Martí holds on to win in exhilarating ending to F2 sprint in Hungary

Vyas Ponnuri
1 day ago
5 min read

Written by Vyas Ponnuri

Campos racer Pepe Martí led the field to victory from reverse grid pole, fending off a late attempt from Rodin Motorsport's Alex Dunne on the final lap, in what turned out to be an exciting finish to the F2 sprint in Hungary.

The top three after an exciting F2 sprint | Credit: Formula 2 via X

A strong race from Martí saw him initially fend off attempts from teammate Arvid Lindblad, who would later run out of grip on his tyres, paving the way for a late charge from Dunne in the race for outright victory.

Although the results remain under investigation, with Dunne called to the stewards office, the duo put on a battle to remember for the fans, racing it out all the way to the finish.

DAMS racer Jak Crawford battled through the field to finish third, making critical overtakes on Lindblad and Victor Martins to finish on the podium. Lindblad came home for fourth, while Luke Browning put his Hitech TGR up into the top five ahead of Martins.

The final points scorers were championship leader Leonardo Fornaroli and Richard Verschoor, who gained valuable points to add to their tallies.

It would be Verschoor's teammate Oliver Goethe and Browning's teammate Dino Beganovic rounding out the top ten, in a Hungarian sprint that quickly transitioned from a slow burner into an exciting ending to the flag.

AS IT UNFOLDED - F2 Sprint at Hungary

A late safety car opened up opportunities in Hungary | Credit: Formula 2 via X

Martí started the 28-lap sprint from the head of the field, from Dunne and Lindblad, after yesterday's qualifying determined Invicta Racing's Roman Staněk and Leonardo Fornaroli as the front row starters.

With plenty of tyre wear expected around the Hungaroring, drivers started the race on the medium tyre, the harder of the two compounds.

As the five red lights went off at a sunny Hungaroring circuit, Martí efficiently covered off Dunne into Turn 1, opening up the door for teammate Lindblad to move ahead and make it a Campos 1- 2. Drivers looked hungry to make overtakes, heading wide at the high-speed Turn 3, while the likes of Staněk and Fornaroli attempted to make moves in the middle sector.

An attempted by PREMA Racing's Gabriele Minì to make an overtake on AIX Racing's Joshua Dürksen into Turns 7 and 8 were to no avail. As the Italian racer attempted to hold on into Turn 9, he would clip Staněk's Invicta, sending Sunday's pole sitter spinning, and all three drivers off the track. Minì's incident saw him receive a hefty 10-second time penalty, to be added to his time at the finish line.

Trident racer Sami Meguetounif went wide on the opening lap at Turn 12, kicking up yet more gravel along the way, as F2's brigade navigated the dusty confines of the Hungaroring circuit.

Staněk wouldn't be deterred by his setbacks, making a move into the final corner of the circuit to put himself up the order. Meanwhile, the two Campos racers were scrapping for the lead, after opening up a gap of over a second to Dunne in third, who himself had broken the DRS gap to ART's Victor Martins in fourth.

Lindblad, who had kept well and close to his teammate, managed to make the overtake to take the race lead into Turn 1 on Lap 8. However, the Briton's advantage would be temporary, as Martí utilised the winding Turn 2 to make the switchback overtake, elbowing Lindblad out on the exit of the corner to reclaim the race lead.

Their battle, albeit exciting, had brought the likes of Dunne and Martins back into the fight, with the top four running close onto Lap 9, with Jak Crawford in fifth falling out of DRS range.

The DAMS racer wouldn't be holding back, though, setting the quickest lap of the Hungaroring sprint on Lap 9, in a bid to close up to the front pack and make it a five-way battle for victory.

Van Amersfoort Racing's John Bennett would receive a five-second time penalty for forcing PREMA Racing's Sebastián Montoya off the track.

Back at the front, race leader Martí had steadily increased his gap, with Lindblad coming under increased pressure from Dunne onto Lap 14, the halfway point of the race.

The yellow flag was briefly flown on Lap 16, with Dunne's teammate Amaury Cordeel making contact with Van Amersfoort Racing's Rafael Villagómez as they went side-by-side into Turn 9, dislodging the end plate of the VAR racer's front wing. The subsequent move forced DAMS racer Kush Maini to take to the grass, as he made up positions on both drivers.

PREMA Racing opted to bring Minì into the pits on Lap 18, in a bid to gamble on a late race safety car and a fresh set of soft tyres, with nothing to lose.

The action began to kick off onto Lap 19, as Dunne made a massive overtake to dive down the inside of Lindblad into Turn 1. As the Irishman closed up to race leader Martí, Lindblad found himself slipping away from the leading pair, as his tyres looked to be well past their best.

Fending off attempts from both Martins and Crawford to overtake, Lindblad held onto the podium, forming a long train of drivers behind him. However, the battle would have to be paused, with the safety car called out on Lap 22 to recover the stricken PREMA Racing car of Montoya, who had stopped on the start/finish straight.

The Colombian racer had scampered over the chicane of Turns 6 and 7, slowing through the middle and final sectors to grind to a halt. The pit lane entry was closed, with a recovery vehicle out on track to retrieve the stranded car, denying any drivers a quick trip through the pits to change tyres.

The leading duo battled on the final sector of the final lap | Credit: Formula 2 via X

A near-miss between the leading two saw Dunne nearly go into the rear of Martí's Campos Racing, the Spaniard slowing to a halt in a bid to keep within the earliest arrival time to the line.

With the safety car coming in at the end of Lap 25, it would leave the drivers with three laps of racing to determine the finishing order before the chequered flag.

Once again, Lindblad did his best to fend off an overtake attempt from Crawford's DAMS into Turns 1 and 2, while Luke Browning made his way past Martins to sit fifth, gaining valuable points for his championship charge.

Crawford finally made his way past the Red Bull junior into Turn 1, with a brave overtake to finally seal the podium position, leaving Lindblad to defend from Browning until the flag dropped.

However, Dunne had closed the gap to just under two tenths of a second at the lead, with Martí experiencing a moment of oversteer on the exit of Turn 5. As the duo headed into the final sector, they raced side by side into Turn 12, before the Spanish driver raced elbows-out into Turns 13 and 14, to claim race victory in a memorable ending.

Although Dunne remained unhappy with his counterpart, he would find himself under investigation, with a trip to the stewards office necessitated after the end of the race. But, for the moment, it allowed Martí to celebrate his third sprint win of the season.

Further back, Crawford would be delighted to take home third on the road to add valuable points to his championship charge.