Feeder Series Preview: Sakhir Round

Written by Jasmin Low and Trisha Lynnette

Formula 2

FIA Formula 2 heads to Bahrain for Round 2 of 24 | Credit: Formula 2

FIA Formula 2 returns for its second round of the 2025 season after nearly a month’s hiatus, on track from the 11th to the 13th of April. Following a rollercoaster of a weekend in Melbourne, drivers and teams will look to emerge as early championship protagonists, establishing a pecking order amongst the 22-car grid. 

Last year, Bahrain hosted the season-opener, posing a challenge to drivers who must navigate the 3.363 mile (5.412 kilometre) circuit boasting a combination of long straights and fifteen tight corners. Additionally, the desert surroundings and abrasive track surface will test the driver's tyre management skills. 

Zane Maloney was the ultimate winner from the 2024 edition of the event, utilising his experience and the pace of his Rodin Motorsport car to take a clean sweep of both the sprint and feature races, and cementing himself as a frontrunning driver. 

The Boy from Barbados climbed from eighth on the grid during the Sprint Race, ahead of pole-sitter Jak Crawford and Josep Maria Martí rounding out the podium in third. The first lap of the race proved to be an eventful one, with Taylor Barnard dropping from second to ninth, ultimately retiring early from the race.

Rafael Villagómez and Amaury Cordeel also lost out on lap one, colliding and prompting an early Virtual Safety Car. Maloney took the lead of the race on lap 8, capitalising on the battle for second between Martins and Crawford which allowed him to create a convincing gap at the front of the field. Martins’ hopes for a podium were quickly diminished after making a mistake, ultimately finishing outside the points. 

Lap 1 continued to be a problem during the Feature Race. Maloney sped from third to first off the line, narrowly avoiding the chaos which ensued behind. Eventual title rivals Gabriel Bortoleto and Isack Hadjar collided at Turn 1, before Hadjar was collected by Enzo Fittipaldi and a Safety Car was brought out. Fortune did not favour Victor Martins yet again, becoming the second Frenchman to retire from the race, pulling over on lap 19, and necessitating a second Safety Car. Zane Maloney led confidently from the front, whilst Zak O’Sullivan struggled on his soft tyres, ceding track position to Martí and Aron in the closing stages of the race. 

The Championship

Joshua Dürksen leads the 2025 championship after lifting the winner’s trophy at the Sprint Race in Australia and the cancellation of the Feature Race due to wet weather conditions. The top trio from the 2024 Formula 3 championship; Leonardo Fornaroli, Gabriele Minì, and Luke Browning sit in second, seventh, and third respectively. 

Invicta Racing leads the Teams’ Championship on 12 points, followed by AIX racing on 10, and Hitech TGR tied for third with PREMA Racing in fourth. 

Dino Beganovic and Luke Browning will both make their Formula 1 debut this weekend. Beganovic will drive Charles Leclerc’s SF-25 whilst Browning will pilot Carlos Sainz’s FW47 in Free Practice One. 

Be sure to tune in to this week’s action, kicking off on the 11th of April.

Formula 3

FIA Formula 3 heads to Sakhir for Round 2 of 24 | Credit: Formula 3

We are back racing in Formula 3 as we dawn upon the second round of the series in Sakhir, Bahrain. The drivers had a few weeks which they utilized for testing, gaining a better understanding of the track at Bahrain. 

With a circuit length of 5.412 km, the circuit was built in 2002. Viewers can see a decent amount of overtake and great racing on the track this weekend. However drivers are to be cautious of the tight Turn 10 left hander. 

Drivers also must keep in mind the temperature fluctuations seen in Sakhir and the strong winds that could occur during the race. Drivers must be vigilant of track temperature and hence tyre degradation. 

Looking at the grid this race weekend - Freddie Slater will be joining the grid, driving for AIX Racing. Prior to this in the Melbourne round, Nikita Bedrin drove for the team and even scored a good amount of points for the team. Slater was announced only for the Sakhir round - which means someone else from the formula ladder may join us next week. 

In the opening round at Melbourne, we saw Rafael Câmara of Trident take the lead in the championship after his maiden victory. Even though he is one of the rookies on the grid, he has shown his skill from his impressive performance at Melbourne as well as the season test at Bahrain. 

Looking at previous years winners, the track saw current Campos F2 driver - Arvid Lindblad of Prema winning the sprint race and Luke Browning of Hitech, who is currently driving for them in F2, won the feature race. While Prema Racing did not have a great start, viewers are looking forward to seeing them pick up momentum. 

Majority of the grid are drivers from last year who have experienced the Sakhir round in F3 such as Laurens Van Hoepen, Nikola Tsolov, Matías Zagazeta, Santiago Ramos and many more. The rookies will definitely find it a bit hard to keep up with the experience but hopefully the practice session has helped in honing those track skills. 

Rafael Câmara leads the championship | Credit: Formula 3

With Trident leading the board and Câmara leading the drivers championship, it is truly vital for both teams to focus on increasing the gap and carry forward this lead. Théophile Naël currently holds second place in the driver standings, just 9 points off the leader. His team, Van Amersfoort Racing, sits second in the team championship with a 25 point deficit. 

This round is truly crucial for all the drivers on the grid as it makes or breaks the rest of their season. 

The F3 sprint race takes place on Saturday at 1:15 P.M. (local time in Bahrain) 

The F3 feature race takes place on Sunday at 12:55 P.M. (local time in Bahrain)

Make sure to catch the race live and if you can’t, don’t worry! Head back over to DIVEBOMB for all the action you might’ve missed.