F2 pre-season testing begins with Arvid Lindblad who sets the pace in Barcelona, between red flags and fog.
What Happened on Day 1 of F2 Pre-Season Testing
Formula 2 is back on track for pre-season testing in Barcelona. These three days will be full of work. The team and the drivers need to arrive prepared for the first race of the season in Australia.
Twenty-two drivers have been announced. While there are some familiar faces on the 2025 grid, 12 new drivers are stepping up from F3 to continue their journey in Motorsport.
For the new drivers, these three days will be crucial for becoming familiar with the new car. Meanwhile, for the more experienced drivers who have already competed in the series, the testing will be important in determining the areas on which to focus.
During the same week as the beginning of the Formula 1 tests in Bahrain, Formula 2 took to the track on February 24 for the first of three available days.
Victor Martins Kick Off the Morning Session
At the Circuit de Barcelona – Catalunya, morning fog resulted in a 45-minute delay. Once the drivers were permitted to go out on the track, a red flag was waved – Alex Dunne’s car stopped at Turn 10, but it was recovered quickly, allowing testing to resume after just four minutes.
The first to set a proper time was Richard Verschoor with a 1.27.340. The rest of the gird remained at a great distance until an hour our left.
Gabriele Mini then put his PREMA Racing car in front with a time of 1:26.227. He was closely followed by his teammate, Sebastian Montoya, who was just one-tenth of a second behind.
With just 15 minutes remaining, Victor Martins clocked a time of 1:25.790, which became the fastest of the morning session. Following him was Mini, who completed only one real push lap, and Oliver Goethe, who had the highest number of laps completed, totalling 37.
The condition of the track did not allow the driver to lower their time and exploit the full potential of the car.
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Arvid Lindblad Tops-Off the Afternoon Session
The session was quickly red-flagged due to an excursion into the gravel made by Max Esterson at Turn 5. When the car was recovered the session was again suspended as Dino Beganovic stopped in his Hitech between Turn 6 and 7.
At that moment, Verschoor set the fastest time of the day with a time of 1:25.710. Hitech and Prema drivers began to close in on the Dutchman. The first to surpass MP Motorsport was Martins, who recorded a time of 1:24.764.
However, he was quickly overtaken by Lindblad. The Campos Racing driver took the lead with a time of 1:24.415, while his teammate followed closely in second place.
The third red flag of the afternoon was waved due to Sami Megeuetounif who came to a halt at Turn 2. When the session resumed, Gabriele Mini put himself between the two Campos, just 0.088s off Lidblad’s time.
He was quickly followed by the 2024 Formula 3 champion Leonardo Fornaroli. He reached the third position before the session was brought to a premature end due to another Red Flag caused by Meguetounif.
Summary of the Day
Day 1 concluded with rookie Arvid Lindblad in first place. He was closely followed by his former teammate Gabriele Mini in second and another rookie, Leonardo Fornaroli, in third.
Montoya, Martì, Dunne, Mansell, Browning, Stanek, and Verschoor rounded out the top 10 in the afternoon session.
Despite five red flags disrupting the teams’ plans, there is still plenty to look forward to in the upcoming two days of pre-season testing.
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Main Photo
Credit: Dutch Photo Agency / Red Bull Content Pool
Date: February 24, 2025
