McLaren Junior Alex Dunne tops a close free practice session as Formula 2 kicks off the Austrian Grand Prix weekend.
Round 7 of the 2025 F2 season began at the infamous Red Bull Ring in Austria. With only 26 points separating the top 6 in the championship, anything is possible this weekend, and drivers will be eager to capitalise on the chaos ahead.
As it happened
F2 began its session under a virtual Safety car for the first few laps around the track. The entire grid headed out for a few laps before the VSC was removed, and green flag racing began.
In the early stages of practice, McLaren and Ferrari juniors Alex Dunne and Dino Beganovic topped the session. Both drivers will head straight from their Formula 2 sessions to their designated FP1 sessions with their respective Formula 1 teams.
30 minutes into the session, Jak Crawford leads the pack with a 1:16.728. The American is closely trailed by Frenchman Victor Martins, who sits less than 3 hundredths behind him. With Formula 2 veteran Richard Verschoor in third, a tenth off the pace set by Crawford.
Amurary Cordeel spins under braking at turn 3, briefly bringing out the yellow flags just 26 minutes into the session. The Belgian driver managed to keep his car running and rejoined the practice session. Cordeel currently sits in fourth, 0.13 seconds behind the fastest time.
Arvid Linblad has been in the headlines for most of the F2 season. But with a super licence exemption, a race win and a pole position under his belt, the Brit is showing why all eyes remain on him.
In back-to-back flying laps, Sebastian Montoya went wide, compromising both of his lap times. As PREMA Racing experiment with a lower floor this weekend in Austria, the car seems to be difficult for Montoya to drive, especially with the rear end of the car not performing as he expects.
Montoya currently sits in tenth, 0.5 seconds off the pace.
The Final 20 minutes
With just twenty minutes remaining in the session, the top 3 are Gabriele Minì, with a 1:16.391. Closely behind him are Lindblad and Verschoor, both within 5 tenths of a second.
As the track heats and grips up, faster flying laps are expected from everyone in the field as they prepare for an intense qualifying session.
Montoya has another rear lock-up into turn 3, making his difficult practice session a bit harder once more. He and PREMA will be hoping to work out a solution before qualifying begins in a few hours. The pace in the PREMA car remains a shining light for the team as Montoya’s teammate Minì remains the fastest car on track with 8 minutes left in the session.
Championship leader Alex Dunne sets the fastest time of the session, a 1:16.525, with seven minutes remaining in practice. He goes 0.139 seconds faster than Minì’s previous flying lap.
Pepe Marti oversteers into the gravel at turn 8 on his flying lap. The Spaniard was able to continue, but aborted the flying lap attempt, pitting to see potential floor damage.
Meanwhile, Dunne improves yet again, going faster than his previous lap time. The Irishman set himself clear to the rest of the field by two tenths of a second.
As Jak Crawford finishes his flying lap, the American goes wide into the final turn, exploring the gravel trap before crossing the line in 5th. Meanwhile, his teammate Kush Maini had a similar problem, locking up in turn 3 and briefly bringing out the yellow flags in the final minute of the session.
As the chequered flag flies, there are no on-track improvements. Meaning Dunne remains the fastest man across the sole practice session in F2.
Full classification for F2 Practice
- Alex Dunne
- Gabriele Minì
- Arvid Lindlblad
- Victor Martins
- Jak Crawford
- Leonardo Fornaroli
- Kush Maini
- Richard Verschoor
- Ritomo Miyata
- Amuary Cordeel
- Luke Browning
- Pepe Marti
- Sami Megatouniff
- Ollie Goethe
- Sebastian Montoya
- Joshua Durksen
- Roman Stanek
- Max Esterson
- John Bennet
- Dino Beganovic
- Rafael Villagomez
- Cian Shields
