WHAT TO WATCH FOR: Big talking points in Baku

From one high-speed test around an old-school venue to another around a street circuit like no other, Baku hosts Round 12 of the 2025 FIA Formula 2 campaign.

After Leonardo Fornaroli added another win to his tally last time out, we head to Azerbaijan with the title race reaching its final stages. Here’s what you’ll want to keep a close eye on this weekend in Baku.

WING WATCH

The long straights around Baku mean that straight line speed is a big factor behind laptime. As we saw last race weekend in Monza, teams have the choice of running a low downforce package, with trimmed down front and rear wings providing a boost in top-end speed in return for stripped down levels of downforce.

Last year, several drivers opted to try the low downforce spec wings, but the majority ran the conventional setup. Whether that remains the case this season we will have to wait and see.

But, those who are looking to find an advantage over their rivals might find that the gains in straight-line speed are worth the disadvantage in the lower-speed corners where downforce is not a huge requirement.

Practice will be even more crucial to identify the best setup direction for the remainder of the weekend, as any doubts going into Qualifying could prove costly in terms of grid position, leaving a driver with an uphill battle for the remainder of the weekend.

FORNAROLI GOING FOR FIVE

The Championship leader took a little while to get going, but lately he cannot be stopped. In fact, after earning his maiden F2 race victory at Silverstone earlier this season, he has won at each subsequent weekend too.

His impressive four-race weekend streak of wins means another Sprint or Feature Race success in Baku will move him up to five in a row, the longest such streak since Oscar Piastri took wins in four consecutive weekends back in 2021.

READ MORE: Verschoor keen to close gap to leader Fornaroli ahead of return to ‘special’ Baku

If Fornaroli can extend that record, it will take a massive change in momentum to dislodge him from the top of the Drivers’ Standings in the closing two rounds.

Whether it’s a win in the Sprint or Feature Race, his impressive consistency is the type of success that makes champions.

ROOKIES FACE UP TO A NEW CHALLENGE

There are two new faces on the Formula 2 grid for this weekend’s action in Baku, with Martinius Stenshorne and Laurens van Hoepen step up from Formula 3 with TRIDENT.

Both achieved podiums in 2025, with Stenshorne notching up two race wins and a further three podiums across the F3 campaign with Hitech TGR, while van Hoepen earned two podiums for ART Grand Prix.

While the venue is one of the tougher on the F2 calendar to be debuting at, they have previous examples to look to in inspiration.

In 2024, Gabriele Minì and Luke Browning starred in their first F2 appearances, with the former earning a podium in the Sprint Race and the latter points in the Feature last year.

Stenshorne and van Hoepen will be aiming for similar this weekend, but they will be mostly getting up to speed with how an F2 weekend works overall.