FEATURE RACE: Browning battles back for maiden F2 victory

Luke Browning claimed his first race win in FIA Formula 2, converting pole position in a dramatic Monza Feature Race for Hitech TGR.

Joshua Duerksen finished up P2 for AIX Racing, while Campos Racing’s Josep María Martí completed the podium in third place.

AS IT HAPPENED

With the entire field starting on the Supersoft tyres, Browning got a great start, but Kush Maini bogged down from the front row and dropped down the order. Roman Stanek and Oliver Goethe went wheel-to-wheel at Turns 1 and 2, with the latter coming out on top with second.

Duerksen moved himself up to fourth having started from P7 and looked to attack Stanek into Turn 4, but the Czech driver retained third.

Onto Lap 2 and Maini attempted to make amends for his difficult start and battled with Arvid Lindblad at the first chicane. Both went deep into Turn 2, with the DAMS Lucas Oil driver running through the gravel and dropping down to last as a result.

Leonardo Fornaroli looked to have a run on Victor Martins into Ascari, but slight contact left the Invicta Racing driver with a missing front wing endplate as they fought over eighth position. The Italian made another move down the outside at Turn 4 on the following lap, but had to take to the escape road, allowing Jak Crawford to move up to P9.

Lap 4 and Goethe had DRS on Browning, and the MP Motorsport driver went by with ease into Turn 1, with the Drag Reduction System giving him the overspeed to take the lead.

With the pitlane open for mandatory stops on Lap 7, Goethe was in immediately from the lead, handing over first to Browning, who had Stanek within DRS range and right with him as the pair continued on, choosing not to respond at the end of the lap to the German’s stop.

Alexander Dunne then looked to complete a pass on Duerksen into Ascari but was hit from behind by Lindblad, sending the Rodin Motorsport driver into the barriers, resulting in a Safety Car.

That brought everyone into the pitlane for their mandatory stops, and the Campos Racing driver was later assigned a 10-second time penalty for the incident.

Browning re-emerged with the lead ahead of Stanek, but Goethe’s earlier stop left him in eighth as Duerksen, Lindblad, Martins, Gabriele Minì and Rafael Villagómez were able to pit and come out ahead of the Red Bull Junior Team member.

The Hitech TGR race leader got back underway with a late restart entering the start/finish straight, and Stanek looked to have a good run into the first corner. Just behind however, Lindblad suffered another lock-up and couldn’t avoid the Invicta driver, resulting in contact that left both out of the race and brought the Safety Car out once again.

Martins was also involved in drama at Turn 1, as he was tagged into a spin by Minì, dropping from fifth and was another retirement under the Safety Car.

Racing resumed entering Lap 14, and Duerksen had a great run through the final corner, leaving Browning unable to prevent the AIX driver seizing the lead into Turn 1.

Sami Meguetounif was the next to come unstuck at Turn 1, spinning into retirement and another Safety Car was called upon.

The action got back underway at the end of Lap 16 and the race leader kept hold of P1 on the restart. Fornaroli had to run off the track and gave up fifth to title rival Crawford as the Italian rejoined ahead of Turn 3.

Onto Lap 19 and Browning had DRS once again and he was able to slipstream his way back through for the race lead into the first corner.

Fornaroli was back on the attack and into fifth with DRS on Lap 20, clearing Crawford ahead of Turn 1. Another title contender was on the move as Richard Verschoor moved into the points in P10 with a late dive on Sebastián Montoya at Turn 4.

Home favourite Minì was up to sixth with a late-braking manoeuvre on Crawford at Turn 1 on Lap 23. One lap later and Beganovic was through down the main straight to move up to seventh in his Hitech.

Having moved clear of Crawford, Beganovic continued his charge at the expense of Minì on Lap 26, diving to the inside at Turn 1 to take sixth form himself.

Verschoor was up to ninth behind them after the Dutch driver pulled off a pass on teammate Goethe. Crawford was the next to be passed by Verschoor on Lap 27 at the first corner.

The fight for the final podium place was a three-car battle as Browning broke out of DRS range to Duerksen behind. It was Martí that made the first move in that fight with a late dive on Villagómez at Turn 1 to move himself up to third, while the Van Amersfoort driver had to skip across the chicane.

Onto the final lap and Martí tried another late dive at Turn 1 but locked up and had to take to the escape road.

Their fighting meant Browning was clear by over three seconds as he claimed his maiden win in the Championship ahead of Duerksen and Martí.

Fornaroli held off Beganovic by just 0.077s for fourth. Minì followed in seventh having gone from 15th on the grid, as Verschoor, Montoya and John Bennett completed the points in 10th.

KEY QUOTE – Luke Browning, Hitech TGR

“P1 in the Feature Race here at Monza. That one felt pretty special! Walking out onto that podium is something else. It felt pretty cool. It was well managed today, car was just fantastic and what a step from yesterday. So all thanks to Hitech and Williams. It’s a mega start to the second half of the year.”

THE CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

Fornaroli retains the lead in the Drivers’ Standings, going onto 174 points with Browning’s win moving him up to second on 153. Verschoor falls to third on 144 points ahead of Crawford on 137, and Dunne in fifth on 124 points.

In the Teams’ Standings, Invicta Racing continue to lead with 255 points with Hitech TGR second on 223. Campos Racing are now third on 213 points ahead of MP Motorsport on 167 and DAMS Lucas Oil on 163 in fourth and fifth positions.

UP NEXT

FIA Formula 2 action resumed in Baku for Round 12 of the 2025 campaign from 19-21 September.