F1's newest driver takes F2 Sprint Race win in Abu Dhabi

Written by Morgan Holiday

Credit: Formula 2

Following the announcement that Arvid Lindblad would be joining the Racing Bulls Formula One team for 2026, he cruised to the finish of his third Formula 2 win of the season in the Abu Dhabi Sprint Race.

How it happened

Disaster struck for seventh-placed Sebastian Montoya at the start as he stalled and dropped down to the bottom of the pack. Meanwhile, out front, reverse grid polesitter Arvid Lindblad led Joshua Dürksen as Nikola Tsolov jumped from fifth to third.

The recently-crowned F2 champion Leonardo Fornaroli lost places at the start as well, dropping from eighth down to 11th behind his teammate Roman Staněk. Dino Beganovic was making moves in the top 10, getting past Montoya at the start and then Victor Martins of ART Grand Prix to get up to the top five.

By Lap 6, Dürksen was still within DRS range of the leader as Lindblad was struggling to pull a meaningful gap to his rival.

On Lap 8, the yellow flags and then a Virtual Safety Car (VSC) came out for Van Amersfoort Racing's John Bennett, who suffered an engine issue and had to pull over. Within a lap his car had been cleared and racing resumed.

A mistake on the restart for Dürksen dropped him a second and a half behind Lindblad, who finally pulled out of the crucial DRS range. Over halfway through the race a few laps later, Dürksen was down more than two seconds to the race leader.

Meanwhile, a battle for sixth raged between Martins and Alex Dunne, Martins holding on to keep his position as the Irish driver fought from behind.

On Lap 14, Jak Crawford took eighth place from Gabriele Minì going into Turn 7 of the Abu Dhabi circuit, getting the American into the points-paying positions. Trying to take the place back in Turn 9, Minì went off the track and over the kerb and the front of his car jumped into the air, effectively ending Minì's chance at regaining eighth place. Not long after, Crawford took seventh place from Dunne, putting him further into the points.

After laps of fighting with Oliver Goethe for fourth place, Beganovic took several corners to get it done but finally secured the place and began hunting down Tsolov for a podium spot.

With just two laps to go, a second VSC came out briefly to clear debris off the track, and the restart allowed Lindblad to pull away again from Dürksen, who had gotten the gap down to under a second and a half in the closing laps. But in the penultimate lap the driver in second had recovered back into DRS range and jumped back into the fight for the lead.

It wasn't enough in the end, and Lindblad took the win after leading from start to finish, Dürksen coming in a close second.

After disaster for Nikola Tsolov in his first Formula 2 race last weekend in Qatar, he secured his maiden podium in today's Sprint in just his second weekend in the category.

Beganovic finished fourth ahead of Goethe and Crawford. Martins and Dunne rounded out the points-finishers after an exciting morning in Abu Dhabi.