Roman Staněk takes second F2 pole in Abu Dhabi qualifying
- Vyas Ponnuri
- 3 hours ago
- 3 min read
Written by Vyas Ponnuri
Invicta Racing's Roman Staněk took his second Formula 2 pole position in 2025, at the end of another exciting F2 qualifying in Abu Dhabi, with vice champion elect Jak Crawford in second, while champion Fornaroli ended the session third.
AS IT UNFOLDED - Qualifying at Abu Dhabi
The sole F2 free practice session earlier in the day saw DAMS' Jak Crawford on top, ahead of PREMA Racing's Gabriele Minì and newly-announced Racing Bulls F1 driver Arvid Lindblad up in third.
While the drivers' championship had been sealed, the constructors' championship still remained up for grabs. Hitech TGR sat 35 points behind Invicta Racing heading into Abu Dhabi, with 65 points still up for grabs across the weekend.
The likes of Lindblad, Luke Browning, Crawford and Cian Shields had only a half-hour to switch from their Formula One duties at Free Practice 1 to jump into the car for F2 qualifying.
It was Lindblad's teammate Nikola Tsolov who set the first time, but this was eclipsed by PREMA Racing's Sebastián Montoya, and later Crawford with a 1:37.633.
Track limits remained a major talking point during qualifying too, with Browning losing his first lap time by going over the white lines at Turn 1. The Briton sat fourth in the standings, eyeing a chance to finish second overall at the end of this weekend.
Montoya struck back with his second lap on the same set of supersoft tyres, going just 0.029 seconds ahead of Crawford. The American driver, though, managed to go a further half a hundredth quicker. Yet, neither of them would be able to initially match AIX Racing's Joshua Dürksen, who set the quickest time with a 1:37.464.
At the halfway mark, it was Dürksen leading the way, ahead of the newly-crowned champion Leonardo Fornaroli and Montoya, while Crawford and Roman Staněk rounded out the top five.
More drivers began to lose times for track limit violations at Turn 1, as Staněk, Alex Dunne and Gabriele Minì became the next names in tow for their laps to be deleted.
With 10 minutes left in the session, Minì experienced a brief scare when his PREMA car stalled just as he exited his pit box. Quick thinking from the Italian meant he was able to pull over at the end of the pit lane, and avoid causing up a queue in the fast lane.
As the drivers found yet more time, the grid order shuffled, with the gaps remaining minimal. Lindblad, who appeared to be right at the limit of the circuit, managed to put himself into the top 10 with his lap time.
Montoya and Beganovic too set the same time on their second set of tyres, while Staněk and Crawford elevated themselves towards the top of the times.
Beganovic managed to find more time on his next flying lap, but this was only good enough for third on the road, as Crawford's final time got him into second on the road.
Fornaroli found enough time to go onto a final flying lap, as did the two Hitech drivers Browning and Beganovic, chasing after the two championship points for pole position. A solid final lap lifted the new F2 champion up to third.
But the session belonged to his teammate Staněk, who secured his maiden F2 pole, and two more valuable championship points to add to his campaign, ahead of Crawford, while Beganovic put Hitech up in contention with fourth. Here's how it all played out at the end of 30 minutes of qualifying in Abu Dhabi.
CLASSIFICATION - F2 Qualifying - Abu Dhabi
Roman Staněk (Invicta Racing)
Jak Crawford (DAMS)
Leonardo Fornaroli (Invicta Racing)
Dino Beganovic (Hitech TGR)
Sebastián Montoya (PREMA Racing)
Ollie Goethe (MP Motorsport)
Victor Martins (ART Grand Prix)
Joshua Dürksen (AIX Racing)
Nikola Tsolov (Campos Racing)
Arvid Lindblad (Campos Racing)
Alex Dunne (Rodin Motorsport)
Richard Verschoor (MP Motorsport)
Gabriele Minì (PREMA Racing)
Ritomo Miyata (ART Grand Prix)
John Bennett (Van Amersfoort Racing)
Rafael Villagómez (Van Amersfoort Racing)
Luke Browning (Hitech TGR)
Martinius Stenshorne (Rodin Motorsport)
Laurens van Hoepen (Trident)
Kush Maini (DAMS)
Cian Shields (AIX Racing)
Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak (Trident)
