex Dunne in a dramatic ending to the penultimate race of the season.
This Weekend So Far…
Leonardo Fornaroli was fast from the get go in Qatar. Championship Leader clocked a 1:38.656 in practice around the Lusail International Circuit ahead of Dino Bgeanovich and Alex Dunne.
In qualifying at the 2025 Qatar Grand Prix, it was MP Motorsports’ Oliver Goethe who was fastest on the timesheets. However, a post session penalty for Goethe handed Fornaroli his third pole position of the season. Fornaroli will line up ahead of Victor Martins and Roman Stanek.
The F2 Sprint Race brought another victory for Richard Verschoor. The MP Motorsport driver added an additional 11 points to his championship campaign in a safety car ridden race. Joshua Dürksen and Rafael Villagómez rounded out the podium in Qatar.
Fornaroli’s Title Hopes
Heading into the F2 Feature Race, Fornaroli is 21 points ahead of Jak Crawford in second. The young Italian is in prime position to secure the 2025 Formula 2 Championship in Qatar. With only 40 points available in Abu Dhabi, Fornaroli will need to outscore Crawford by 19 points to claim the F2 Championship at the 2025 Qatar Grand Prix.
While Fornaroli starts in pole position, closest championship rival Crawford is back in 15th. All eyes are now on the F2 Feature Race, and whether Fornaroli will be able to come out on top in the penultimate race weekend of the 2025 season.
Lights Out
It was a delayed start for the F2 Feature Race at the 2025 Qatar Grand Prix, with the starting time being bumped back by 10 minutes. Once the lights went out, the drama was on. Victor Martins was away quickly, charging ahead of Fornaroli before the first corner. While the cars were clean through the first lap, it was Dunne who got the jump on Geothe for fourth.
With Fornaroli radioing in about a degrading soft tyre, Martins began to pull away, with a three second gap heading into the fourth lap. Dunne continued his charge, sweeping around Stanek in Turn 1 for third on the road. Stanek struggled on the road, driving over the gravel trap as he held Geothe off.
The pit lane opened, and it was Fornaroli and Dunne who dived in on Lap 6. Switching their softs for hards, Fornaroli was quick to get his tyre up and running. Martins pulled into the pits on Lap 7, exiting the lane three seconds ahead of Fornaroli. While Ritomo Miyata pulled into the pitman for another reason, coming to a stop near the start of the lane with technical issues.
Fornaroli On The Chase
While the gap between Martins and Fornaroli grew to five seconds. The Invicta Racing driver was quick to close the gap following the pit stops. By the end of Lap 10, the gap between the net front runners was 1.3 seconds.
Beganovich, who was running the alternate strategy in Qatar, was extending his lead of the race. While the Hitech driver hadn’t pitted, he was running quickest on the track by nearly seven tenths on Lap 11.
Geothe brought out the first safety car of the race on Lap 15, parking his car up the escape road after crawling along the circuit. The safety car was out and it was Lindblad, Maini and Sheilds who all swapped their hards for softs. While the Hitech’s stayed out, Dunne and Nikola Tsolov picked up five second penalties for unsafe releases.
Green Flag in Qatar
Beganovich led the field as the safety car pulled into the pit lane. With the safety car out for only one lap, the field was still spread out as the green flags waved. James Wharton picked up his second penalty of the race, with a ten second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage.
Beganovich began to pull away. The Ferrari Academy driver gaining 2.7 seconds on Browning. Further back, Martins was closing in on the lead pack, hovering in Van Hoepen’s DRS. With ten laps to go, Fornaroli continued to close in on Martins, as the gap dropped to 1.2 seconds.
Final Pit Stops
With the final drivers pulling in for their mandatory pit stops on Lap 27 of 32, it was Dunne who was all over Lindblad. The Red Bull junior driver boxed for softs on Lap 15. And with his tyres starting to fade, it was Dunne who managed to pass the British driver into Turn 1.
With three laps to go, Fornaroli was in Martins DRS. The championship challenger was closing on the Williams junior. Dunne, who still has a five second penalty, continued to escape up the road from Lindblad. The Irishman sitting 4.6 seconds ahead with two laps to go.
As the drivers entered the final lap, it was Martins who held off Fornaroli for the victory. However, Fornaroli just had to bring his car home in order to secure the 2025 F2 Championship.
Fornaroli Claims Championship
While it was Victor Martins who was first to the checkered flag, gaining his first victory in two seasons. It was Leonardo Fornaroli who claimed back to back Formula championships. The 2024 F3 Champion finishes the F2 Feature Race 41 points ahead of Crawford. Alex Dunne managed to gain five seconds on Lindblad claiming another podium to his resume.
With one round to go, the pressure is off for Fornaroli who was emotional over his radio. The first Italian champion of Formula 2 joins a list of impressive drivers including Piastri, Leclerc, Russell and Bortoleto who won their championships back to back.
Off To Abu Dhabi
While Fornaroli wraps up the F2 Drivers Championship. F2 will return next weekend at the 2025 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, with Free Practice kicking off at 11:05am track time.
Feature Image Credit: Formula 2 via X