Lindblad Claims Maiden F2 Victory Following Verschoor’s Penalty In Jeddah

Arvid Lindblad became the youngest winner in Formula 2 history after claiming the Jeddah Sprint Race win, leading his Campos Racing teammate Josep María Martí across the line.

The Briton crossed the line P2 but was promoted to the top spot after Richard Verschoor, who crossed the line in P1, was given a five-second penalty for forcing another driver off the track.

This dropped the MP Motorsport driver in P4, giving Campos Racing their first one-two in Championship history, as Rodin Motorsport’s Alexander Dunne took the final spot on the podium.

Pole-sitter Verschoor has a great start to retain the lead while Martí jumped ahead of Gabriele Minì to take second after lining up in P3, going around the outside of the PREMA Racing driver at Turn 1.

Lindblad also had a good first lap for Campos, going from sixth on the grid to fourth, and he was right on the back of Minì going into the final corner of the first lap.

However, the Briton’s progress was briefly halted as the Virtual Safety Car was deployed, with the marshals having to clear Cian Shields’ car from the track. The AIX Racing driver hit the barrier at Turn 1 and stopped by the side of the road.

Racing resumed on Lap 3 and both Campos drivers were flying. First, Lindblad used the DRS to get ahead of Minì going into the final corner.

His teammate Martí then went around the outside again at Turn 1 to start Lap 4, this time on Verschoor to take the lead of the race.

Verschoor though returned the favour on the next lap, pulling off a similar move on the Campos driver to retake the position. Crucially though, his overtake later earned him his five-second time penalty after being judged to have forced Marti off track to complete the move.

Onto Lap 6 of 20 and the race began to settle down as the drivers looked to manager their Medium tyres.

Out in front, Verschoor had pulled out a 1.5s gap on Martí, who was now coming under pressure from Lindblad. Behind them though, Minì was holding off the challenges of Roman Stanek and Alexander Dunne.

The change for P2 came on Lap 8 as Martí ran wide at Turn 8, giving Lindblad the position. The Spaniard went off-line again at the final corner, and this time it was Minì who overtook him.

However, the Campos driver retook the position with the help of DRS down the Main Straight. Minì then lost fourth place to Stanek at Turn 27, but their battle allowed Dunne to close in.

The trio went three-wide into Turn 1, and the Rodin Motorsport driver came out on top to take P4.

Minì was able to stay ahead of Stanek for P5, but the Invicta Racing driver bided his time before making the move down the inside at the opening corner on Lap 12.

As Lap 15 got underway, Jak Crawford used DRS to get ahead of Leonardo Fornaroli into Turn 1, pushing the DAMS Lucas Oil driver up to seventh.

The American was flying and was right on the back of Minì through the entirety of the lap. He looked to make another move into Turn 1 but collided with the PREMA driver before spinning into a stoppage, bringing out the Safety Car.

Action resumed on Lap 18 and Verschoor stayed ahead of Lindblad, but Minì’s struggles continued, as Fornaroli overtook him for P6 down the Main Straight.

DRS was enabled on Lap 19, but Verschoor was 1.2s ahead of Lindblad as they approached the second sector.

On to the final lap, and Verschoor’s penalty was confirmed meaning that while the MP driver crossed the line first, Lindblad followed and claimed P1, making him the youngest winner in the Championship’s history. Teammate Martí followed him across the line to finish in second ahead of Dunne.

Verschoor dropped to P4 ahead of Stanek, with Minì getting back through on Fornaroli on the final lap to claim P6, while Martins rounded out the points in eighth.

Arvid Lindblad, Campos Racing

“Really happy with the result today, youngest ever F2 race winner. A huge thank you to the team, a really good race coming from P6 to P1. A shame to Richard for the penalty, but super happy to win and looking forward to tomorrow now.”

THE CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

Alexander Dunne and Josep Maria Martí are currently tied at the top of the Drivers’ Standings with 31 points. Invicta Racing’s Leonardo Fornaroli is third on 28 points, one clear of Richard Verschoor in fourth, while Hitech TGR’s Luke Browning rounds out the top five on 25 points.

In the Teams’ Championship, Campos Racing move to the top of the leaderboard on 49 points. Hitech TGR are second with 37 points, one point ahead Invicta Racing in third. MP Motorsport are fourth on 33 points, while Rodin Motorsport round out the top five on 31 points.

UP NEXT

The FIA Formula 2 action continues on Sunday with the Jeddah Feature Race. Will we have another new winner in 2025 or will one of the drivers claim their second victory of the year?