It was a chaotic, high-drama Saturday in the F2 Sprint Race for the 2025 Austrian GP. It delivered everything from formation lap drama to airborne crashes, intense lead battles, and a four-car pileup on the final lap. Josep Maria Marti came out on top after a tense race of survival and strategy, marking a crucial win in his 2025 F2 campaign.
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Pre-Race and Early Chaos
As the grid prepared for the start under the reverse-grid rules, Jak Crawford stalled before the formation lap and was forced to start from the pit lane. That was an early blow that would eventually lead to a full retirement.
Pole-sitter Jonny Bennett lost four positions by Turn 1, tumbling to P5 as Joshua Durksen rocketed into the lead. But the first major twist came before Lap 2 could even finish.
Red Flag: Multi-Car Crash at Turn 3
Sami Meguetounif tried a risky move up the inside of Arvid Lindblad into Turn 3. The resulting contact forced Lindblad into Luke Browning, and Meguetounif was launched airborne. Megeutounif eventually landed upside down on the track next to Browning’s car. Max Esterson, arriving with nowhere to go, rear-ended Lindblad.
The race was immediately red-flagged as all four cars came to a halt. Thankfully, all drivers emerged from their cars under their own power. The incident triggered a long delay for recovery and track cleaning. In all of that, Dunne was also noted by Race Control for a potential false start and later given a 5-second penalty.
Rolling Restart and More Mayhem
As the race was set to resume behind the safety car, Kush Maini stalled in the pit lane, going two laps down before rejoining. Durksen led the rolling restart at the end of Lap 4. Just a lap later, Turn 3 claimed another victim.
This time, it was Dino Beganovic who was spun around by Oliver Goethe. Beganovic couldn’t keep the engine and was out on the spot. Goethe would later receive a penalty for the contact. The safety car made a gallant return to the track.
Racing Battles and a DRS Train
When the green flag dropped again on Lap 8, the field finally began to settle into a rhythm. Dunne passed Victor Martins on Lap 15 in a move that included minor contact, once again drawing Race Control’s attention.
At the front, Marti briefly stole the lead from Durksen. But Durksen reclaimed P1 a few corners later. That battle allowed Roman Stanek to close in, setting up a thrilling three-car fight. Eventually, Marti made his move stick and began pulling away, while Durksen and Stanek went wheel-to-wheel in a fierce battle for second. Behind them, a nine-car DRS train kept the midfield on high alert.
Final-Lap: Pileup to Maintain Race Rhythm
As the F2 Sprint of the 2025 Austrian GP reached its final stages, Marti extended his lead while the pack behind began to break up. By Lap 24, the top four had started to pull away from the rest.
In the closing laps, Gabriele Mini passed Bennett for sixth, and Richard Verschoor had a wide moment on the final corner of Lap 27 but kept his place thanks to a gap behind him.
But the final lap wasn’t without its own carnage. Amaury Cordeel spun at Turn 3 and caused a domino crash with Mini, Bennett, and Leo Fornaroli all piling in. Fortunately, this chaos happened behind the leaders and didn’t prevent Marti from crossing the line to secure another Sprint Race win.
The F2 2025 Austrian GP weekend continues tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. track time for the Feature Race.
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Feature Image Credit: Red Bull Content Pool
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Get 10% off all official F1 Merch at TheRaceWorks.com using code ‘EF1‘ at checkout.