PREVIEW: Round 4 and return to racing at Imola

14 May 2025

Imola and Round 4 marks the return to Europe for the bulk of the 2025 season and there are plenty of questions to be answered.

Richard Verschoor’s impressive Jeddah performance means the Dutchman leads the Drivers’ Championship on 53 points, while Campos Racing top the Teams’ Standings on 65 points.

Who will make their mark at the start of a crucial triple-header?

WHAT TO EXPECT

Following three rounds in flyaway destinations, Formula 2 kicks off the European leg of the 2025 campaign with a return to the old-school Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari and Imola for Round 4.

The current lap record is held by Gabriel Bortoleto, with a 1:27.056 the best effort around the circuit, set during Qualifying last year. There is one single DRS zone, along the start/finish straight.

Track action gets underway on Friday with Free Practice kicking off at 11:05 local time and is followed by Qualifying later in the day at 16:00.

Saturday’s Sprint Race is scheduled for 14:15 while the Feature Race brings the F2 weekend to a close on Sunday morning, lights out set for 10:00 local time.

STAT PACK

So far in 2025, no driver that has started P1 on the grid has gone on to win either a Sprint or Feature Race
Since joining the F2 calendar in 2022, no driver starting from pole around Imola in either the Sprint or Feature Race has gone on to win
There have been five different winners in five races so far in 2025: Joshua Duerksen, Josep María Martí, Alexander Dunne, Arvid Lindblad and Richard Verschoor
Rodin Motorsport, Hitech TGR, Invicta Racing, MP Motorsport and Campos Racing have each achieved multiple podiums this season but only the latter has more than one win (2)
Théo Pourchaire’s 2022 Feature Race win came from seventh on the grid, the furthest back in the order a driver has been victorious from around Imola in F2

FROM THE GRID – Sami Meguetounif, TRIDENT

“Imola is a very, very difficult track. There’s a lot of medium-speed corners and a few high-speed. It’s a challenging track with bumps and combined corners, where you arrive in the corner turning and already have to start braking for another one. There are no runoff areas in Imola, so it’s track, kerb and then gravel. It’s nice because when you play with the limits, you play in the gravel.

“The second corner is the only place you can overtake without a mistake from the driver ahead. What’s special for me is the atmosphere. It’s an old-school track, surrounded by trees, and the history there is special. You can be scared to push with the gravel just there waiting for you, but that makes it challenging.”

TECHNICAL PREVIEW

Pierre-Alain Michot, FIA Formula 2 Technical Director

“There’s nowhere to hide around the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari, with the gravel never far away around the entirety of the lap. The track surface isn’t too abrasive, sector one is high-speed leading into the more technical middle and final sectors. Turn 2 is the main overtaking point at the end of the sole DRS zone around the track. Teams cannot afford to ignore the rest of the aerodynamic demands of the track in order to gain top-end speed.”

PIRELLI PREVIEW

For the first European round of the FIA Formula 2 championship at Imola’s Enzo e Dino Ferrari circuit, the available compounds are the Soft and Supersoft. Compared to 2024, the hardest compound on offer is therefore a step softer and will therefore be subject to greater degradation. On paper, the quickest race strategy is to start on the Soft, before switching to the Supersoft for the final laps. However, it’s quite possible the majority of drivers might opt to start with softer of the two to push hard in the early stages, while hoping for a possible Safety Car period. Last year, 16 of the 22 drivers went down this route, but they were out of luck because, surprisingly, there was no call for the Safety Car to leave pit lane.

Tyre management will be extremely difficult, especially with the Supersoft, even though its performance life will last one or two laps longer compared to its 2024 version.