Richard Verschoor pulled off a stellar tyre strategy to take victory for MP Motorsport in the F2 feature race at Jeddah on Sunday.
The Dutchman overtook pole-sitter Jak Crawford on the final lap to take victory. Crawford and Victor Martins rounded out the podium on Sunday.
Lights out in Jeddah
DAMS and Jak Crawford took their first poles since 2023, setting themselves up during the 30-minute qualifying session on Friday. The American looked to take his and DAMS first win in 2025 at the F2 feature race in Jeddah.
As F2 commenced its 28-lap feature race at Jeddah, the top 3 maintained their positions. However, as Campos’ Arvid Lindblad went for a move on Luke Browning for fourth, he slid off the circuit at turn five. Rodin Motorsport’s Alex Dunne capitalised on this off, taking fifth on the road.
A flustered Lindblad lost position to teammate Pepe Martí onto lap 2, challenged by Gabriele Minì’s PREMA into turn 1. Both maintained their positions, though.
With DRS initially disabled for the first few laps, limited overtaking ensued around the Jeddah Corniche Circuit. However, Fornaroli going wide into turn 22 opened up an opportunity for Browning to take a position.
The Williams junior managed to make use of DRS, now available, to jump past the Italian on the run to the line. Dunne dived down the inside into turn 1, dropping Fornaroli down to fifth, before he pulled into the pits.
Elsewhere, John Bennett went into the barriers on the run down to the final corner on lap 7. The Van Amersfoort racer damaged his front wing, spraying debris all the way down the run to the pit lane.
Soft tyre runners pit
The drivers on the super soft tyres chose this moment to jump into the pits, anticipating a safety car deployment. Only Victor Martins stayed out among the front runners, still waiting for an intervention.
The ART racer jumped into the pits on lap 9, swapping for a set of medium tyres. The Williams junior jumped race leader Crawford for the net race lead. However, Martins defended his position, as he warmed his new tyres.
Elsewhere, Fornaroli got his own back on Dunne and Browning, claiming two overtakes on the exit of turn 2. Dunne’s attempt to pass the latter resulted in the Irishman running wide into turn 2, and into the path of Browning, sending the Hitech racer off the track.
A virtual safety car then neutralised proceedings, allowing for the debris to be cleared. Green flag racing resumed on lap 11, with Martins and Crawford scrapping fiercely for the lead. Martins managed to hold on to his position.
Meanwhile, more scrapping behind saw Dunne and Martí saw both drivers swap positions on the road. The duo continued to battle for positions on the road, with Martí eventually moving past Browning ahead.
Meanwhile, Richard Verschoor continued to open up a gap ahead, setting the fastest lap of the race as he extended his lead to 5.4 seconds to Kush Maini’s DAMS behind.
His teammate Ollie Goethe attempted to overtake Roman Staněk’s Invicta Racing into turn 1, but to no avail. The duo battled back and forth, allowing Maini to open up the gap ahead.
Dunne’s day would pan out to be difficult, with the Irishman given a five-second penalty for forcing Browning off the track.
Goethe was the first of those on the medium tyres to pit on lap 21, swapping for super soft tyres. Verschoor, Maini and Staněk continued on, with the former continuing to set fastest laps on his old medium tyres.
Closing stages of F2 Jeddah Feature Race
Maini and Staněk pitted on lap 23, dropping outside of the top ten. However, both drivers looked to make their way up the order on fresher tyres compared to the medium tyre runners.
Verschoor finally pitted on lap 24, after a barnstorming stint on the medium tyres. He returned to the track in between Crawford and Martins, setting himself up for a final dash on supersoft tyres.
The Dutchman set his sights on Crawford ahead, narrowing the gap to 1.5 seconds with 2 laps to go. Bringing himself into the DRS range, a close battle brewed in the run to the flag.
The race-deciding overtake came into turn 1 on the final lap, with Verschoor taking the lead on the road, pushing away from the DAMS.
Making up for his missed win in the sprint, the Dutchman took his fifth F2 win. Arguably his finest so far, given his hardworking stint on the harder compound of tyres early on.
Race Results:
- Richard Verschoor (MP Motorsport)
- Jak Crawford (DAMS Lucas Oil)
- Victor Martins (ART Grand Prix)
- Leonardo Fornaroli (Invicta Racing)
- Pepe Martí (Campos Racing)
- Luke Browning (Hitech TGR)
- Arvid Lindblad (Campos Racing)
- Alex Dunne (Rodin Motorsport)
- Gabriele Minì (PREMA Racing)
- Kush Maini (DAMS Lucas Oil)
- Joshua Dürksen (AIX Racing)
- Roman Staněk (Invicta Racing)
- Dino Beganovic (Hitech TGR)
- Ollie Goethe (MP Motorsport)
- Amaury Cordeel (Rodin Motorsport)
- Ritomo Miyata (ART Grand Prix)
- Rafael Villagómez (Van Amersfoort Racing)
- Max Esterson (Trident)
- Cian Shields (AIX Racing)
- John Bennett (Van Amersfoort Racing)
- Sebastián Montoya (PREMA Racing) – DNF
- Sami Meguetounif (Trident) – DNF
