Richard Verschoor wins the F2 Feature Race at the Austrian GP, beating championship rival Alex Dunne to secure the lead. Leonardo Fornaroli came in third during a chaotic race.
Yesterday’s sprint race delivered chaos and drama from the very first lap. Red Bull Junior Pepe Martí delivered a masterclass drive to claim a thrilling victory at the Red Bull Ring, his second win of the season.
With just 1 point separating our championship 1-2, and 26 separating the top 6, all drivers will be fighting for every point available.
For today’s feature race, Invicta’s Leonardo Fornaroli will lead the pack away, alongside F2 veteran Victor Martins. Fornaroli is chasing his first win in the series and will be hoping to convert pole into a race win.
Further down the grid, the Campos racing duo of Pepe Martí and Arvid Lindblad face a 3-place grid drop for immediate penalties during qualifying.
Lights out
As the 5 lights go out, Fornaroli gets a good start, claiming the lead into Turn 1. However, Richard Verschoor is close behind and challenging for this feature race win. By the time they reach turn three, Verschoor and Fornaroli are locked in an intense battle for the lead. With the Italian keeping his lead.
Following an amazing start, Gabriele Minì is forced to come into the pit lane with smoke coming out of his PREMA car. Ritomo Miyata also plans to retire the car on lap 2 of the feature race.
Pepe Martí is the biggest mover at the opening of the race, moving his Campos from P12, up to P5.
The chaos of F2 continues as Dürksen has an issue that drops him from P6 down to P14 on lap 3. On the following lap, Sebastian Montoya drops down to last with a puncture.
Pit Stops begin
By Lap 5, the Hitech pair were making moves in the race. Browning had surged from 17th to 8th, and Beganovic climbed from 21st to 13th in an impressive charge through the field.
On Lap 6, Dunne was on the attack, diving up the inside of Martí at Turn 3. The Campos driver responded immediately, regaining the place with a strong move into the next corner in a tense battle for position.
Lap 7 brought the first pit stops as Martins, Martí, Dunne, Crawford, and Beganovic all boxed for Softs, attempting the undercut. Verschoor followed on Lap 8, while Fornaroli stayed out, hoping to retain the lead.
But on Lap 9, the undercut proved powerful. Fornaroli rejoined behind not only Martins but also Verschoor, dropping from the net to third. A lap later, he is demoted to P10 after being overtaken by Dunne and Martí.
Elsewhere in the field, Oliver Goethe receives a 5-second time penalty for speeding in the pit lane. The Red Bull junior currently sits 16th.
Amaury Cordeel retired from the race with a similar problem to Minì earlier in the race.
Podium fight begins
On Lap 14, Verschoor was right on Martins’ gearbox and wasted no time. Martins initially held him off with a switchback at Turn 3, but the MP Motorsport driver used DRS down the straight to sweep past into the lead at Turn 4. Meanwhile, Fornaroli launched a bold move on Martí into Turn 3 to climb back into podium contention.
Out front, Kush Maini led the race on the alternative strategy, ahead of Montoya, both yet to pit.
Middle stint
Verschoor and Martins cleared Cian Shields as they passed the drivers on the alternative strategy. But it was clear that Verschoor had the pace advantage, pulling further ahead as Martins dropped back.
By Lap 20, Martins had lost DRS to Verschoor, who was now comfortably in control. Martins, meanwhile, was just 1.5s ahead of Dunne, who had cleared Shields and was mounting a serious challenge for second.
The McLaren junior showed remarkable pace through this middle stint in the race. With Vershoor asking to manage the gap to his championship rival. Alex Dunne managed to get past the Williams Academy driver into turn 4. However, Martins believes the pair made contact and is asking to get the position back.
The incident is noted by the stewards as Dunne pulls away to close the gap to Verschoor.
On lap 26, Verschoor found himself stuck. behind Esterson, unable to clear quickly and losing time. Dunne capitalised, cutting the gap to 1.9 seconds and gaining momentum.
The following lap, Dunne made his move, getting past Esterson cleanly, though he lost about two-tenths in the process. Leaving the championship 1-2 in contention for this race win, after the alternate strategy drivers pitted.
With a single point separating the championship, whoever wins this race takes the championship lead follwoing the Austrian Grand Prix.
Lower down the field, AIX driver Cian Shields is brought in to retire the car after 29 laps. Making him the fourth driver to be lost today.
Final 10 laps
Entering the last stage of the feature race, Montoya leads with a 2.6-second gap to Maini behind. The Top 2 are yet to pit as they are holding out for a potential late safety car.
Verschoor and Dunne are sitting 3rd and 4th, on track for the race win. There is currently 2.8 seconds between the pair, with Verschoor managing the pace out front.
The incident between Dunne and Martins will be investigated after the session.
At the end of lap 32, all drivers have pitted, and Verschoor claims the lead of the race for the first time today.
Fornaroli, now one second behind Martins, was under growing pressure from Martí, who was keeping a close watch as the pair scrapped ahead. Browning, meanwhile, was rapidly closing in to turn it into a four-way fight.
By Lap 33, Fornaroli made his move at Turn 3, briefly getting ahead of Martins. But the ART driver fought back immediately, diving down the inside at Turn 4 to reclaim third. Fornaroli came again with DRS, looking to the inside once more at Turn 4, but Martins held firm. The Italian is now under pressure from the Spaniard behind.
On the following lap, Fornaroli runs too deep fighting Martins into Turn 3, allowing Martí through. The battle for the final podium place is becoming a four-way battle for one position.
Contact between Martí and Martins resulted in both drivers losing a place to Fornaroli, who reclaimed the final podium spot. Martins came out of the collision worse for wear, as he was demoted to fifth, and immediately under pressure from Luke Browning behind.
The final lap
Richard Verschoor, who delivered a clinical drive to claim victory in the Feature Race. The MP Motorsport driver managed his tyres and strategy perfectly, holding off a late charge from Dunne to win by just 1.1 seconds. Claiming the championship lead once more.
Dunne capped off a strong race in second, while Fornaroli completed the podium after a fierce multi-car scrap in the final laps. Crawford secured fourth, and Montoya was the standout late-race mover. He made bold passes on Browning and Martins, including a decisive move into Turn 3, showcasing brilliant pace in the closing stages.
Browning crossed the line in sixth, just ahead of Martí, who, after receiving his penalty, dropped to seventh. Martins held on for P8, ahead of Stanek and Beganovic, rounding out the points.
Oliver Goethe is spun round and beached in the gravel on the final lap. Arvid Lindblad is given a 10-second time penalty as a result.
The Final Classification
- R. Verschoor
- A. Dunne
- L. Fornaroli
- J. Crawford
- S. Montoya
- L. Browning
- P. Martí
- V. Martins
- R. Stanek
- D. Beganovic
- S. Meguetounif
- R. Villagomez
- J. Bennett
- A. Lindblad
- J. Duerksen
- M. Esterson
- K. Maini
- O. Goethe (1 lap down)
- G. Minì (Retired)
- R. Miyata (Retired)
DNF. C. Shields
DNF. A. Cordeel
DNF. G. Minì
DNF. R. Miyata
