Trident rookie Sami Meguetounif would set the fastest time on Wednesday to end the final day of pre-season testing fastest in Barcelona.

Meguetounif had made the step up to FIA Formula 2 with Trident, after an impressive rookie season with the Italian team in FIA Formula 3. He would finish the three-day pre-season test in Barcelona, on a high by setting the fastest time of the final day.

The French racer set a 1:24.363, which was three tenths clear of the rest of the field in the overall classification. In second place overall, was the ART driver Victor Martins, whose morning time saw him in second position. In third, with his afternoon lap time, would be the Irish driver Alex Dunne of MP Motorsport.

It would be the final track action in FIA Formula 2 until the first round of the 2025 season at Albert Park in Melbourne, Australia. 

After two days of pre-season testing to kick off the 2025 FIA Formula 2 track action, it would be time for the third and final day at the Circuit Barcelona-Catalunya on Wednesday.

The past two days of action had seen many different lap times, with it being two rookie driver that had topped both of the first two days. On the opening day, Red Bull junior and Campos driver Arvid Lindblad would be fastest. 

While on the second day, the Alpine Academy and Prema driver Gabriele Mini would end the day fastest with his time of 1:23.660 coming in the morning session, ahead of ART driver Ritomo Miyata.

There would be four exclusions from the Day 2 running order due to them breaking the 2025 FIA Formula 2 Sporting Regulations. The four drivers would be DAMS' Jak Crawford, Trident's Max Esterson, as well as the Rodin Motorsport duo Christian Mansell and Alex Dunne. 

All would be disqualified from both the morning and afternoon sessions of Day 2.

Wednesday morning would roll around and it would be time for Day 3 action of pre-season testing in the 2025 FIA Formula 2 Championship. with it set to be a busy day of running for the teams and drivers.

There would be a start to proceedings with the green light coming on at the end of the pit lane to signal the start of the session and the final morning session of pre-season testing for the 2025 Formula 2 campaign.

It would be a very slow first half of the session, with very little track action happening. This would not be what was to be expected with many red flags playing their part in disrupting pre-season testing in 2025.

By the halfway point, it would be Irish driver Alex Dunne, who would sit provisionally fastest of the morning session with a lap of 1:27.580. Dunne, of Rodin Motorsport, would be sat four tenths clear of teammate Christian Mansell, who was four tenths back in second place

With one hour and 20 minutes of the session remaining, just nine drivers had set flying laps, with only Mansell, Max Esterson and Luke Browning out on circuit with the others firmly in the pit lane and not willing to head out on circuit.

However, drivers would start to come out onto the circuit and put some lap times on the timing boards, with MP Motorsport's Richard Verschoor going quickest with 55 minutes remaining. A 1:27.013 was Verschoor's time, who was ahead of Trident's Sami Meguetounif in second. Versschoor's MP Motorsport teammate Oliver Goethe was third.

Verschoor, Meguetounif, Goethe, Dunne and Mansell would be the provisional top five from that point, as time continued to tick down. 

However, the final hour would pick up in the levels of on-track activity and many drivers would be attempting flying laps for the first time in the session, where some were concerned.With 10 minutes of the session remaining, the leaderboard would be completely different up at the top.

ART Grand Prix would be the team enjoying most of the success with their drivers 1-2 with 10 minutes remaining. Victor Martins would be the guy fastest from his Japanese teammate Ritomo Miyata. The DAMS Lucas Oil duo would be up to third and fourth with Jak Crawford ahead of teammate Kush Maini.

Martins' time was a 1:24.673 but the session would be paused as the red flag would be brought out. Christian Mansell would be the driver, who had come to a stop bringing out the red flag.

It would be a short stoppage as drivers would head back out for some last-gasp lap improvements, to end the morning pre-season test sessions on a high. However, in the last laps that were being set, there would be a second red flag!

This time it would be Martins who had a moment in the middle part of the lap. Therefore, Martins would have his session ended, but with little time left, he would also end the session for everyone else.

Martins would finish the session fastest for ART. Kush Maini would have been second but he completed his lap after the red flag was flown and therefore would lose that improved time and would drop back to fourth. 

It would be an ART 1-2 with Martins and Miyata first and second respectively. The DAMS Lucas Oil duo would be third and fourth, with Jak Crawford in third, ahead of Maini. Trident's Max Esterson would complete the top five.

AIX Racing's Joshua Durksen would end the session in sixth place, ahead of the Van Amersfoort duo Rafael Villagomez and John Bennett, who were seventh and eighth respectively. MP's Richard Verschoor and Campos' Josep 'Pepe' Maria Marti completed the top 10.

After a break for lunch, following a morning session that saw an intense final hour, attention would be turned to the final afternoon session of pre-season testing.

The afternoon session at the Circuit Barcelona-Catalunya would mark the end of pre-season testing for the 2025 FIA Formula 2 Championship. All pre-season preparation the drivers and teams would need to get in, would need to come within the three hours of the afternoon session.

Ultimately, the final three-hour test of the week in pre-season testing would begin with the green light coming on at the end of the pit lane. 

In the first 15 minutes, there would be some lap times laid down by drivers, who were not wasting too much time, heading onto the circuit and gathering data. The early stages would see Campos'

Arvid Lindblad top of the times with a 1:25.427 in a positive start to proceedings for the Brit. Lindblad was fastest from the two MP Motorsport drivers, Richard Verschoor and Oliver Goethe, who were second and third respectively.

There would be an hour gone in proceedings, as would be top spot for the Campos of Lindblad, as the Trident of Sami Meguetounif would go to the top of the timing pages. Meguetounif would set a 1:24.363 - a full second clear of Lindblad in second place.

Many drivers were on circuit for the start of the second hour, of the afternoon session, with 16 of the 22 drivers having laid down a lap time on the board, as they were trying to put in maximum effort in the final session of pre-season testing.

However, there would be a red flag stoppage, that would affect running in the first half of the afternoon session. Van Amersfoort Racing's John Bennett had come to a stop in the final sector bringing out the familiar red flag.

The session would get back underway and at the halfway point, Meguetounif would remain top from Lindblad, with Richard Verschoor, Alex Dunne and Pepe Marti would complete the top five provisionally.

A few more drivers would be laying down their first lap times of the afternoon, with all teams and drivers being unable to afford any more long stoppage or momentum disruptions throughout their practice runs.

Entering the final hour of testing and the top five would remain unchanged with the time 1:24.363 of Meguetounif becoming difficult to get close to, as Lindblad in second was a second back on the top of the times.

With just over 20 minutes to go, both Rodin Motorsport drivers would leap themselves in the top five, the two drivers being Dunne and Christian Mansell. Dunne leapt himself into second, behind Meguetounif, but ahead of Lindblad.

As for Mansell, he would leap into fifth, behind Verschoor but ahead of the other Campos in Pepe Marti.

It would not be pre-season testing in 2025 for Formula 2, if the red flag was to not return in the final hour. Oliver Goethe came to a stop in the second sector and would bring a halt to proceedings, while the on-track marshals removed the MP Motorsport car from the circuit.

By the end of the afternoon session, Meguetounif's time of 1:24.363 would remain unbeaten and he would finish the session fastest for Trident. Not only would Meguetounif only top the afternoon session, but he would also finish fastest overall on the final day.

Meguetounif would be fastest of the afternoon session with Alex Dunne finishing second for Rodin Motorsport, which would end up being third overall, behind the ART of Victor Martins in the overall finish.

Meguetounif, Dunne and Lindblad would be the afternoon's top three. Richard Verschoor of MP Motorsport would elevate himself to fourth place in the afternoon times, with the other Rodin of Christian Mansell completed the top five.

Both AIX Racing drivers, Joshua Durksen and Cian Shields would end themselves sixth and seventh respectively for the afternoon. Pepe Marti would be eighth of the afternoon results, with ART's Victor Martins and Trident's Max Esterson completing the top 10 of the afternoon.

Following the conclusion of the afternoon session, that would signal the end to the final day at the Circuit Barcelona-Catalunya and the end to the Formula 2 pre-season testing 2025. The next track action, in 2025 for FIA Formula 2, will come at Albert park in Melbourne, Australia for the opening round of the championship season.

Brandon Whiteside
Writer - F1 Journal

Alpine Academy star and Italian Gabriele Mini finished the second day of Formula 2 pre-season testing, in Barcelona, fastest on Tuesday.

Mini delivered a strong performance once again in pre-season testing, following on from a second place finish in the opening day, to finish top of the second day, for his team Prema Racing.

​A 1:23.660 was the time from Mini that saw him stand at the top of the times, in the overall classification, at the end of the pre-season testing's second day. ART driver Ritomo Miyata would be within a tenth of Mini, but would have to settle for second, ahead of Hitech's Luke Browning in third.

This day of testing at the Circuit Barcelona-Catalunya would just be the second day that the 2025 FIA Formula 2 teams and drivers would get to have on-track action, as they build towards the full championship season.

Following a disrupted opening day of pre-season testing in Barcelona, at the Circuit Barcelona-Catalunya, the FIA Formula 2 Championship would return to action for the second day.

It was a day that saw the morning session heavily disturbed by fog, while across the day there was many red flag stoppages, which ultimately brought a halt to any momentum or flow the session was trying to have.

At the end of Day 1, Campos Racing's new man Arvid Lindblad would set the fastest time overall, with his lap time coming in the afternoon. A 1:24.415 would be time of the Red Bull junior driver, as he beat Prema rookie Gabriele Mini by a tenth.

Tuesday morning would roll around, and it would be time for the opening session of the day, and it would be the session to end the first half of running in the 2025 Formula 2 pre-season testing.

Three hours of testing would begin with the green light on at the end of the pit lane, with drivers  hoping for less disruption across Day 2, in comparison to Day 1's morning session, which was hampered due to fog.

In the first 15 minutes of the session, MP Motorsport's Richard Verschoor would have the time at the top of the time sheets with a provisional session best of 1:26.304. The Dutchman's time would be two tenths clear of Dino Beganovic of Hitech.

12 of the 22 drivers would have flying lap times after the first 15 minutes and as time would tick down to one hour complete, there had been 20 drivers of the 22-driver field with lap times set.

Despite the driver's hoping for a clean run throughout the session, the first hour of the session would see two red flags, with the first hour being ended by the second of these red flags. First up would be Trident's Max Esterson, while just prior to the one hour mark, Josep 'Pepe' Maria Marti would be the second.

In terms of lap times, Prema's Gabriele Mini would go to the top of the times with a 1:23.709, a time comprehensively faster than the rest of the field. Mini would be eight tenths shy of Richard Verschoor in second. Both MP Motorsport drivers would be in the top three, as Verschoor's teammate Oliver Goethe was third.

​The next hour, once the session would be back underway, would see a vast improvement from the majority of the field but also more stoppages with additional red flags being waved. One in particular would be for Arvid Lindblad, who found difficulty after being fastest on the opening day.

As for the lap times, Mini would be remaining as the driver being top of the times. A 1:23.660 would see Mini top by seven hundredths of a second to ART Grand Prix's Ritomo Miyata, who was in second place. Hitech TGR's Luke Browning was sat third. Victor Martins in the other ART and Joshua Durksen in the AIX would complete the top five.

There would be no change to the top five as in the final hour, there were an additional two red flags that would pause the session and bring track action to a halt, despite the clock continuing to count down. The two responsible would be DAMS Lucas Oil's Jak Crawford and the reigning Formula 3 Champion, at Invicta Racing, Leonardo Fornaroli.

Arvid Lindblad was sixth for Campos, ahead of Irish Rodin driver Alex Dunne, with Lindblad's teammate Pepe Marti finishing eighth for the morning session. Sebastian Montoya was ninth in the second Prema, while completing the top 10 was Richard Verschoor of MP Motorsport.

The drivers and teams would break before the afternoon session for lunch, as pre-season testing had reached the halfway point for the 2025 FIA Formula 2 Championship.

After a lunch break where team and drivers could get some vital food and drink on board, it would be time to complete the pre-season testing action, for Day 2, as attention turned to the afternoon session.

It had been a busy morning for the teams and drivers, but it would be a session that would see heavy disruption. Despite that, Prema's Gabriele Mini would be the driver to beat with the 1:23.660 he set in the morning running.

To commence the afternoon running, the green light would be on at the end of the pit lane, signalling the start of the session and the three hours that would be crucial for experience and data gathering for the drivers and engineers respectively.

​In the first half an hour of proceedings, it would be the the MP Motorsport driver of Oliver Goethe, who would go to the top of the time sheets, with MP Motorsport sitting 1-2 with Goethe setting a 1:24.372. Verschoor behind him would be 0.130 back on his lesser experienced teammate as Max Esterson would be a provisional third for Trident.

There would be a lot of lap times being set throughout the first half of the session and the time by Goethe would remain unchanged at the top of the time sheets, as the pace from the morning session, was struggling to surface in the afternoon session in Barcelona.

The two MP Motorsport drivers had been split by the Hitech of Swedish rookie Dino Beganovic. The Ferrari Academy driver set a 1:24.424, which would be within a tenth of Oliver Goethe and within a tenth also of Verschoor, who dropped to third.

Trident were having a strong session with both of their drivers being sat in the top five. However, Esterson would be bumped down to fifth, as his fellow rookie teammate, Sami Meguetounif would move up to fourth.

Goethe, Beganovic and Verschoor would be unchallenged as the top three, with less than an hour remaining of the afternoon session, with only fourth and fifth changing from the top five since the halfway point. 

Invicta Racing's Roman Stanek would go fourth fastest, ahead of Van Amersfoort Racing's Mexican talent Rafael Villagomez.

All drivers would set lap times throughout the session, however, many of them would be short of the pace laid down in the morning session. Goethe's time of 1:24.372 would be looking unlikely to be beaten in the final 20 minutes.

With the chequered flag being out, signalling the end to the second day of pre-season testing, and that day's afternoon session, Goethe's time would not be beaten and he would end the afternoon session fastest.

Despite finishing fastest of the session, Goethe would not be fastest overall, with that honour instead going to Gabriele Mini for his morning lap time of 1:23.660. In the afternoon session, it would be Goethe of MP Motorsport top in a double MP Motorsport top three.

Goethe's teammate Richard Verschoor would be third fastest in a positive session for the team. Hitech TGR driver Dino Beganovic would be second. Invicta Racing's Roman Stanek and Van Amersfoort's Rafael Villagomez would be fourth and fifth of the afternoon respectively.

In sixth and seventh of the afternoon session would be Trident duo Sami Meguetounif and Max Esterson, with eighth place going to former Trident Formula 3 driver Leonardo Fornaroli. Christian Mansell of Rodin Motorsport and Luke Browning of Hitech completed the top 10 of the afternoon session.

Overall, Mini would be fastest from ART driver Ritomo Miyata, who was less than a tenth away from the Italian driver. It would be both ART drivers in the top four as Victor Martins would end up fourth. Hitech's Luke Browning would be third. The overall top five would be completed by AIX Racing's Joshua Durksen.

Sixth would be the home of Arvid Lindblad, in the overall classification, with the Campos driver ahead of Rodin Motorsport's Alex Dunne in seventh. Pepe Marti was eighth with the top two afternoon lap times, from Oliver Goethe and Dino Beganovic would complete the top 10. The pair would be ninth and 10th respectively.

Formula 2 pre-season testing would return on Wednesday to be completed, with the third and final day of running. Following that will be the opening round of the 2025 racing season.

Brandon Whiteside
Writer - F1 Journal

After a Monday morning session heavily disrupted by fog, Arvid Lindblad set the fastest time on the opening day of pre-season testing in Barcelona.

Lindblad would set his fastest time in the afternoon session as the Brit builds towards his first Formula 2 campaign, and his first ever race in March at Albert Park in Melbourne, Australia.

Following the fog, the morning session's start was delayed by 45 minutes to a 09:45 start, opposed to the original scheduled start time of 09:00. The session would also be shortened in length, from three hours to two hours and 45 minutes.

Lindblad's afternoon lap time of 1:24.415 was the time to see him at the top of the sheets in a fantastic showing from the young rookie, who will be looking to impress on his journey towards the top flight of motorsport.

The 17-year old would be in the top four of all rookies. Prema's Gabriele Mini would finish second overall, with his afternoon time less than a tenth behind LIndblad's effort. Reigning Formula 3 Champion Leonardo Fornaroli was third for Invicta Racing.

The fourth rookie was the other Prema of Sebastian Montoya, who was ahead of Lindblad's Campos teammate Josep 'Pepe' Maria Marti, who completed the top five.

Following the closest Formula 2 Championship fight since the championship was formed in 2017, the top open-wheel feeder series championship returns for 2025.

The championship that has seen 12 of the 20 drivers of the 2025 Formula 1 grid compete and show their talent, which has ultimately led to them getting their Formula 1 seats, and making a name for themselves in the pinnacle of world motorsport.

​ A vast amount of rookies mixed with returning drivers were set to embark on a new chapter of the Formula 2 Championship. The 2025 campaign would be the second season of this new era of machinery, that embarked on its rookie season in 2024.

Monday morning would arrive and pre-season testing would be raring to go for the opening session of six, and the opening day of the three-day test. The first on-track action of the 2025 FIA Formula 2 Championship was set to get underway.

However, there would be delay to the start of the session and the appearance of cars on track as fog was looming at the Circuit Barcelona-Catalunya, meaning visibility was low and therefore increasing the levels of potential danger.

Race Control of pre-season testing would delay the start of the session by 45 minutes, while giving chance for the low-level fog and low visibility a chance to improve, so the testing could be carried out in a safe and proper manner.

The session would instead be readjusted to last two hours and 45 minutes, as opposed to three hours. The session would run from 9:45am to 12:30pm, in order to give a fair amount of running to the teams and drivers, within the morning session.

Eventually, the green light would be on at the end of the pit lane and the session would get underway, with there being a slow approach to the cars heading onto the circuit, but many would during the first 10 minutes of running.

However, as soon as flying lap times were looking to be set, the session would be suspended with the first red flag of the pre-season testing period. The timing and positioning boards showed that Rodin Motorsport's Alex Dunne had come to a stop, and the Irish driver would suspend running for the time being.

The session would be back underway but there would be very little track action for an hour with 70 minutes remaining. Only 15 drivers of the 22 had set lap times, in what had become a seriously disrupted session.

Roman Stanek of Invicta Racing would be the driver to beat with his provisional best lap time, and also provisionally the best of the session - a 1:26.734.

Stanek would be the driver to beat as he was ahead of ART driver Ritomo Miyata, who was second within a tenth. Despite bringing out a red flag, according to the timing system data, Dunne would sit third and would be back out on circuit.

Under an hour to go and the entire top three had changed. Italian rookie Gabriele Mini would be top for Prema, with a lap time of 1:26.227, ahead of ART's Victor Martins in second - by under a tenth of a second. Mini's Prema teammate Sebastian Montoya would be in third.

Improvements would continue to be made and with around half an hour remaining, still only 17 of the 22-driver grid had set lap times. with Mini having his time still unbeaten. However, it would be matched by MP Motorsport's Oliver Goethe. 

Due to Mini having set the time first, he would be on top with Goethe in second. Martins, Montoya and Stanek would be the remaining places in the top five positions.

Approaching the final 10, and an improvement from Martins would see the French driver jump above Mini and to provisionally fastest overall. Mini would drop to second with Goethe now in third place.

By the end of the session, Martins' rapid lap time of 1:25.790 would see him comfortable at the top of the time sheets - a good four tenths clear of the anyone else in the field, with 21 of the 22 drivers setting representative lap times.

Martins would be top from Mini and Goethe, as the top three remained unchanged throughout the latter stages of a heavily-disrupted morning session. Montoya and Stanek would be fourth and fifth respectively.

Dunne was sixth ahead of the second ART of Miyata. Luke Browning would end his first pre-season session of Formula 2 in eighth. Campos duo Arvid Lindblad and Josep 'Pepe' Maria Marti would complete the top 10.

After a lunch break, it was time for the first afternoon session of 2025 pre-season testing in the FIA Formula 2 Championship.

Following heavy disruption in the morning, due to fog, and the odd red flag being flown, teams and drivers would have been hoping for smooth running and continuous track time. This would be in the hope of gathering valuable car and lap data for the season ahead.

The green light would then be on at the end of the pit lane and the afternoon session would be underway, in the sunny afternoon at the Circuit Barcelona-Catalunya.

It would be a relatively slow start to the afternoon's proceedings with 45 minutes of the first hour gone and 11 of the 22 drivers had laid down lap times, with non representative and would be looking to go again.

MP Motorsport's Richard Verchoor would be the driver leading the way with a provisional best lap time of 1:25.710. A lap time that was over a second clear of second place Pepe Marti. Irish driver Alex Dunne was a provisional third for Rodin Motorsport.

There would be a red flag in the opening hour, which would be for the Trident of American driver Max Esterson. The rookie, who graduated from FIA Formula 3 at the end of 2024, would suspend the session, and would aim to rejoin the session if his car was to be repaired.

However, in the first half of the session, this would fail to be the only stoppage. Hitech's Dino Beganovic, who picked up his maiden Formula 2 podium in the final round of the 2024 campaign, would come to a stop bringing a halt to proceedings.

This stoppage would not take a while until green flag conditions were flying again, but rhythm was disrupted once again on the opening day of Formula 2 pre-season testing.

Beganovic had improved himself up to second prior to the red flag, with Verschoor's time still standing pretty at the top of the time sheets. Leonardo Fornaroli, Luke Browning and Christian Mansell would make up the top five.

Time would progress through the second hour of proceedings and with 75 minutes of the afternoon session remaining, it was still Verschoor fastest for the MP Motorsport team. Verschoor was ahead of Beganovic who had returned to the circuit in second. Browning had progressed to third for Hitech.

The top three would remain the same with exactly an hour to go. Verschoor, Beganovic, Browning, Fornaroli and Campos' Arvid Lindblad rounded out the top five, with an improvement on his previous lap times.

Many lap times would be laid down in the final hour of proceedings in Barcelona, for the opening day of pre-season testing. There would be many improvements before the end of the session.

However, the session would not finish with the other Trident car Sami Meguetounif running into issues. All 22 drivers would though get representative lap times set to round off a frustrating day for the 2025 teams and drivers.

By the end of the session, it would be the Brit Arvid Lindblad, who would end the afternoon session fastest, as well as the day overall. Lindblad, Red Bull junior driver, would set a lap time of 1:24.415 in a great effort from the Campos driver.

A strong showing from 2025 rookies would see four of which make the top five, in the afternoon session as well as the overall classification. Lindblad would finish under a tenth clear of second place Gabriele Mini of Prema. Leonardo Fornaroli would round off the top three for reigning teams' champions.

Sebastian Montoya, Mini's teammate, would be the fourth rookie in fourth place, with Lindblad's Campos teammate Pepe Marti rounded off the top five in a great day for the Spanish team on home soil.

Alex Dunne, the first ever Irish Formula 2, would end the day and afternoon in sixth, ahead of his Rodin Motorsport teammate Christian Mansell in seventh. Hitech's Luke Browning was eighth ahead of Roman Stanek and Richard Verschoor, who rounded off the top 10.

2025 FIA Formula 2 pre-season testing would return for Day 2 in Barcelona on Tuesday morning for a busy day of action for all 11 teams and 22 drivers on the 2025 grid,

Brandon Whiteside
Writer - F1 Journal

FIA Formula 2 is back for 2025 and is set for another enthralling season of action, as this coming week the championship goes pre-season testing in Barcelona.

A three-day test awaits for the fully confirmed 2025 FIA Formula 2 grid that will take part during Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday as the new and returning stars will be building up to the 14-round season.

All 11 teams and 22 drivers will be hoping to get some good preparation in, during the pre-season testing, to give themselves the best chance at competing for the season ahead. All 22 drivers set to participate in pre-season testing are confirmed with their teams.

Pre-season testing for the 2025 FIA Formula 2 campaign will take place at a familiar venue, in the Circuit Barcelona-Catalunya, which has been a familiar venue for racing throughout the history of the FIA Formula 2 Championship.

The drivers and teams will go pre-season testing around the circuit with 14 corners and a total lap distance of 4.657km and has undergone a layout change since the first Formula 2 racing round at the venue, in 2017.

DRS zones around the Circuit Barcelona-Catalunya amount to two, and they are on the start/finish straight into turn 1 and down into turn 10.

There will be six sessions across the pre-season testing in total, with three morning sessions and three afternoon sessions to look forward to and to utilise for the drivers and teams.

All 11 teams will be fielding their 2025 driver lineups with a vast amount of experience and rookies making up the 2025 grid and the 22 drivers within it.

The driver lineups participating across the three days are as follows:

Brandon Whiteside
​Writer - F1 Journal

With just over a month to wait for the first round of racing in the 2025 FIA Formula 2 Championship, all 11 teams have confirmed their lineups for the upcoming season.

There will be 14 rounds to come across 2025 with the stars of tomorrow awaiting to compete for their futures and trying to compete for the championship. 

In the field of drivers entering themselves into contention to compete for the 2025 Formula 2 Championship, there is a variety of experience, returning driers and rookies who are entering the championship for the first time.

Many of the rookies will be looking to make their Formula 2 debuts in the opening round at Melbourne, with many making the jump from FIA Formula 3 with other drivers making permanent steps up from championship such as GB3.

Going through each team, and each driver one by one, let's preview the 2025 FIA Formula 2 grid. We begin with the 2024 Teams Champions - Invicta Racing.

First up, we have the 2024 FIA Formula 3 champion who will be making his first full season in the Formula 2 season with Invicta Racing - following the pathway of the 2023 Formula 3 champion Gabriel Bortoleto.

Following his success at Trident, at Monza, where he made that stunning late pass on Christian Mansell, that was at the time the deciding factor in the entire championship. This was before a disqualification to Gabriele Mini made the gap a lot bigger in points and would have made him champion regardless of the overtake.

However, Fornaroli did make the pass and won the championship on circuit. Most remarkably, Fornaroli did not pick up a single victory across the season, showing consistency is key in feeder series championships as he became the second Trident driver in as many seasons to win the drivers championship with the team.

The Italian driver will make the permanent step up to Formula 2 for his rookie season in 2025, and will be aiming to replicate Gabriel Bortoleto one step further, to win the Formula 2 title with the same team in his rookie season.

To complete the lineup at Invicta Racing is a returning driver to the championship in Roman Stanek from the Czech Republic.

Once a race-winner in the championship, because of a disqualification to Isack Hadjar, Stanek will be making his return to the championship at the circuit where his first win came - Albert Park, Melbourne in Australia.

Stanek withdrew from his seat at Trident midway through his second season, in 2024, due to funding related issues and was replaced by Christian Mansell. However, he has managed to circulate the funds to join the 2024 Formula 2 teams champions - Invicta Racing.

He will partner up with Fornaroli and will start a Formula 2 season for the third time, with his second team. He will be hoping to add to his winning total of one with the teams champions.

Over at Campos Racing, they have retained one of their lineup from the 2024 season in the form of Josep 'Pepe' Maria Marti, who will look to build on the one race victory he secured in the 2024 season.

Marti took his maiden and only Formula 2 victory to date in the final sprint race of the 2024 season, in Abu Dhabi back in December but ultimately the team could only reach second place in the Teams' Standings and fell just short to Invicta Racing.

The Spanish driver has been embedded within the Campos family since 2021 when he finished third in the Spanish F4 Championship. Marti has progressed throughout his feeder series career with Campos including two seasons in the Formula 3 championship across 2022 and 2023.

Marti competed with Campos in last year's Formula 2 and was teammate of Isack Hadjar during his intense championship fight with Gabriel Bortoleto. The Spaniard will now be the more experienced driver out of he and his new Campos teammate.

Arvid Lindblad is one of Britain's rising stars in motorsport and at just 17 the Red Bull junior driver is set to make his Formula 2 debut for Campos Racing at Albert Park in Melbourne, Australia as he is set to partner Pepe Marti.

Lindblad makes a straight jump up to Formula 2 following an excellent Formula 3 rookie campaign where he ended up being in a championship fight with Prema Racing, and emerged fourth overall in a great effort from the Brit.

The 17-year old won his debut Formula 3 race in the Bahrain sprint back in February 2024, and went onto win another three times throughout the 2024 campaign making it four in total. This would see Lindblad end up with more victories than any of the drivers that competed in the season's championship.

Lindblad, who is part of the Red Bull Driver Academy will be hoping to put himself in the conversation of getting a seat on the Formula 1 grid with their being the constant driver changing environment of Racing Bulls and the Red Bull senior team in the world of Formula 1.

Onto the Dutch outfit MP Motorsport, and the first driver to discuss of their driver lineup is German Oliver Goethe, who is the third Red Bull junior in succession of this piece.

Fresh from his cameos with MP Motorsport following Franco Colapinto's graduation to Formula 1 at the 2024 Italian Grand Prix, Goethe will be looking to kick on from where he left off as the 20-year old made a good impression on his team as they have re-hired him for 2025.

Despite three DNF results to his name in his first five races, Goethe kicked on for the final three races. He reached the highest finishing position of fourth in the Qatar feature race, which gave him 12 points. That was his first points scoring finish. He would score a further two points in the season finale in Abu Dhabi, bringing his total to 14 points overall.

Goethe will be competing in his first full season of Formula 2 in 2025 and he will have a very experienced environment around him as MP Motorsport has taken the 2022 drivers and teams titles previously, with Felipe Drugovich taking the title. Also, a very experienced teammate awaits Goethe.

Without doubt the most experienced driver on the 2025 grid, Richard Verschoor makes a return to MP Motorsport for the 2025 Formula 2 campaign.

Verschoor, who sits third on the all time list for race starts in the Formula 2 era is set to pull level with the current record holder Ralph Boschung with 130, will partner Goethe for the 2025 Formula 2 season.

With four victories to his name, Verschoor will be hoping he can add to that total with the team that finished third in the 2024 Teams' Standings behind Invicta Racing and Campos.

The 24-year old will be starting his fifth season of the FIA Formula 2 Championship as Verschoor will be returning to the team he started his 2021 adventure with and Verschoor will be hoping MP Motorsport can give him a car that can help him challenge near the front of the field.

Over at Hitech, continuing his journey with the team that saw him through his time in FIA Formula 3, Luke Browning will make the full time step up to Formula 2 with the team for the 2025 season.

Browning, who made his Formula 2 debut in 2024 at the Baku City Circuit in Azerbaijan, impressed as he scored points in the final three rounds of the season, which are the only rounds of the championship he has participated in so far.

The Williams Academy driver reached a highest finishing position of sixth in the Abu Dhabi sprint race, in addition to a seventh place finish in his first feature race in Baku. This would therefore be his first points finish.

He has picked up seven points in his Formula 2 journey so far and will be hoping to continue progress in his first full season of 2025 as Browning become part of an all-rookie partnership with Hitech TGR

To complete Hitech TGR's all-rookie lineup is Swedish and Ferrari Academy driver Dino Beganovic who makes the full time step up for the 2025 Formula 2 campaign.

Beganovic made his debut at the Losail International Circuit in Qatar back in November for DAMS Lucas Oil, in place of Juan Manuel Correa and would partner American racer Jak Crawford. 

The 21-year old impressed almost instantly by accumulating four top 10 finishes across the four races he has had so far and three-points scoring finishes. Beganovic's first points came in the Qatar feature race, where he took 10 points after finishing fifth.

Beganovic also took his maiden podium at Abu Dhabi in December and will be one to watch, to see whether this form can continue or not into the 2025 campaign as he partners fellow 2024 Formula 3 graduate Luke Browning at Hitech.

Following an underwhelming 2024 overall for feeder series powerhouses Prema Racing, they will be hoping for a response in 2025. The first driver to discuss as part of their lineup is Sebastian Montoya, son of multiple Formula 1 Grand Prix winner Juan-Pablo Montoya.

Montoya will be graduating from the Formula 3 championship in 2024, where he has competed in two full seasons of the series with Hitech and Campos across the two seasons. The Colombian driver managed to have a highest finishing position of second in the Belgian feature race of 2024.

Despite failing to pick up a victory in Formula 3 across the two seasons, Montoya will make the step up to Formula 2, who have led the likes of Charles Leclerc, Mick Schumacher and Oscar Piastri to the Formula 2 title.

Montoya will be hoping he can do the same as he makes the step up to the championship and will be part of the second all-rookie lineup of the 2025 FIA Formula 2 grid.

To complete the lineup at Prema is another rookie in the form of 2024 FIA Formula 3 runner-up Gabriele Mini, who will be the chosen one to partner Sebastian Montoya for the 2025 Formula 2 campaign.

Mini came very close to winning the Formula 3 title in 2024, in what was a ferocious championship fight that boiled down to the very final moments of the racing season but ultimately for the Alpine junior driver - it was not to be.

The Italian driver has already had his Formula 2 debut which came in September at the Baku City Circuit which is situated in Azerbaijan. It was mixed results across the weekend for Mini. The Italian driver would take his maiden podium and points in the sprint race before failing to finish in the feature race.

Mini will be looking to make an impression on the Formula 2 championship and progress it further with Prema, who he started his feeder series career with back in 2020 with the Italian F4 Championship - a championship that he won.

Continuing with DAMS in 2025 for the second consecutive season as well as starting his third full season is American Jak Crawford.

The Aston Martin Development Driver endured an improved second season following an underwhelming rookie year with Hitech in 2023. 2024 with DAMS saw a victory and saw the American driver be a consistent performer as he ended up fifth in the final standings.

Crawford, 19, has two wins to his Formula 2 career so far with his most recent coming in the Spanish feature race at the Circuit Barcelona-Catalunya. He will be managing his Formula 2 duties alongside being the 2024/25 Formula E reserve driver for Andretti.

The American driver will take the number 11 car and will form part of an experienced lineup at DAMS Lucas Oil, with both drivers set to endure on their third full season in the championship.

To complete the lineup of experience for the 2025 FIA Formula 2 season, for DAMS Lucas Oil, is Indian racing driver and former member of Alpine Academy Kush Maini.

Maini has endured two full seasons so far in FIA Formula 2 after enduring his first full season of racing with Campos Racing in 2023 before being teammates with Gabriel Bortoleto in 2024, at Invicta Racing as Bortoleto went onto take the drivers' title. 

There would be success for Maini too as he helped the team to glory in the Teams' Standings for the first time in the championship. It was also a successful year personally for Maini as he took his maiden Formula 2 victory in the Hungarian sprint race.

Maini will partner Crawford which is no doubt set to be the most experienced driver lineup on the Formula 2 grid for 2025 and DAMS will be hoping it's a success for them as they aim to build on a sixth-placed finish in 2024

Over at ART, they have retained their French driver Victor Martins for his third consecutive season with the team in the FIA Formula 2 Championship.

Martins has appeared in the last two full seasons of FIA Formula 2, in 2023 and 2024, with the ART Grand Prix outfit, following his graduation from the FIA Formula 3 Championship after winning the title in 2022. Out of his two campaigns so far, Martins' best was the year of 2023 when he partnered that year's champion Theo Pourchaire in all-French lineup.

The French racing driver would finish fifth that season in comparison to his 2024 finishing position of seventh. Out of both seasons, Martins has won twice and picked up 15 podiums, as well as four pole positions and nine fastest laps.

Martins will join up with the ART Grand Prix team without the backing of the Alpine Academy, after the driver and academy partnership ended at the end of the 2022 FIA Formula 2 campaign. He will be hoping to mount a title charge in his third campaign.

Returning to Formula 2 for a second season is Japanese racing and Toyota Academy racer Ritomo Miyata, who has joined over from his rookie season in 2024 with Rodin Motorsport.

Miyata participated throughout the 2024 campaign in 2024 and failed to have a successful season when comparing against his teammate for the majority of the season Zane Maloney, who has now graduated to the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship.

The 25-year old achieved a highest finishing position of fifth for Rodin in 2024, which he finished in twice across one round in Melbourne, Australia which is set to be his first venue of the 2025 FIA Formula 2 Championship.

After being the team's first driver announcement, for their 2025 lineup, Miyata will be hoping to kick on and have a much better season in the championship.

After being part of a thrilling Formula 3 Championship almost until the end, Christian Mansell has earned a graduation to the Formula 2 Championship, as he joins Rodin Motorsport for 2025.

Mansell has had some Formula 2 experience prior to the start of the season, although very little. The Australian racing driver competed in the final three rounds of the 2024 campaign in place of Roman Stanek at Trident, who withdrew due to funding related issues.

The 20-year old will be part of an all-rookie lineup at Rodin Motorsport in 2025, with him graduating from the FIA Formula 3 Championship, where he ended fifth overall with a highest race finish of second, which he managed to do three times across the campaign.

After finishing in the points three times in the first six races of his Formula 2 career, Mansell will be hoping to build on this as he is set to endure his first full season of the championship with Rodin Motorsport in 2025.

To complete the 2025 Rodin Motorsport lineup and to become the first driver from the Republic of Ireland to race in Formula 2 is Offaly's very own Alex Dunne.

The highly-talented 19-year old will make the step up to FIA Formula 2 after just one rookie season of FIA Formula 3 for MP Motorsport as he shared a team with highly respected names such as German Tim Tramnitz and Kacper Sztuka. 

Dunne managed to pick up two podiums across his one and only season of FIA Formula 3 with a highest finish of second in the Spanish sprint race in Barcelona, with his other podium being in the final sprint race of the season at Monza, where he finished third.

The Irish driver is bound to make history for his nation and will form an all-rookie lineup at Rodin Motorsport alongside being the 2024/25 NEOM McLaren Formula E reserve driver.

Over at AIX Racing, a history maker in his first season of 2024, and looking to create even more history in 2025 is Joshua Durksen.

The Paraguayan racing driver made the very big jump from Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine to Formula 2 in 2024, alongside now Formula 1 driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli.

It became evident that Durksen had talent to show too as over the course of the season he developed significantly into a history maker for Formula 2 and his nation Paraguay. Across 2024, he became the first driver from his nation to pick up a podium in Imola and would later become the first to take victory with two in 2024, in Baku and Abu Dhabi. 

Durksen will be hoping to develop further and improve in 2025 by adding to his total of wins and perhaps even putting a challenge for the title together.

To complete the lineup at AIX Racing will be rookie Cian Shields who will graduate from FIA Formula 3 to compete full time in the 2025 Formula 2 championship, alongside Joshua Durksen.

Shields has already made his Formula 2 debut for AIX Racing as he competed in the final two rounds of the 2024 season at Qatar and Abu Dhabi in place of Dutch driver Niels Koolen, who failed to make an impression.

The Scotland-born racer has only endured one season of Formula 3, which was in 2024 and it was a far from ideal season for Shields. He failed to score a point, with a highest finishing position of 30th.

He will be hoping to prove any doubters wrong that he is deserving of a seat and produce results for the AIX Racing team who have entrusted their faith in him for the 2025 season as he pairs up with Paraguayan Durksen.

Over at Trident who are the penultimate team to visit on this 2025 FIA Formula 2 grid preview. The Italian outfit, who are powerhouses in feeder series racing, will be trusting the talent of two rookies for the 2025 season. First up is French racer Sami Meguetounif.

Meguetounif will be continuing his Formula 1 feeder series progression with Trident, after having a decent rookie season in the 2024 FIA Formula 3 Championship, which he participated in with the team. 

​The 20-year old took two impressive feature race victories in his Formula 3 campaign of 2024, with Trident, so will be familiar with the team. Both victories came in feature races at Italian venues, with the first coming at Imola. 

His second and final FIA Formula 3 victory would come in the very final race of the campaign at Monza, but his headlines were overshadowed by then teammate Leonardo Fornaroli. Meguetounif will enter his next chapter of feeder series racing with the team that he spent his most recent chapter with - Trident.

To complete Trident's 2025 Formula 2 lineup is young American talent Max Esterson to make it an all-rookie lineup as Esterson joins Meguetounif in the Italian team's driver lineup. Both drivers having graduated from Formula 3.

Esterson raced for Jenzer Motorsport in the 2024 FIA Formula 3 campaign in what was his first full season. Despite Jenzer struggling at the bottom of the Teams Standings throughout the Formula 3 campaign of 2024, Esterson did himself proud.

The 22-year old managed to hold his own against teammates Charlie Wurz and Matias Zagazeta as he finished above them both in the final standings following the season finale in Monza.

Esterson finished 21st in the championship with 11 points and achieved a highest finishing position of sixth. The American driver will be hoping to use his experience to impress in FIA Formula 2 as he races with Trident.

Arriving at the final team to discuss a driver lineup, and hoping to improve on being the worst team in 2024, Van Amersfoort Racing (VAR) have entrusted the faith of John Bennett to help them rise back to competing.

Bennett will be arguably making the biggest leap from his previous feeder series to Formula 2, as the Brit makes the step up from finishing runner-up in the 2024 GB3 Championship behind New Zealander Louis Sharp.

The 21-year old has had some Formula 2 experience prior to the 2025 season, as he took the place of Enzo Fittipaldi at VAR for the final two rounds in Qatar and Abu Dhabi. It was in these two rounds that Bennett certainly impressed the Dutch outfit. 

In the Qatar feature race he came from a lap down to finish eighth, which saw him achieve his only points scoring finish as he claimed four to his tally. He will be hoping to impress further as he looks to navigate the challenge of the jump between championships whilst also displaying his talent.

Last but not least and to complete the 2025 FIA Formula 2 Championship grid, is returning Mexican Rafael Villagomez, who will endure his second consecutive season with Van Amersfoort Racing.

Villagomez is a driver who has been embedded within the Van Amersfoort family for the past two seasons after having his rookie Formula 2 campaign with the team in 2024 but also spending his two Formula 3 campaigns with the team in 2022 and 2023.

The 23-year old failed to have the best of campaigns in 2024, in comparison to his teammate for the majority of the season Enzo Fittipaldi. Fittipaldi finished 15th with 61 points, including a victory in Saudi Arabia. In comparison, Villagomez finished 24th in the standings out of 32 and scored 13 points.

Villagomez will partner with John Bennett, who he partnered for the final two rounds of the 2024 season, when Fittipaldi vacated the seat prior to the penultimate round in Qatar. He will be hoping to make improvements on his rookie season and use the lessons learnt.

Brandon Whiteside
Writer - F1 Journal