Joshua Dürksen wins the F2 Sprint Race for the 2025 Australian Grand Prix. In an insane session, the series has its first winner for 2025.
Early penalties
The Grid looks a bit different from our qualifying order. Post-Qualifying Gabriele Minì was handed a three-place grid penalty for both races. This comes after he impeded Jak Crawford during yesterday’s session.
F2 also had a testing scandal, which resulted in a ten-place grid drop for six drivers. Shaking up the grid for today’s sprint race.
There are 23 laps ahead of these young drivers, with all of them eager to start this season off on a high.
Lights out at the 2025 Australian Grand Prix
Former F3 champion Leonardo Fornaroli will start from pole position, and Dürksen will start alongside him on the front row.
With a track temperature of 48 degrees, tyre management will be important for all the drivers.
Dürksen managed to take first place in the Invicta racing driver, with smoke appearing from behind his car. At the end of the first lap, the top three were Joshua Dürksen, Leonardo Fornaroli and Luke Browning.
Victor Martins has an issue with the wall, sustaining damage to his car and suspension. Ultimately, the French man is forced to retire from the race. Making it two races in a row where the feature race pole-sitter retires from the sprint.
The Virtual Safety Car is brought out so the marshalls can recover his car. The VSC lasts two laps. The track is then made green on lap 4.
Green flag racing
When we are back at green flag racing, the top three are Dürksen, Fornarolli and Browning. Browning immediately puts the Italian driver under pressure.
Jak Crawford has unfortunately had to retire from the sprint race due to mechanical issues with his DAMS car.
Dino Beganovic pulls off a move on Roman Stanek, moving himself up to P5 for the first race in his rookie season.
Max Esterson brings out the safety car in lap 6, as he has a spin which saw him end up beached in the gravel. This adds to the woes of Trident and Esterson, with a qualifying incident yesterday. As well as the penalties awarded to the team, it has been a weekend to forget.
Fornaroli will be hoping to reclaim his P1 after losing it at the race start. Having not won a race in Formula 3, a win would be an amazing start to the Italians Formula 2 career.
Behind the Safety Car, Dunne is complaining of having a leg cramp. Which could prove troublesome for the Irishman later on in the race.
The Safety Car comes to an end on lap 11.
Racing resumes
Dürksen has managed to keep his lead out front. Ultimately putting Fornaroli at risk behind him. The Paraguayan driver has managed to use his experience in the series to stay out front of the rookies.
It is a relatively clean first few laps after the safety car. Until Dino Beganovic is spun around on track. Having a brief moment at turn nine, all drivers behind him managed to miss him. However, Beganovic dropped down to 17th.
Pepe Marti benefitted the most from the Swedish driver’s moment. However, he swiftly loses positions to the PREMA duo of Montoya and Minì.
Trident’s woes continue
Sami Meguetounif brings out the safety car for the second time in this race. The Trident driver had a spin in the entry of turn 10 and ended up in the gravel, similar to his teammate. This once again has added to the woes of Trident.
However, this will provide a learning experience for both the rookie drivers as they continue to grapple with Formula 2.
Stanek’s race engineer provided him with some encouraging words before the race began again. “It’s not about forcing the overtake. It’s about forcing the mistake.” Emphasising the importance of mental pressure in the championship.
The safety car comes to an end at the end of lap 16, with Dürksen once again under pressure from those behind him.
Once again, Dürksen has managed to control the pace out front. Ultimately keeping his first place.
Ritomo Miyata has a trip to the gravel, which cost him two places. However, Miyata believed he was pushed wide by rookie Alex Dunne.
Final stages of the race
There is an intense battle between the PREMA drivers of Montoya and Minì. On lap 19, the Italian driver attempted to make a move on his teammate. However, Montoya defended well. Keeping his teammate behind him.
This battle has brought into the fight the Campos duo of Pepe Marti and Arvid Lindblad. There could very well be a four-way battle for sixth in the closing stages of this race.
Back at the front of the field, Roman Stanek has set the fastest lap time of the race, making himself a late challenger for a Formula 2 podium.
Alex Dunne makes a late move on Arvid Lindblad, moving himself up to ninth position on his first Formula 2 race.
Joshua Dürksen wins the F2 sprint race at the 2025 Australian Grand Prix. Securing back-to-back wins in the series across different seasons.
Leonardo Fornaroli completes his Formula 2 debut with a debut podium, establishing himself as a contender for back-to-back titles.
Luke Browning rounds out the podium for his first F2 podium.
Formula 2 will be back tomorrow for the Feature race tomorrow.
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Feature Image Credit Dutch Photo Agency