The first round of the 2025 FIA F2 championship went underway at the Australian GP in Melbourne. With what was an eventful first round, drivers faced the immediate challenges of managing a chaotic weekend.
The scenes on a sunny Saturday in Australia, saw Joshua Dürksen standing on the top step of the podium after the sprint race. However, the contrasting images of the torrential downpour that hovered over Albert Park the following day led to the cancellation of the feature race. Ultimately, this came as a huge disappointment for both fans and drivers.
The Australian GP threw many hurdles at the F2 grid as many navigated through a challenging weekend. Nonetheless, drivers have a long season ahead of them in 2025 and quickly shift their focus towards the next round in Bahrain in a few weeks time.
With one of fourteen rounds completed, who really were the real winners and losers of the Australian GP?
Winners of the weekend
Joshua Dürksen
The Paraguayan driver had an exceptional start to his 2025 campaign with his sprint race win on Saturday. Dürksen started on the front row alongside reigning Formula 3 champion, Leonardo Fornaroli, and led the pack from start to finish.
The AIX driver aced his safety car restarts and utilised his experience to his advantage as the sprint race saw two safety cars being brought out. Going into the season, Dürksen continues on his impressive trajectory after having taken 4 podiums last year, which included 2 wins.
Looking to carry the hopes of Hispanic and Latin Americans to the highest ranks in motorsport, Dürksen would hope to continuously have weekends like these to bring the Paraguayan flag to the top. Nonetheless, the AIX driver looks to be a solid contender for the title this year.
Leonardo Fornaroli
The reigning F3 champion kickstarted his F2 campaign on the right foot. Finishing in P2 on his debut, the sprint race could not have gone any better for the rookie. A reasonable first qualifying session for the Italian put him in P10 for the feature race, and pole for the sprint. And in hindsight, this was ideal for the weekend.
Despite losing the lead into Turn 1, Fornaroli acknowledged a long journey ahead of his 2025 F2 campaign tackling new concepts like thermal degradation and most importantly, his own car. Together with consistency, the 2024 F3 champion would undoubtedly be a contender for the title in his rookie season.
If successful, Fornaroli would join an acclaimed list of drivers to do so with the likes of the reigning F2 champion, Gabriel Bortoleto and Oscar Piastri.
Luke Browning
Williams Racing’s junior, Luke Browning, has looked to be a favourite for the championship from the get-go. The British driver looks to bring his history of success in single-seaters into his first full-season in F2 after replacing fellow ex-Williams Racing junior, Zak O’Sullivan, who had vacated his seat early due to the lack of funding.
Browning, who had six F2 races under his belt heading into Melbourne, scored his first podium in the series after finishing P3 in the sprint race. A serious point haul was certainly in sights for the British. The Hitech driver was set to start the feature race in P6, alongside teammate Ferrari-backed Dino Beganovic in P5.
After finishing second-runner up behind fellow rookies, Gabriele Minì and Leonardo Fornaroli, in the F3 championship in 2024, Browning looks to have an impressive F2 campaign ahead of him.
Gabriele Minì
The season-opener was not the Italian’s first experience of a F2 weekend as Minì got a taste of his first in Azerbaijan last year. The Alpine academy driver scored a debut podium in Baku, leaving an impactful impression ahead of his first full-season.
The 2024 F3 runner-up managed to put in an impressive lap to secure pole. However, the Italian saw a three-place grid penalty come his way for both races after having been found to have impeded DAMS’ Jak Crawford during qualifying. Despite the consequences, Minì was able to finish P7 having started P13 during the sprint race. The PREMA driver showcased some impressive overtakes to fight back into a point-scoring position and grabbed his first points of the year.
Another rookie who has their eyes set on the title this year, Minì would hope to carry this momentum to Bahrain.
Losers of the weekend
Trident’s Max Esterson & Sami Megeutonif
It was a season-opener to forget for the Trident duo. The team’s lineup looks at two F3 graduates heading into their first full-season in F2. However, this was not Esterson’s first outing in the new generation of F2 cars. The American had 4 races under his belt heading into the first round. The 22 year-old was announced as Richard Verschoor’s replacement in the last two rounds of the 2024 season, who headed for MP Motorsport to replace Dennis Hauger.
Megeutonif and Esterson crashed their cars during lap 6 and 15 respectively, which brought out both safety cars during the sprint race. However, the cancellation of the feature race left no opportunity for redemption for the duo. An underwhelming qualifying from both drivers (P20 & P22) would have seen Trident start at the back of the grid. The duo would have needed to deliver the drive of their lives to move up into a point-scoring position. Looking forwards, the French and American pair would hope to aim to have a better weekend in Bahrain.
Victor Martins
The French driver is a familiar face in the paddock with two seasons under his belt as he heads into his third. However, the ART driver would have hoped to have a better season-opener than he did. Clipping the rear of his car at the exit of Turn 5, the Frenchman was the first of four retirements. An unfortunate situation which costed him the start of a season he very much needed. Martins inherited pole from Minì for the feature race, but a rainy Sunday over Albert Park denied Martins a second-chance.
Martins is under serious pressure to win the title this year. After being dropped by the Alpine academy at end of last year, the Frenchman realises this is his last chance to impress. Having qualified P2 for the feature race, Martins will look to replicate this in Bahrain and hopefully get his 2025 campaign going.
