Leonardo Fornaroli takes his first feature race win in an action-packed Hungarian GP.
Roman Stanek lines up in pole position for the first time at the Hungarian GP Feature Race. Invicta teammate Leo Fornaroli started alongside him on the front row. With Richard Verschoor starting outside of the top 10, Fornaroli had the chance to extend his championship lead. Crawford and Browning had an opportunity to take it away, only 16 points separating P1 and P5 in the Driver’s Standings.
Rolling start
The formation lap started behind the safety car due to heavy rainfall overnight. Most cars had slick tyres, but the track is still drying out.
The race began under a rolling start, with Stanek leading. The racing line was dry, but off-line, it was wet, which provided a challenge for overtaking- the grid stayed in the same order going into lap 2. Action began further back in the field with a battle between Dunne and Lindblad for 7th position. Victor Martins struggled to get the medium tyre up to speed. He let the battling Dunne and Lindblad through.
Up ahead, Browning challenged Crawford for the final podium position. DRS helps him into turn 2 but the British driver can’t make it stick.
Miyata briefly brings out the yellow flag after a spin trying to overtake Beganovic, but he keeps it going and the track goes green again.
Virtual Safety Car out
Cordeel comes down the start-finish straight with smoke pouring out his car and he comes to a stop, bringing out the Virtual Safety Car.
As the VSC ends, Goethe is all over the back of Durksen. Lindblad takes advantage of the battle and comes through to take two positions, the Red Bull junior forcing the AIX driver wide.
Invicta retained their 1-2 out in front and continue to build a gap to Crawford and Browning behind. Stanek leads Fornaroli by 2 seconds in lap 10 of 37.
Second Virtual Safety Car
Victor Martins slowed down in turn 12, coming to a stop in the middle of the track, which brought out another VSC. Teams in the pit lane are getting ready for mandatory pit stops, but they will have to wait until the second VSC ends.
The battle for 6th continued between Dunne, Durksen, and Goethe, who are losing time to Lindblad ahead. Mini, Verschoor, and Marti have joined the party and the six drivers are in touching distance. Verschoor looks to the inside of Mini, but Goethe storms through to take two places from the Alpine junior and his MP Motorsport teammate.
Pit stops start
Browning is the first of the front runners to box, followed by Durksen, Goethe, and Mini. The race leader boxes, as does Crawford who has a long stop with an issue on the left front.
Browning brought his fresh tyres up to temperature and is all over the back of Crawford, as Bennett is spun around further back in the field by Gabriele Mini. Fornaroli completed the perfect overcut on Stanek and is now in the net lead of the race. However, it’s too early for celebration as the Italian is noted for speeding in the pit lane.
Fornaroli is handed a five- second time penalty. Browning has lost touch with Crawford, who is catching up to the back of Stanek, but a decent gap behind the Brit means he can focus on managing his own race.
Verschoor pitted for soft tyres, using the alternative strategy and coming out behind Browning, who might have to start looking in his mirrors in a few laps.
Alex Dunne is fighting for the last points in this race, holding off Beganovic as the Red Bull juniors Lindblad and Goethe continue their battle.
Crawford sends it into turn 1. He almost gets past Stanek but not managing to make it stick through turn 2 either. This has given Fornaroli space out front to build a 5 second gap- meaning he can still take the win despite his penalty.
7 laps to go
Miyata still hasn’t taken his mandatory pit stop, slowing down the charging Fornaroli who clears him quickly and continues to increase his gap to Stanek. Stanek is still under pressure from Crawford for what will be P2 in this race.
Browning has picked up the pace with 5 laps to go, potentially looking to join the fight with Crawford and Stanek as the American driver is shown the black and white flag for track limits.
Lindblad and Beganovic battle for 7th, going wheel to wheel as Beganovic can’t make the move with DRS. He looks to the outside of the Red Bull livery but Lindblad’s defence is too strong.
Fornaroli wins
Leo Fornaroli crosses the line to take his first feature race win, and it’s a 1-2 for Invicta Racing. The reigning F3 champion increases his F2 championship lead going into the summer break.
Final Classification for the F2 Hungarian GP
- L. Fornaroli
- R. Stanek
- J. Crawford
- L. Browning
- R. Verschoor
- A. Lindblad
- D. Beganovic
- O. Goethe
- A. Dunne
- J. Marti
- K. Maini
- J. Durksen
- R. Villagomez
- S. Meguetounif
- S. Montoya
- C. Shields
- G. Mini
- R. Miyata
- M. Esterson
- J. Bennett
- V. Martins
- A. Cordeel
