Formula 2: Martí storms through to an unlikely Sprint Race victory in Sakhir

Written by Jasmin Low

Martí executed a stellar performance, winning from eleventh on the grid | Image Credit: Formula 2

Formula 2 returned to the track for just its second race of the 2025 season, following a rained-out Feature Race in Australia. Josep Maria Martí blazed through the field from eleventh, in a race which proved to be nothing short of a spectacle. 

Championship leader Joshua Dürksen started from reverse-grid pole, followed by Dino Beganovic, who completed a Formula 1 Free Practice One outing in Charles Leclerc’s SF-25 earlier in the weekend. Rafael Villagómez rounded out the top 3 starters in his Van Amersfoort Racing machine. 

The Race

Joshua Dürksen led the field through the first lap, whilst Victor Martins suffered a dire race start, rocketing through the polystyrene boards leading up to the first turn. The Frenchman was relegated to the rear of the field, making a pit stop to replace his damaged front wing. Sebastian Montoya suffered a spin after making contact with Amaury Cordeel, parking his Mumbai Falcons-liveried car in the middle of the circuit and prompting an early safety car. 

The Trident of Max Esterson also made a trip to the pit lane under the safety car, jump-starting in his box and dropping him to last on the road. 

Dürksen executed a perfect restart as racing resumed on lap 5, swiftly pulling a 1-second gap to Beganovic behind. A heated midfield battle between Richard Verschoor, Alex Dunne, and Josep Maria Martí broke out, before Martí was forced to relinquish a place to Dunne after overtaking off the track. The scrap between the Spaniard and the Irishman allowed Verschoor to escape up the road, and left Luke Browning in the ART hot on Martí’s heels. 

Cordeel was handed a 10-second penalty, found to be at fault for causing the collision with Montoya, whilst the Stewards decided not to further investigate the turn one incident involving Martins. 

On lap 10, the battle between the top four intensified, as Verschoor maximised his experience to overtake Villagómez for the final podium position. Beganovic managed to seize the race lead from Dürksen on lap 11, closing in on the AIX Racing car with the help of DRS and sweeping around the outside. 

Dunne made a late lunge down the inside of Villagómez, moving up into fourth place. The Mexican driver was soon under threat from Martí, suffering from the high tyre degradation which is characteristic of the circuit.

Esterson’s woes continued into the final stages of the race, coming to a stop on lap 16, prompting a second safety car and bringing the field together yet again. Alpine Juniors Kush Maini and Gabriele Minì were the first to trade in their tyres, as eight drivers running out of the points took a gamble on making a pit stop in the hopes of charging through the field during the final laps of the race. 

Upon the restart, the pendulum began to swing toward the drivers who had previously ceded places to the frontrunners and preserved their tyres. Dürksen immediately reclaimed the lead into turn 1, and Martí found himself promoted to fourth with Villagómez in fifth. Browning and Dunne made slight contact in their scrap for track position, whilst drivers swapped positions up and down the midfield. 

Oliver Goethe made an impressive overtake on Jak Crawford and Gabriele Minì, going three-wide but managing to exit the battle relatively unscathed. The top four were locked together yet again heading into the penultimate lap, as Martí managed to pass both Beganovic and Verschoor and move into second place. Beganovic lost out to Verschoor, dropping back into fourth. 

On the final lap, Martí snatched the race lead from Dürksen heading down the pit straight, as Alex Dunne suffered a heartbreaking end to this race, damaging his car and ultimately ending his race. Verschoor stormed past Dürksen through turn 12, claiming second position with just three corners left to navigate.

Martí was first across the line, climbing from eleventh to the top step of the podium. Verschoor came home in second for MP Motorsport, followed by Dürksen in third. Beganovic narrowly missed out on a podium, whilst Oliver Goethe was one of the main beneficiaries from the split strategy, utilising his fresher tyres to finish in fifth. 

Formula 2 goes racing again tomorrow for its first Feature Race of the season, offering valuable championship points for both drivers and teams. 32 laps of racing action await the 22 drivers before the championship moves to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, from the 18th of April.