“Always really fun to experience”: How Staněk, Dunne, and Lindblad navigated the mixed conditions in Spa
- Jasmin Low
- Jul 28
- 3 min read
Updated: Jul 29
Written by Jasmin Low
The Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps is famous for its unpredictable weather, and this weekend’s proceedings were no exception. Formula 2 joined Formula 1 in the Ardennes Mountains for its ninth round of the 2025 season, with sessions running in both wet and dry conditions over the course of the weekend.
Sunday’s F2 Feature Race was interspersed with rainy outbursts, creating an additional challenge for the 22-car grid on top of the overtaking difficulties already characteristic of the circuit.
Post-race reprimands from the stewards saw race winner Alex Dunne demoted to ninth whilst runner-up Arvid Lindblad was disqualified from the final classification altogether. Invicta Racing’s Roman Staněk who had originally stood in the third-placed spot was promoted to the race win, picking up 25 valuable championship points.
Heading into Spa, the mixed conditions forecast over all three days of on-track action took the backseat for the trio, with all three remaining steadfast in their approach to the weekend.
Rain, hail, or shine not a problem for Dunne
No matter the weather, Dunne exhibited strong pace across the weekend, setting the fastest times in both Free Practice and Qualifying. The Irishman delivered a statement qualifying performance, over 4-tenths faster than Ritomo Miyata who completed the front row of the grid.
“I think I was pretty happy either way, you know, obviously in [qualifying] in the dry I was pretty quick and I knew the race pace in the dry was going to be strong,” the rookie driver told DIVEBOMB during the Post Feature Race Press Conference.
“I think in the rain there were a few more uncertainties, it could always swing one or the other way. But I think quite often you’ll see a couple of drivers coming through the field with really strong pace in the rain.”
Building on previous experience
Crucially, the McLaren Junior applied his learnings from the previous round in Silverstone after taking second in the Feature Race despite the British rain:
“I just knew that if I did the same thing as Silverstone it would be all fine so I think my approach didn’t really change.”
Also happy to build on his experiences in the wet at Silverstone was Staněk, who left the British circuit without scoring a single point in the Feature Race despite having qualified fourth. This time around, the Czech driver did one better in Qualifying, starting third after delivering a lap just 6-thousandths slower than that of Miyata in the ART.
“After Silverstone, where I wasn’t very happy with the car balance and we swapped for slicks and that was a disaster, I spun," recounted Staněk, relieved to have not repeated his misfortunes despite a near miss through Eau Rouge at the beginning of the race.
“Conditions change here and I was good in the dry and good in the wet, maybe not the quickest, but, in the end we managed to perform quite okay in the wet.”
A welcome change
Campos Racing’s Arvid Lindblad had enjoyed a dry qualifying session, noting that “[qualifying] around [Spa] in the dry with high grip is always really fun to experience.”
However, the Briton welcomed the change in conditions, hoping to be more competitive in the wet than during the Sprint Race:
“When I saw today was wet after yesterday I wasn’t too disappointed. Because we weren’t very fast in the dry so I thought it was at least another chance to do something. The pace was really good in the wet so I’m definitely happy it was wet today,” Lindblad shared, happy to improve on his Sprint Race performance.
FIA Formula 2 will join the Formula 1 circus in Hungary for its tenth round of the season from the first to the third of August. Currently, the heavens are due to open on Sunday, but no matter the weather, each driver will take advantage of their learnings from their time in Spa.
