Formula 2 News: American Jak Crawford on pole in Baku

American Jak Crawford secured the Aramco Pole Position Award in Baku for DAMS Lucas Oil, clocking a 1m54.791s to claim his first pole since Jeddah. Championship leader Leonardo Fornaroli of Invicta Racing was a mere 0.019s behind in second, with PREMA Racing’s Gabriele Minì taking third.

The session began with Roman Stanek setting the pace for Invicta Racing at 1m55.985. Alexander Dunne then edged ahead with a 1m55.843s, only for teammate Amaury Cordeel to trigger a red flag after hitting the barriers at Turn 13, ending his session.

With 22 minutes remaining, qualifying resumed, and Dunne improved to a 1m55.569, matched precisely by Luke Browning for second. Fornaroli then surged to the top with a 1m55.191, but Crawford eclipsed him by 0.399s to take provisional pole. Minì slotted into second, just 0.001s ahead of Fornaroli.

Dunne, showing promise with a purple sector one, made contact with the wall, forcing him to abort his lap and pit. Most drivers returned to the pits, but Fornaroli stayed out, improving to second, just 0.019s shy of Crawford.

With fresh Supersoft Pirelli tires, drivers hit the track again with under 10 minutes left. Dunne rejoined late after repairs to his Rodin Motorsport car’s front-right suspension. The next set of laps was cut short when ART Grand Prix’s Victor Martins crashed at Turn 3, prompting another red flag with just over four minutes remaining.

After barrier repairs, the session resumed with a final push for pole. Dunne posted the fastest first sector, but a crash involving Stanek and John Bennett at Turn 1 brought out the red flags again, sealing the order. Crawford held pole, followed by Fornaroli and Minì. Martins took fourth, Dunne fifth, Browning sixth, with Josep María Martí, debutant Martinius Stenshorne, Stanek, and Sebastián Montoya rounding out the top 10.

The Formula 2 Sprint Race in Baku is scheduled for Saturday at 14:15 local time.

2025 Baku Qualifying Results

Following the conclusion of Friday’s Qualifying session in Baku, several drivers have been handed penalties.

Firstly, Amaury Cordeel has lost his fastest time from Qualifying.

The driver of Car 16 hit the barrier at Turn 13, causing a Red Flag. As the sole cause of the stoppage, Cordeel breached Article 33.5 of the FIA Formula 2 Sporting Regulations.

The Stewards heard from both the driver and a Rodin Motorsport team representative following the session and also examined available video evidence.

They determined that the Belgian was the sole cause of the Red Flag, leading to the session being stopped, resulting in several drivers having to abandon their attempts in the session. As a result of there being no external contributing factors, Cordeel has had his fastest lap time deleted.

Cordeel was left without a representative time during today’s Qualifying session within the 107% cut-off. He has been given permission to start both races by the Stewards.

Secondly, ART Grand Prix driver Victor Martins has also lost his fastest time in Qualifying.

The driver of Car 14 lost control in Turn 3 and crashed causing a Red Flag. As the sole cause of the stoppage, Martins breached Article 33.5 of the FIA Formula 2 Sporting Regulations.

After examining video evidence and speaking to both the driver and a team representative, it was determined that Martins was the sole cause of the Red Flag, causing the session to stop and forcing several drivers to abandon their laps.

As a result of there being no outside contributing factors, the Frenchman has had his fastest time deleted.

This drops Martins from fourth to 13th in the final classification.

Roman Stanek has also had his fastest time deleted for being the sole cause of a Red Flag.

Car 2 ran wide at Turn 1 and in an attempt to join the track collided with the Van Amersfoort Racing car of John Bennett, causing a Red Flag.

The Stewards heard from Stanek and a team representatives following the session and examined available video evidence.

In a separate hearing, the Stewards found the Czech driver to have been wholly responsible for the collision, resulting in a Red Flag, the suspension of the session and causing several drivers to abandon their laps.

As a result of there being no external contributing factors, Stanek has had his fastest time deleted.

This drops Stanek from ninth to 12th in the final classification.

In addition to that, the Invicta Racing driver has also been given a five-place grid penalty for both races after he was found to have caused a collision with Bennett at Turn 1.

The Stewards spoke to both drivers and their team representatives and also examined video evidence. It was determined that Stanek had been wholly to blame for the incident as after going off at Turn 1, he attempted to rejoin the track, but did so in an unsafe manner, causing contact with Bennett.

As a result, Stanek has been given a five-place grid penalty to be served in both races. Lastly, AIX Racing driver Joshua Duerksen has also been given a grid penalty for rejoining in an unsafe manner ahead of TRIDENT’s Laurens van Hoepen.

After reviewing video evidence and hearing from the drivers and their team representatives, the Stewards found that Duerksen had rejoined in an unsafe manner ahead of van Hoepen, who was on a flying lap during Qualifying.

As a result, they elected to assign a grid penalty for both races. However, the Stewards found that with the incident occurring in a section of the track where there were Yellow Flags, a one-place grid penalty was applied instead of the standard three.