Written by Jasmin Low and Trisha Lynnette, Edited by Morgan Holiday
Formula 2
The time has finally come for the curtain to rise for the ninth season of the modern Formula 2 championship. Boasting a near-entirely new grid, the fourteen-round championship promises to be action-packed. Australia’s Albert Park Street Circuit hosts the category for the third time in 2025, but it is the first time the F2 season-opener has been held in the land down under.
After 3 days of testing in Barcelona, the 22-driver championship will make its first stop in Melbourne with all to play for. Off the back of the most competitive teams of the modern Formula 2 championship, Invicta Racing will look to defend the Teams’ Championship, whilst returning drivers will look to take advantage of their experience in the category amongst the rookies looking to show-off their capabilities on the world stage.
Formula 3 graduates Arvid Lindblad, Gabriele Minì and Leonardo Fornaroli emerged from testing as rising stars looking to challenge for the crown in 2025 after topping the time-sheets after the first day of testing. Victor Martins also left Barcelona with promising results, going into his third F2 season with ART Grand Prix, cementing himself as one of the frontrunners for the title.
At 5.278km long, the fourteen-corner street circuit will host both a 23-lap sprint race and a 33-lap feature race. Dennis Hauger earned his first Formula 2 pole position at the circuit in 2024, after a qualifying session which was red-flagged multiple times.
Roman Stanek inherited Australia’s most recent F2 Sprint Race win after Frenchman Isack Hadjar was disqualified, both of whom evaded an incident involving Josep María Martí and Gabriel Bortoleto just meters off the starting line. Stanek will be looking to repeat his successes with his new team, Invicta Racing, after moving from Trident with whom he spent his first two seasons in the category.
Hadjar was first to the flag in the Feature Race, a moment of redemption considering the events of the day prior. Paul Aron and Zane Maloney, neither of whom will be driving in Formula 2 in 2025, rounded out the podium in second and third place respectively. What was Hadjar’s second F2 victory became an important moment in providing a rationale for his promotion to a Formula One seat in 2025.
Hitech’s Dino Beganovic also experienced victory in Melbourne, after winning the feature race during his season in F3.
10 rookies will be partaking in the 2025 F2 championship, promising an exciting year of racing ahead. Be sure not to miss this year’s season opener, returning to your screens from the 14th to the 16th of March.
Formula 3
Starting off the season in the land down under, Formula 3 is back in full force with many new faces on the grid. This race weekend in Melbourne plays a very important role in establishing a stable lead over the others. With a bunch of new rookies and driver switches, one can expect a lot of on track action between the drivers.
Before the race weekend begins, let's take a glance at the pre-season testing.
The three day testing session in Barcelona showed the likes of Noel León, Callum Voisin, Tsolov and Rafael Câmara topping the timetable.
PREMA Racing will be on the watch, defending their Teams’ Championship from last year. They had a successful race at the track in 2024. Arvid Lindblad placed second in the sprint race while Dino Beganovic placed first in the feature race. This year the team is paired up with Macau GP winner - Ugo Ugochukwu, Brando Badoer and Noel León.
Another team looking to grab the win on track is Hitech TGR. After Martinius Stenshorne placed first in the sprint race, we saw Luke Browning take 4th in the feature race - an overall good score for the team. This year the team once again will put out Stenshorne alongside teammates Joshua Dufek and Gerard Xie, looking for another win and hopefully a championship lead.
However, one of the most anticipated teams on the grid is none other than Campos Racing. Fans of the team are excited to see how Tsolov, Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak and Boya fare on the track. All three drivers have had a good 2024 season as well as pre-season testing - thereby raising the question as to if they can take that early championship lead.
As for a few history makers - we have both the first Singaporean and Thai driver on the grid. While Inthraphuvasak has already secured the record as the first Thai driver to get a podium in F3 last season, Christian Ho is set to create history as the first Singaporean driver.
This year, the grid has a mix of experienced drivers and rookies. Drivers such as Ugochukwu, Câmara, Noah Strømsted and more are experienced in other series are here to prove their worth, essentially yearning to come within the top 10 of the championship. However there are experienced drivers such as Boya, Laurens Van Hoepen, Tsolov and more who are looking to jump to Formula 2, a step away from Formula 1.
The circuit at Melbourne is about 5.3 Km (3.3 miles) in length with 16 turns. The track has many tight corners and tricky chicanes. There are also heavy braking zones at Turns 3, 9 and 13. The circuit will host a 20 lap sprint race followed by a 23 lap feature race.
We will see a lot of action on the track from collisions to crashes but there are very limited overtaking opportunities due to the tight corners. This means that drivers have to utilise the fast straights for any sort of movement up the grid.
With pretty high temperatures, this will lead to a good amount of tyre degradation. Formula 3 usually does not have planned pit stops due to the short race time. This means that drivers must manage their tyres and utilise it to the best of their ability.
Comentários