Jak Crawford emerged victorious in the Formula 2 Feature Race amid safety car shake-ups towards the end of the race. An early crash at turn 1 brought out the first red flag changing the course of the remaining race.
The race restarted behind the safety car but ran on a timer instead of full race distance lap counter. The laps that followed were ruled by strategic pit calls, safety cars and a touch of luck.
Turn 1 Chaos at Monaco
After a great launch from Martins in P2, Dunne lost the lead at the start going into Saint Devote, the narrow turn 1 of Monaco. In an attempt to keep the lead Dunne tried to divebomb Martins rather than taking the escape road and settling for P2.
ALL the angles of Formula 2’s turn one crash 💥🔍#F2 #MonacoGP pic.twitter.com/8QHnox3ZTO
— Formula 2 (@Formula2) May 25, 2025
This saw Dunne crash into Martins pinning him into the wall, with 19 more cars arriving right afterwards, chaos ensued as a nine car pileup neutralized the race and seven of those cars would be ruled out of further contention.
The turn 1 incident saw Fornaroli get through in one piece which would then give him the race lead once the session would resume. Sebastian Montoya, who stalled on the formation lap, was lucky to start from the pit lane as he managed to avoid the mayhem, making it out of turn 1 not only in one piece but reinstated to P2 on the grid because of the red flag.
By the time the race could continue, the full race distance was no longer an option as it would exceed the time slot planned for the Feature Race and cross into the Porsche Supercup session. Only half an hour remained on the clock in which drivers had to complete a pit stop.
Safety Car Strategies
The session resumed behind the safety car as to prevent a further pileup. Fornaroli led Montoya and Lindblad for most of the race until a virtual safety car neutralized the race after Dino Beganovic crashed into a tecpro barrier at turn 4. With only 13 minutes remaining in the session this was a crucial moment as many of the leading pack had not yet completed their pit stop.
14 MINUTES TO GO
🟡 VIRTUAL SAFETY CAR 🟡
Dino Beganovic is in the barrier at Casino Square #F2 #MonacoGP pic.twitter.com/QsdjR4yvom
— Formula 2 (@Formula2) May 25, 2025
In Formula 2, a driver is not allowed to make their mandatory pit stop while the virtual safety car is deployed, meaning that those who had not yet pitted would also not be allowed to. This changed when the full safety car was deployed to give marshals a chance to fix the barrier at turn 4.
Pit stop Perfection
Jak Crawford managed to enter the pit lane just before the safety car was officially deployed. This would allow him to make his stop and catch up to the rest of the field while the leaders were stuck behind the safety car.
Once the leaders could pit, it was too late as Crawford went past the pitlane before they could rejoin the track. Quickly afterwards the race would be red flagged as the barriers were still not repaired with only 4 minutes remaining in the session, resulting in Crawford taking the win at the Principality of Monaco with Fornaroli in second place and Montoya in P3.
🔼| Luke Browning now leads the Formula 2 Championship!
He overtakes Dunne after the Lap 1 Monaco Mayhem ruled him out of the race#F2 #MonacoGP pic.twitter.com/41lVSGeEQQ
— Fastest Pitstop (@FastestPitStop) May 25, 2025
With the halfway point of the championship fast approaching, the championship standings become ever more important. Championship leader Alexander Dunne did not score at Monaco while Luke Browning would score a tidy P4. This haul of points sees Browning move to the lead of the Formula 2 championship standings while Dunne is demoted to 2nd place.
