Leonardo Fornaroli took his second victory of the season during the F2 Sprint Race at the 2025 Belgian GP, with just eight points separating him and the Championship leader. Victor Martins stormed into second, with Gabriele Mini taking the final podium position.
Oliver Goethe lined up in Pole for MP Motorsport. Home-hero Amaury Cordeel lined up beside him in second for Rodin Motorsport, with Fornaroli in third for Invicta Racing.
Lights Out
Fornaroli immediately took the lead into Turn 1 after an impressive start.
Cordeel maintained second position as Goethe fell into third.
Safety Car
Championship-leader Richard Verschoor spun at the bottom of Eau Rouge.
Making his way back to the pit-lane, an oil leak meant that the MP Motorsport driver was forced to retire.
Furthermore, contact between Luke Browning and Jak Crawford on the exit of Turn 1 meant that the Williams Junior Driver was also out.
Green Flag
Attempting to escape the DRS risk from behind, Fornaroli pulled away early as the green flag was waved.
The two Red Bull junior drivers went side by side, with Marti appearing losing his front wing endplate due to the contact.
Meanwhile, tomorrow’s Feature Race polesitter Alex Dunne made a crucial move on Ritomo Miyata into the last points-paying position.
A brief yellow flag was waved in the final sector as the marshals recovered the debris from Marti’s car.
Roman Stanek was the next driver to make the move on Miyata into Les Combes, with the Japanese driver having his best Qualifying result yesterday.
Fight For The Lead
By lap six, Cordeel was now in DRS range of leader Fornaroli, forcing the driver to defend into Les Combes.
However, Fornaroli was able to respond, setting the fastest lap.
Arvid Lindblad was under pressure from Mini for sixth, with Dunne hoping to capitalise in eighth. He was able to make the move on lap seven.
As Goethe was struggling in third, Martins was able to make the move along the Kemmel Straight into the final podium position.
Fornaroli claimed it was “not easy” to manage the tyres, with much of the field starting to struggle for grip.
Dunne was increasingly closing the gap to Mini ahead, whilst Martins was now chasing second as he was in DRS range of Cordeel.
Safety Car
It was disaster for home-hero Cordeel, who ended up in the gravel at Turn 6 after contact with Martins.
The ART driver claimed “he crashed himself”, believing he had the driving line.
The entirety of the field took a gamble, excluding the top four drivers, as they pitted under the Safety Car.
Fitting the Soft tyres, they were hoping to capitalise with minimal racing laps remaining.
Lindblad had a particularly slow stop, dropping from sixth to eleventh, with his teammate Marti being the highest-placed driver who stopped.
Green Flag
Fornaroli continued to lead the field on the Medium tyres as the green flag was waved.
Mini took third from Goethe at Les Combes, with Marti moving ahead of Shields at the same corner.
The Soft tyre gamble was already proving to be beneficial, with a warning to the front-runners that it may be “tricky” towards the end.
Stanek and Dunne also swept through Shields, with the Irish driver also taking a late dive on the Invicta Racing driver at Turn 1.
Marti went deep at Turn 1, with Dunne having a chance for fifth position.
However, Stanek was able to capitalise from this battle, re-taking sixth from the Rodin Motorsport driver at Les Combes
With two laps remaining, Fornaroli was still delivering purple sectors, despite the decision not to pit.
Second Safety Car
With one lap remaining, Sami Megatounif was stranded on the Kemmel Straight.
Therefore, the race ended under the Safety Car, with Fornaroli leading from Martins and Mini.
Leonardo Fornaroli won his second consecutive Sprint Race, with just eight points separating him and the Championship leader. Victor Martins stormed into second, with Gabriele Mini taking the final podium position.
Featured Image Credit: EF1 Drive
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