The first pole sitter in 2025 is Gabriele Miní. However, he received a penalty, promoting Victor Martins. The rest of the grid also changed a lot due to numerous penalties.

And once again in Formula 2, we can expect a lot of traffic for the early laps. As expected, it didn’t go well for all the drivers. In the first five minutes of the session, Max Esterson wanted to pass Oliver Goethe but was a bit optimistic. They made contact, and it broke the American driver’s car. He therefore couldn’t even put a lap time in. Maybe the best weekend for him to do so as he already has a ten-place penalty for both the sprint and the feature race, because of a mistake made by his team in pre-season testing. Both Trident, Rodin Motorsport, and DAMS Lucas Oil cars have that penalty, which kind of shuffles the order of that qualifying session.

Victor Martins told it ahead of the weekend, it’s his year or never for the title. It’s a man on a mission that we therefore find on track, and he sets the first lap time of 1:31.012. After that, a couple of drivers will find the limit of the track. Montoya made a mistake and ruined his tyres by failing to brake. Amaury Cordeel went wide in the gravel, but managed to keep the car. The second attempt to set a fast time was no better than the first one with, again, some “traffic paradise,” like Yuki Tsunoda would say. Once again, Victor Martins took the fastest time. A yellow flag in the last sector appeared as Gabriele Miní spun into the final corner.

Sebastián Montoya went to the gravel at turn 9 while Sami Meguetounif cut through the grass. The Frenchman also crossed the pit exit line, which could mean another penalty for him. Alexander Dunne made a mistake and took the debris of Oliver Goethe’s car from earlier that hadn’t been recovered by the steward. The Italian driver, vice-champion in Formula 3, Gabriele Miní took the fastest time. However, he had to wait for Leonardo Fornaroli to finish his flying lap. Fortunately for him, his rival from last year spun into the last corner. The Prema driver keeps the pole position, ahead of Victor Martins and Jak Crawford. Because of the penalty, Richard Verschoor will inherit third place on the grid. However, after further investigation, the Italian driver has been handed two grid penalties. The Stewards determined that Minì had unnecessarily impeded Jak Crawford during his last attempt. Victor Martins inherited the pole position, for the sprint and the feature race !

The surprise of this qualifying session was Arvid Lindblad. He did not qualify in the top 10 on track, even though everyone watching the feeder series knows how fast he is. He can thank the penalties, promoting him in p11.