Two titles set to go the distance: Bruno Michel’s Baku Debrief

After the action in Baku across Round 12, we have a break in the season ahead of what will be two unmissable rounds in Lusail and Yas Marina.

FIA Formula 2 CEO Bruno Michel takes stock of what we saw around the Baku streets and what the future holds for the 2025 title fights in both Championships.

BAKU THRILLS ONCE AGAIN

“It was an exciting weekend. It’s always a pleasure to come to Baku because the track is unbelievable. We always get some surprises here. “Our Qualifying was a little bit eventful with a few Red Flags. But then you saw what happened in F1 Qualifying too, so it shows how tough it is here.

“Both of our races were action-packed. We saw some great racing, a new race winner and even if we had a few Safety Cars in the Sprint, there was only one in the Feature Race. The drivers did well to manage things, and it made the racing thrilling.”

HITECH TGR ON THE UP

“Hitech had a great weekend in Baku for sure. They’re getting closer to Invicta Racing in the Teams’ Standings and we’re going to have a fantastic end of the season for the Teams’ Championship fight.

“Looking at their line-up, Luke Browning was very strong on Saturday to take P2, but he had a bit of a harder time in the Feature Race. His teammate Dino Beganovic on the other hand was really strong throughout both races. He got his first win in the Sprint and another podium in the Feature.

“Hitech scored 34 points in total to close the gap to Invicta. It’s going to give us a very intriguing finish to the season in the Teams’ title battle, as Campos Racing aren’t far away in third. We still have two weekends to go, so the Championship fight is going to be very close.”

ROOKIES IMPRESSING ON DEBUT

“Martinius Stenshorne joined TRIDENT in Baku, and he was very impressive for his very first time in an F2 car. He did a good job in Qualifying taking P8, and in the Sprint he was on the way to a podium until he had a technical issue, and unfortunately couldn’t finish the race. Then in the Feature Race he was involved in a collision as he was running in the points.

“But it’s great to see these young drivers stepping into F2 early after their F3 season is finished. Having F3 wrap up in Monza allows F2 hopeful to get a first taste of the Championship. We had two joining the grid in Baku, with Laurens van Hoepen also racing for TRIDENT.”

SETTING UP THE FINAL TWO ROUNDS NICELY

“I want to highlight that Jak Crawford has done a great job in Azerbaijan. His race from pole position on Sunday was really strong. He had to fight for this win, first as he lost P1 at the start, and then after he regained the lead of the race, he was under huge pressure from Joshua Duerksen in the closing laps. Crawford is now up to second in the Championship behind Leonardo Fornaroli.

READ MORE: What We Learned: The main takeaways from Round 12 in Baku

“The young Italian had a slightly disappointing time in Baku. He qualified well in second, and started the Feature strongly, taking lead at Turn 1. He finished P3 on the road but he was penalised because of his contact with Alexander Dunne, which was a fair penalty.

“All in all, it means that Jak is bringing the fight to Leo in the final two rounds of the season, with Luke still very much in the mix. I think we will not know who our 2025 Champion will be until Abu Dhabi, which is great.

“Until then, there will be a break from racing. The teams and the drivers will make good use of that time to train, prepare and focus on the final two rounds. Everyone will be under huge pressure to end the season on a high and they know that they cannot afford any mistake if they want to end the Championship on top.

“I’m expecting two very strong weekends to wrap up 2025, and we will definitely crown a worthy Champion. I’d be very surprised if both titles don’t go down to the last race of our final weekend in Abu Dhabi.”