Gabriele Minì kicked off his 2025 FIA Formula 2 campaign in the best possible way, grabbing pole position in a dramatic qualifying session at Albert Park. The PREMA Racing driver left it until the very last lap to steal the top spot from Victor Martins, setting a 1:29.286 to edge out the ART Grand Prix driver by just over a tenth.
The session got off to a hectic start, with drivers jostling for position early on. Max Esterson and Oliver Goethe came together at the penultimate corner, forcing both into the pits with damage. The incident was later placed under investigation by the Stewards.
Once the flying laps got underway, Martins set the initial benchmark with a 1:31.012, putting himself a couple of tenths ahead of Minì. He then improved to a 1:30.489, but his time at the top was short-lived. First, Jak Crawford bettered it for DAMS Lucas Oil, before Minì slotted in ahead. Moments later, Leonardo Fornaroli produced a stunning lap of 1:30.136 to take provisional pole.
Most of the grid returned to the pits after a couple of push laps, but Fornaroli stayed out and found even more time, improving to a 1:29.948 to extend his advantage.
With less than eight minutes remaining, the action resumed, and Martins came out swinging on fresh tyres, reclaiming P1 with a 1:29.523. Crawford was the closest challenger, just 0.064s behind.
The times continued to tumble in the final minutes, and while Martins found further improvements, Minì delivered when it mattered most. His final lap of 1:29.286 was enough to secure pole, beating his ART Grand Prix rival by 0.114s.
Crawford settled for third, ahead of MP Motorsport’s Richard Verschoor in fourth and an impressive showing from Rodin Motorsport rookie Alexander Dunne in fifth.
Roman Stanek put his Invicta Racing car in sixth, just ahead of the Hitech TGR pairing of Dino Beganovic and Luke Browning. AIX Racing’s Joshua Duerksen took ninth, while Fornaroli will start from reverse grid pole in the Sprint Race after finishing 10th.
However, there will be some big changes to the starting order, as multiple drivers—including Crawford and Dunne—will serve 10-place grid penalties in both the Sprint and Feature Races. Others affected are Kush Maini, Amaury Cordeel, Max Esterson, and Sami Meguetounif.
Provisional qualifying result for Round 1:
1?? Mini ??
2?? Martins ??
3?? Crawford ??
4?? Verschoor ??
5?? Dunne ??
6?? Stanek ??
7?? Beganovic ??
8?? Browning ??
9?? Durksen ??
? Fornaroli ?? #F2 #Formula2 #RoadToF1 #AusGP ??— ?????? F2.COM (@insidef2) March 14, 2025
Image: FML
