Beganovic grabs Formula 2 pole in curtailed Imola qualifying; Six milliseconds between top 3

Vyas Ponnuri
May 16
4 min read

Updated: Jul 8

Written by Vyas Ponnuri

Dino Beganovic grabbed his first pole of 2025, in an exciting qualifying session which saw only six milliseconds separate the Swedish man from third-placed Victor Martins, in a red-flag affected qualifying session around the Imola circuit.

Having squabbled for track position with championship leader Richard Verschoor and session runner-up Sebastián Montoya, Beganovic got the job done before a red flag inflicted due to DAMS racer Kush Maini's crash ended the session, despite six minutes left on the session clock.

Montoya had initially managed to just get the better of Martins' 1:27.424 lap time, the Frenchman looking a firm favourite for pole throughout the session, having bested the rest on the first runs.

However, just as he had lowered the benchmark by three milliseconds, the Hitech rookie managed a time a further three milliseconds quicker. While this set up a thrilling climax for the session, the red flag and non-resumption of the session meant the timesheets ended with increments separating the top three.

Leonardo Fornaroli's late lap in the first run netted him fourth on the grid, just ahead of Alex Dunne and Arvid Lindblad, who had topped free practice earlier in the day.

With full-time rookies occupying five of the first six spots, it reflected just how comfortable drivers were around a familiar venue, the 3.05 mi (4.9 km) long Imola circuit a regular Formula 3 host since its return to the championships in 2021.

Beganovic's teammate Luke Browning took seventh on the grid, ahead of MP Motorsport's Ollie Goethe, while Maini's crash left him down in ninth, just ahead of teammate Jak Crawford, while Ritomo Miyata will start Saturday's 25-lap sprint from reverse-grid pole.

All in all, an exciting session, with drivers just pipped to the pole, reflecting the high level of competitiveness in the Formula 2 grid.

AS IT UNFOLDED

The 30-minute session got underway after a subtle three-minute delay, following a quick turnaround, just a half-hour after Formula 3 qualifying had come to an end.

The drivers were quick to pile on to the track, with Lindblad, Goethe and Verschoor among the first to get going and set their first laps of the session.

While Lindblad initially set a banker lap, his time was eclipsed by a speedy Martins, who took his ART over two tenths quicker than the Briton's lap, before being further beaten by Dunne, the margin standing at six hundredths of a second after the first runs.

However, the Campos man bettered his time, going 0.012s quicker than the Rodin Motorsport at the head of the timesheets. Even still, neither driver would have an answer to Martins, who put his ART Grand Prix and prior F2 experience to full use, going almost four tenths quicker than both to set a 1:27.424 at the end of the first runs.

The only driver able to get close was Invicta's Fornaroli, who dropped a tenth of a second each to Martins in the first two sectors, finally managing a time 0.278s slower than the ART Grand Prix racer. At the halfway point, Martins led the grid order, from Fornaroli, Lindblad and Dunne.

With ten minutes to go, drivers strapped on fresh supersoft tyres, as allocated for the weekend, and set out onto the track for one final lap in anger.

As Goethe led a train of cars, some at the head of the pack began to squabble over track position, which would become ever more important in the next few minutes. Verschoor initially moved past Montoya's PREMA, before Beganovic came to snatch the position into the final Rivazza corners.

However, Montoya eventually snatched back his position on the track, having geared up for a flying lap before bailing out, with drivers ahead keen on doing a second warm-up lap on their newer tyres.

The timesheets lit up, as drivers began to set personal bests and purple sectors, with Montoya and Beganovic going quickest in the first two sectors. The Colombian eventually stopped the clocks three milliseconds to the good, before Beganovic had the last laugh, moving ahead to snatch the quickest time at the top.

Maini's late crash ended the session for good | Credit: Formula 2 via X

Elsewhere, Lindblad and Goethe managed to cement their positions in the top ten, having gotten across just before the red flag was flown due to Maini's crash at the Tamburello chicane. The Indian driver experienced a moment of oversteer in turn 2, sending him into the barriers and leaving the DAMS stricken in the run off.

He wasn't the only one going off in the chicane, with Browning and Pepe Martí skating across the chicane, ruining their own laps.

With a short turnaround towards F1's second Free Practice session beginning at 18:00 local time, only 25 minutes on, the stewards elected not to resume the session, leaving Beganovic on pole, just ahead of Montoya and Martins.

Several drivers found themselves disappointed, with championship leader Verschoor marooned down in 19th, while Martí and Gabriele Minì too outside the top ten, apart from former championship leader Joshua Dürksen down in 14th for AIX Racing.