Marking the series’ historic 200th race, the second round of F2 in 2025 took place at the Bahrain GP this past weekend. After the disappointment of the cancelled Feature Race in Melbourne, fans were finally treated to a full weekend of action they’d been waiting for.
Heading straight into the third round of racing this week in Jeddah, we have a look at who were the winners and losers of the Bahrain GP.
Winners of the weekend
Alex Dunne
The Bahrain GP was a rollercoaster of emotions for Alex Dunne. It was a strong start to the weekend for the Irish driver, who secured P4 in qualifying for the Feature Race. However, Saturday did not go according to plan for Dunne. The Irish Driver started in P7 but quickly fell down the field. Dunne’s sprint race was action-packed from start to finish. After an early scrap with Victor Martins and having to defend against a charging Pepe Martí, it was a late race-contact with Ritomo Miyata on the final lap which relegated him to the back of the field. Dunne’s performance on Saturday was well below his expectations. However, it only fuelled his determination to bounce back on Sunday.
Sunday could not have gone any better for the Irish driver. Dunne’s lightning reactions off the line launched him into P2, and just a few laps later, he found himself an opportunity to seize the race lead. Subsequently, the Irish driver was in a league of his own as he drove off into the distance. Having secured his maiden win, Dunne became the first Irish driver to win in the series as F2 marked their historic 200th race. Following a dominant performance on Sunday with a large points haul, Dunne now sits in P2 in the championship, just one point behind reigning F3 champion, Leonardo Fornaroli.
Josep Maria “Pepe” Martí
The Spaniard’s success at the Bahrain International Circuit continued in 2025. After scoring a double podium on his F2 debut last year — where he coincidentally started from P11 — Martí once again charged through the field from the same grid slot, clinching victory on the last lap from Joshua Dürksen in what was a nail-biting sprint race. With a full season under his belt, the Spanish driver headed into 2025 determined to rewrite his story following a 2024 campaign that was filled with misfortune.
Martí’s advantage and success from Bahrain was the execution of his race starts. In both races, the Spanish driver was able to gain five to six places off the line. By capitalising off the mistakes made by the surrounding drivers, Martí’s charge up the field throughout the weekend was impressive to watch. Despite a slow start to his 2025 campaign, a win on Saturday and a P4 finish on Sunday delivered a significant number of points for the Spanish driver. Moving forwards, Martí knows that nailing qualifying is key to putting together a flawless weekend, which ultimately would put him in contention for Sunday wins as well. Heading into Jeddah, Martí sits in P4 in the championship.
Luke Browning
Consistency has proven to be crucial in past title fights in F2, and it’s a strength Williams Academy Junior Luke Browning continues to do. It was a busy weekend for the British driver, as he was one of six rookies who took over the cockpit of a F1 car during FP1. With two rounds completed, Browning has scored consecutive podiums so far. The Sprint Race may have ended without points for the British driver, but Browning managed to bounce back when it counted the most on Sunday, securing P2 ahead of where he started in P3.
Despite losing some positions off the line, Browning kept his head down and kept fighting. Alongside Hitech TGR’s clever strategy in the Feature Race, the Williams junior pulled off seamless moves on Fornaroli and fellow academy driver Victor Martins, sailing past them to secure his spot on the podium. With another piece of silverware added to his F2 career, Browning currently holds P3 in the championship as we head into Jeddah.
Red Bull Juniors — Oliver Goethe & Arvid Lindblad
It seemed to be a great weekend for Red Bull Juniors across both categories. Alongside Martí, a stellar recovery drive from MP Motorsport’s Oliver Goethe and Campos Racing’s Arvid Lindblad, following a disappointing qualifying for the pair, was nothing short of impressive. On Saturday, Goethe and Lindblad — who started P15 and P16 respectively — gained ten positions by the time the chequered flag fell. Goethe was not afraid to get his elbows out and showcased his race craft, executing a beautiful double overtake on Jak Crawford and Gabriele Minì. Following Joshua Dürksen’s disqualification from the Sprint Race, Goethe and Lindblad were both promoted to P4 and P5 respectively.
However, Sunday went more in Lindblad’s favour as Goethe narrowly missed out on points with a P11 finish. Campos and Lindblad played a strategic gamble as they decided to extend their first stint. Ultimately, it paid off as Lindblad finished the race in P8 and added more valuable points to his championship tally.
Leonardo Fornaroli
The reigning F3 champion continues to show that consistency is key, with back-to-back podiums heading into Jeddah. The Bahrain GP was a big weekend for Fornaroli. Having secured his F2 maiden pole on Friday, Saturday did not go Fornaroli’s way as he finished just outside the points-paying position in P9. The Italian bounced back on Sunday having started on the front row, and fought to hold on tightly to the last podium position against a storming Martí. Whilst his consistency remains on form, Fornaroli acknowledges that he still has a lot of learning to do.
Despite it being his rookie season, the Italian driver has shown exactly why he is a serious title contender this year. If Fornaroli keeps up this momentum, there is no reason the young Italian can’t win the championship in his rookie year. As we head into Jeddah, Fornaroli sits on top of the championship with a one-point lead ahead of Dunne.
Losers of the weekend
Victor Martins
The Bahrain GP was yet another disappointment for the Frenchman. Martins endured a tough weekend, finishing P15 in the Sprint and P5 in the Feature, with bad luck and personal challenges playing their part. Following an early scrap with Dunne on Saturday, the Frenchman sustained front-wing damage that immediately hindered his race. Despite showing top form in qualifying, Martins has struggled to convert this success into race results.
As mentioned previously, Martins is under serious pressure to impress the F1 paddock, to stand a chance at securing a coveted spot on the grid. With 2025 being his third season in F2, Martin’s future is currently uncertain. Accepting that this is the last year to do so, Martins will need to start putting in the needed results to prove his worth.
Max Esterson
The American driver and Trident are yet to get their 2025 campaign started. After crashing out of only race in Melbourne, Esterson did not finish the Sprint Race after he spun off track and struggled to get the car going again. Having qualified P17, a chance of points for the American was going to be a tough ask. Having opted for a rookie line up at Trident, settling into the series will be a main priority for both drivers moving forward to score points.
Trident is one of two teams left to score points. Heading into Jeddah, Esterson and his teammate Sami Megeutonif will both be looking to score their first points in F2.
Sebastian Montoya
The newly turned 20-year-old had a severely underwhelming weekend, following an impressive debut in Melbourne. Both PREMA’s went largely unnoticed the past weekend, as they did not appear to have the same level of pace as the rest of the field. Struggling to put together a clean lap in qualifying, the Colombian driver had to settle for P18.
Despite Montoya’s teammate, Gabriele Minì, who managed to salvage some points following a poor qualifying, the Colombian driver did not finish the Sprint Race following an early contact on the first lap. A lonely race for Montoya on Sunday saw him struggling to make any progress up the field as he finished P19. As the driver heads straight into Jeddah for the next round of racing, Montoya will be looking to have a cleaner weekend.
DAMS Lucas Oil’s Jak Crawford & Kush Maini
DAMS Lucas Oil are the one of two teams left to score points. Despite having two seasoned veterans in Crawford and Maini, the team has yet to put together a fully successful weekend. Both DAMS struggled during qualifying as Crawford and Maini qualified P14 and P20 respectively. During the Sprint Race, Crawford was not afraid to get into the action as he fought closely with others. However, Goethe’s bold overtake on the American driver and Minì triggered a small snap and disrupted his momentum.
Having finished outside the points in both races, Crawford and Maini will be looking to get their 2025 campaigns started as they set out on a task to score their first points of the season.
