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F2: Martins inherits pole in Melbourne following Mini’s penalty

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - MARCH 14: Second place qualifier Victor Martins of France and ART Grand PrixMELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - MARCH 14: Second place qualifier Victor Martins of France and ART Grand Prix (14) attends the press conference after qualifying during Round 1 Melbourne qualifying of the Formula 2 Championship at Albert Park Circuit on March 14, 2025 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by James Sutton - Formula 1/Formula Motorsport Limited via Getty Images)

ART Grand Prix driver Victor Martins claimed the first Pole Position of the 2025 season, but only after Gabriele Mini was handed a three-place grid penalty for impeding during the Melbourne Qualifying session.

PREMA Racing rookie Mini took the top spot from Martins with his final lap of the day, completing a 1:29.286 to eclipse the Frenchman’s best effort of a 1:29.400.

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However, following a post-race investigation by the Stewards, Mini was found to have impeded DAMS Lucas Oil driver Jak Crawford during the session. As a consequence, the Alpine Academy member has been handed a three-place grid penalty for both the Sprint and Feature Races.

Crawford had also been in the early running for pole but wound up third ahead of MP Motorsport driver Richard Verschoor in fourth.

Verschoor, however, is set to line up in P2 in Sunday’s Feature Race following the application of Crawford’s separate 10-place grid penalty for both races, which was announced prior to the weekend.

Rodin Motorsport rookie Alexander Dunne – another driver who has an impending 10-place grid penalty for both races – recovered from his crash in Free Practice to impress in Qualifying, ending up fifth, in front of Invicta Racing’s Roman Stanek.

The Hitech TGR pairing of Dino Beganovic and Luke Browning followed in seventh and eighth, while AIX Racing’s Joshua Duerksen placed ninth.

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2024 Formula 3 Champion Leonardo Fornaroli had also been in contention for pole early on, and was even in P1 after the first set of push laps.

However, the Invicta driver did not improve on his second set of Supersoft tyres, with his early 1:29.948 good enough for P10, and reverse grid pole for the Sprint Race, which is set to start at 11:15 local time tomorrow morning.

For now you can read an in-depth report of the Formula 2 qualifying session from Melbourne on the official website here.

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