Pole position for the American driver, ahead of a superb Italian duo, with Fornaroli in front of Minì.
In a session marked by no fewer than three red flags, Jak Crawford came out on top, taking his second pole position of the season. The American driver made the most of his single chance to put together a clean lap, also benefiting from a crucial slipstream in the third sector, which proved decisive.
Right behind him is our Leonardo Fornaroli, just 19 thousandths off the poleman. The Piacenza-born driver, who leads the Championship, was faster in the first two sectors, but as mentioned, the slipstream from the American driver proved decisive. Rounding out the top three is another Italian, Gabriele Minì, who once again showed strong pace on the track where he made his Formula 2 debut last season.
Tomorrow, however, the other Prema of Sebastian Montoya will start from pole position, with Roman Stanek alongside him for now. The Czech driver, though, will almost certainly receive a penalty due to the incident with John Bennett that triggered the third and final red flag. As a result, Martinius Stenshorne could move up to the front row, giving him a great opportunity on his Formula 2 debut.
F2 Qualifying in Baku: session report
13;03 – Third red flag and the session is over! Bennett and Stanek crash into the wall coming out of Turn 1! A very heavy accident between the two drivers, with the Invicta running wide at Turn 1 and, as it rejoined the track, hitting the Van Amersfoort car. That brings qualifying to an end, with Jak Crawford on pole position, ahead of Leonardo Fornaroli and Gabriele Minì.
13:00 – Green light! All 20 drivers head out on track, looking to improve their starting position for Sunday’s race.
12:57 – The session will resume at 1:00 PM Italian time. We’re in for an intense four minutes and 22 seconds to find out who will start from pole position in Sunday’s Feature Race.
12:41 – Second red flag! Victor Martins crashes into the wall at Turn 3! The French ART driver braked too late and hit the barriers violently. Qualifying is once again interrupted, and it remains to be seen if there will be time to restart. Here’s the classification with four minutes and 22 seconds remaining in the session:
12:36 – The drivers are back on track to use their second and final set of tires for this qualifying session. Alex Dunne is also able to restart, after the front suspension issues on his Rodin caused by the wall impact have been resolved.
12:33 – Fornaroli improves on his second attempt, moving up to second place just 19 thousandths behind Crawford. Meanwhile, a yellow flag is waved due to Joshua Durksen’s AIX Racing car, but the Paraguayan driver resumes without any issues.
12:31 – Alex Dunne stops in the pits after hitting the wall exiting the “Castle” during his fast lap. The Irish driver has likely damaged his Rodin, as evidenced by the misaligned steering wheel.
12:28 – The first runs for all drivers come to an end! In first place is Jak Crawford, who edged out Minì and Fornaroli by four-tenths, with the two Italians separated by just one thousandth. A big scare for the Championship leader, who kissed the wall with his right rear exiting Turn 15.
12:24 – Green light! The session resumes, with only 11 drivers having set a time so far.
12:20 – The track is clear, and officials are expected to announce the restart time. In the meantime, Beganovic has also run into trouble after a spin in the corner before the long main straight.
12:13 – 1:55.846 for Dunne, moving him into first place! Meanwhile, his teammate Cordeel crashes into the wall at Turn 13! Red flag immediately, and the session is stopped!
12:11 – The first to cross the line is Crawford, setting a 1:56.1. However, the time is beaten by Stanek by two-tenths, immediately followed by Minì.
12:05 – Green light! The session resumes, with only 11 drivers having set a time so far.
After the weekend in Monza, Formula 2 heads to Baku, Azerbaijan, for the third-to-last round of the 2025 season. Leading the championship is our Leonardo Fornaroli, aiming for his fifth consecutive win of as many weekends to break a record he currently shares with McLaren driver Oscar Piastri—achieved back when each round featured three races.
In the morning, the fastest driver was Alex Dunne, whose championship hopes slipped further after an unlucky weekend in Monza, where he was rear-ended by Arvid Lindblad while fighting for a podium. We also expect a strong weekend from Gabriele Minì, who was seventh in the only practice session. The Sicilian driver made his Formula 2 debut on this very track last season, finishing on the podium in the Sprint Race.
In this round, following the conclusion of the Formula 3 season, we also see the first driver changes: Trident has decided to completely revamp its lineup, with Martinius Stenshorne and Laurens Van Hoepen making their Formula 2 debuts, replacing Sami Meguetounif and Max Esterson.
PHOTO: FIA Formula 2, Invicta Racing, DAMS.
