PREVIEW: Spielberg ready for Round 7 and halfway mark in 2025

We are gearing up for another double header as we head to Spielberg for Round 7 of the 2025 FIA Formula 2 campaign.

The Championship is poised nicely, the track creates great racing, and the forecast is looking perfect for an action-filled race weekend that will take us to the halfway stage in the year.

Here is what you need to know ahead of the latest instalment of a thrilling campaign.

WHAT TO EXPECT

After the thrills and spills in Barcelona, Alexander Dunne leads the way in the Drivers’ Championship, the Irishman now on 87 points. The Rodin Motorsport driver will also be making his Formula 1 race weekend debut for McLaren as he drives Lando Norris’ car in Free Practice 1 this weekend.

The drivers will hit the track for the first time on Friday at 11:05 local time for Free Practice, before the grid-setting Qualifying session takes place at 15:55 later in the day.

On Saturday, we get our first race of the weekend in the Sprint Race. Lights out is scheduled for 14:15 local time, with the drivers set to contest 28 laps around the Red Bull Ring.

Sunday’s Feature Race is tabled for a 10:00 start, with 40 laps of action to look forward to.

STAT PACK

• The leader of the Drivers’ Championship has changed at the end of every round this season so far
• The top five in the Standings are separated by just 14 points, the closest the Drivers’ Championship has been at this stage of a season in F2 history between so many contenders
• Arvid Lindblad is the only driver to finish inside the top 10 in every race so far this season
• Campos Racing and DAMS Lucas Oil are tied for the most wins so far this season with three apiece
• We are yet to have a repeat pole sitter in 2025, with six different drivers taking P1 on Friday in Rounds 1 to 6

FROM THE GRID – Jak Crawford, DAMS Lucas Oil

“Spielberg – in the mountains, very beautiful and cool place. It’s a very high-speed circuit especially Sector 3, but also some low speed stuff, so you need a good mixture of both.

“Lots of straights, low speed and high speed. The best overtaking spot is diving down the inside of Turn 3 or setting someone up at Turn 3 to get DRS to pass them into Turn 4.

“The most challenging part is how close the laptimes are. It’s the shortest laptime of the year so the times are close, so you really need to be on it and performing.”

TECHNICAL PREVIEW

Pierre-Alain Michot, FIA Formula 2 Technical Director

“Long straights mean overtaking is plentiful around Red Bull Ring, but teams cannot afford to focus solely on straight-line speed. The final sector in particular is made up of high-speed corners, while the heaviest braking zones come at Turns 3 and Turns 4 following two DRS zones. The traction zones around the lap, along with the high-speed nature and track roughness means tyre wear is relatively high for the Soft and Supersoft compounds. As we have seen in the past, a late pitstop can bring huge reward but the tyres must be managed.”

PIRELLI PREVIEW

The compounds chosen for the Spielberg weekend are once again the softest two in the range. The surface of the Austrian track is very abrasive due to its age, but that does not affect tyre wear. In fact, grip is plentiful as the track is in regular use and is therefore well rubbered-in. All drivers will use the red-banded tyre for the Sprint, but in Sunday’s race, two strategies could come into play. On paper, the quickest is to run Soft then Supersoft, but last year, 13 drivers started on the Supersoft enjoying not only better grip off the line, but also benefiting from a free pit stop when the Safety Car came out just as the regulation tyre change window opened. Therefore, it’s not inconceivable that some might go for the same gamble this year.