Formula 2 Report: Verschoor snatches title lead in Austria

Dunne made his Formula 1 test debut at the Red Bull Ring, replacing Lando Norris in FP1, but the Irishman seemed to struggle when he returned to F2. He couldn’t find his braking points, only saving his qualifying on the final lap, and he lucked into points in the Sprint after a late crash.

Initially, it seemed that Dunne’s Feature Race had gone better, as he scrapped past the likes of Victor Martins and Pepe Marti for P2. However, he was later disqualified for excessive front plank wear. This left the door wide open for Verschoor, who stormed into the lead during the pit stop phase and took the win — it has to be said, relatively unchallenged.

After F2’s main event in Spielberg, Verschoor remained adamant Dunne was hot on his heels for this year’s title. However, the Rodin driver’s penalty means he’s now a whopping 24 points behind the Dutchman, leaving him with a bit of a mountain to climb.

Verschoor said: “I think on both compounds, we had a very good pace. Alex definitely didn't make my life easy today, even though the gap maybe seemed big as it was two seconds, but we were both going flat out, and any mistake would give him motivation to push even more.

“So I tried to hang on, even though the rears were degrading quite a bit for me. So yeah, it was a good race. Really happy.

“Every time when I’m there [at the front], Alex is there, so I need to make sure that I do the same when he’s there; I need to be there. But yeah, it looks like the orange cars are quite quick this year,” he added.

As the only track debutant, polesitter John Bennett started Saturday’s Sprint under a lot of pressure. When the race got underway, things played out in predictable fashion. He slipped down the pecking order, with Joshua Durksen taking the lead. Dunne fought Verschoor at turn four, and Martins ran wide as he tried to make places on the opening lap.

But all this was overshadowed by a massive accident at turn three. As Arvid Lindblad was squeezed by Luke Browning, Sami Meguetounif tried a very optimistic dive down the inside, which saw his car jump up off the curb and barrel roll over the other two cars.

The resulting red flag was then followed by an almost immediate safety car, as Oliver Goethe made a clumsy move on Dino Beganovic, spinning him around. When the race finally resumed, Marti held off Formula 3 champion Leonardo Fornaroli — and this turned out to be critical, with the Spaniard later lunging past Durksen for the lead.

Until late on, it appeared that title contenders Verschoor & Dunne would have to settle for finishes on the cusp of the points. However, a last-lap spin from Amaury Cordeel caused carnage, with Bennett, Fornaroli, and Gabriele Mini all running into him. This earned Dunne a temporary reprieve and three very fortunate points, though Marti took the overall win.

For frontrunners Dunne and Browning, Sunday’s Feature Race was all about recovering from a difficult qualifying session. Ultimately, this made life much easier for Verschoor.

Off the start, Mini launched past Martins, who struggled all afternoon and slipped from second to an eventual eighth. Verschoor initially struggled to clear Fornaroli, overtaking then losing the lead to the Italian at turn three, before snatching the lead in the pits.

As the race wore on, Dunne got caught up fighting with Fornaroli and Marti himself, while Browning inched his way back up the field from a 17th-place start. Though Dunne eventually cleared his competitors, he never quite got close enough to lay a glove on Verschoor. Browning also had a very entertaining race, beating Martins and Jak Crawford to grab fifth.

But the headlines go to Verschoor, who (after Dunne’s penalty) holds a commanding lead in the championship. After the race, MP Motorsport boss Sander Dorsman heaped praise on the driver and suggested that his experience will serve him well as the year goes on.

Dorsman added: “This is exactly what we hoped for. But in F2 especially, it's very difficult to predict what you can do. We are only halfway through the season, so it's a long way to go.

“But this is why we are keen to have him back with us. We have won championships before, but we would like to obviously win this one as well. Still a long way to go, and we still have to work very hard to see what we can do.”

Following the Austrian Grand Prix, we’re now halfway through the 14-race F2 season. So, who still has a realistic chance of fighting Verschoor for the title? And, more pressingly, who can demonstrate enough racecraft to fire themselves into contention for an F1 seat?

Dunne is clearly highly thought of at McLaren. He finished an impressive fourth in FP1, and just a few good results could bring the 19-year-old back into the F2 fight. Lindblad has shown glimpses of what he can do (and been awarded an FIA super license). Marti, another Red Bull junior, is also a proven winner, though he’s arguably been outshone by Lindblad.

Other contenders like Crawford and Browning have blown similarly hot and cold. Prema driver (and son of Juan Pablo) Sebastian Montoya is another big name in the championship, but he hasn’t quite made his mark — he has just seven more races to do so.

Can anyone start eating into Verschoor’s 24-point lead? We’ll find out this weekend, as the action resumes at the British Grand Prix from 04-06 July 2025. [Quotes by Formula 2]