Formula 2: Alex Dunne takes a rain-soaked victory at Spa-Francorchamps

Written by Jasmin Low

This weekend’s Feature Race at the revered Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps marks the completion of Round 9 of the 2025 Formula 2 Championship. Whilst the uncertain weather conditions characteristic of the region were out in full-force throughout the 22-lap race, Alex Dunne managed to convert pole into the win, mastering the wet conditions.

Rainy conditions persisted throughout the race, providing an additional challenge to the drivers | Credit: Formula 2

The Saturday Sprint saw multiple championship protagonists out of contention early in the race, including championship leader Richard Verschoor. Leonardo Fornaroli brought home the victory for Invicta Racing, followed by Victor Martins and Gabriele Minì who opted for an alternate strategy under Safety Car conditions, before another late Safety Car secured their podium places despite being on older tyres and potentially under threat from the cars behind had racing resumed. 

Alex Dunne delivered a stellar qualifying lap to claim pole position with a time of 1.57.151, over 4-tenths quicker than Ritomo Miyata, who will start on the front row for the first time in his Formula 2 career. Invicta’s Roman Staněk narrowly missed out on the front row, just 6-thousandths of a second further back in third. Miyata’s teammate Martins started in fourth, whilst Arvid Lindblad started in fifth for Campos Racing. 

Come Sunday, the heavens opened over Spa-Francorchamps, leaving Dunne to put on a masterful display of control, proving his adaptability to both wet and dry conditions.

As it Happened:

As the 22-car grid made their way onto the tarmac, the Stewards called for the formation lap to be completed behind the Safety Car on wet-weather tyres, as heavy rain drenched the track surface prior to the race start. The race length was reduced from 25 to 23 laps, as the stewards opted for a rolling start in the wet conditions. 

Dunne mastered the rolling start, holding the lead whilst Staněk immediately slipped past Miyata. The Czech driver’s promotion was short-lived as he fought to keep control of his car through Eau Rouge. The back-and-forth between the two allowed Dunne to fly off into the distance, pulling a gap of 1.8 seconds to Miyata behind by the end of the first lap.

The skies opened above the Belgian circuit on the second lap, sending the drivers skating over the track surface. Much of the field began to struggle with their tyres, including Dunne in the race lead, allowing Miyata to whittle down the gap to the Rodin Motorsport car ahead. 

On the fifth tour of the circuit, Luke Browning came close to contact with Red Bull Junior Oliver Goethe, staring down a points-paying position. Just behind, Verschoor went side-by-side with Dino Beganovic, eventually losing out to the Hitech driver. The next lap, the Swede continued to manoeuvre his silver-liveried machine past Goethe and into the points. 

Saturday’s winner Leonardo Fornaroli lost seventh to his fellow countryman Gabriele Minì, whilst the top three found themselves all within a second of each other, despite DRS not being available in the wet conditions. 

Jak Crawford briefly brought out the yellow flags, sliding off into the gravel but managing to rejoin the track. The American, who sat second in the championship, tumbled down the order, marking a weekend to forget for both him and his team. 

By lap 9, the top five found themselves all in contention for the win, looking for overtaking opportunities which are difficult to come by at Spa, let alone in the wet. 

Track limits violations were starting to roll in for much of the grid throughout the middle-stages of the race, with the first 5-second penalty handed to Martins who was running in fourth. Martins’ woes continued as he was handed a second 5-second penalty for his track limits violations, dropping him to the lower end of the points. 

On lap 11, the drivers running in the lower end of the points decided to make their way into the pit lane for their mandatory pit stops, trading in their damaged wet tyres for newer rubber. Dunne made his crucial pit stop from the lead on lap 12 as the rain began to fall yet again, causing Browning to spin at La Source after exiting pit lane. 

By lap 14, Goethe was the only car yet to pit, fending off Dunne who was desperate to put a car between himself and the duo of Staněk and Miyata. The McLaren junior made the move stick through Pouhon, whilst Arvid Lindblad fired his way into the top three as Staněk struggled with the conditions. The Briton’s podium hung in the balance as he was noted for a pit lane infringement to be investigated after the race.  

Alex Dunne had escaped over 4-seconds up the road by lap 17 before Miyata spun off the track and out of the podium places, promoting Lindblad to second on the road. Browning managed to battle his way past Pepe Martí, securing fifth place before Sebastián Montoya suffered a scary spin at the top of Eau Rouge, coming to a halt and bringing out the Safety Car.

As the Safety Car continued on through the 21st tour of the circuit, smoke came billowing out from the rear of Goethe’s MP Motorsport machine, forcing him to retire. The German driver’s incident brought out the red flag, and subsequently, the end of the race. 

As a result, Dunne retained the lead, picking up his third Feature Race victory of the season. Lindblad joined him in the runner-up spot, taking advantage of the chaos which played out on the road ahead. Staněk rounded out the top three, making it a second podium for Invicta racing over the weekend despite their earlier struggles in the rainy conditions. 

Dunne brought home his third Feature Race victory this season, carefully managing the fluctuating track conditions | Credit: Formula 2

The Championship

Whilst Verschoor languished at the rear of the field, Dunne converted a strong qualifying performance into the win, picking up 25 points. The 19-year old moves up into the championship lead on 137 points, with a healthy 15-point gap to Verschoor. Just behind, Fornaroli has closed in on Verschoor, just one point behind the Dutchman, completing the top three. Despite scoring no points over the course of the weekend, Crawford remains in fourth, whilst Browning sits in fifth after bringing home ten precious points. 

Whilst Campos Racing continue to lead the Teams’ championship, Invicta Racing have leapfrogged both DAMS and Hitech, moving into second with 168 points. After picking up 13 points in the Feature Race, Hitech have managed to move ahead of DAMS and sit in third. 

Formula 2 will return to your screens once more before the Summer Break, heading to Hungary from the first to the third of August.