F2 - Bahrain - Qualifying: Martins beaten by Fornaroli

Victor Martins, who finished 4th in Friday morning's practice, was within touching distance of pole position this afternoon. Beaten by a tenth and a half seconds, the Frenchman was beaten by Leonardo Fornaroli, who set a decisive final lap.

Published 11/04/2025 à 16:32

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Bahrain – Qualifying: Victor Martins beaten by Leonardo Fornaroli

A few weeks after his official signing with the academy Williams, Victor Martins would certainly have liked to have secured pole position to confirm his renewed energy and optimism. Leading for a long time in this session, the ART Grand Prix driver was overtaken by Leonardo Fornaroli (Invicta Racing), who had not yet set any sector records, but despite lacking brilliance, showed flawless consistency to set a time of 1'44''008.

The first driver to start on his last attempt, Victor Martins had nevertheless beaten all his rivals with sector 2 and 3 records. On the other hand, Oliver Goethe (MP Motorsport), leader of the morning practice session, and the Frenchman Sami Meguetounif (Trident) in particular, who started with a delayed pit exit, were not able to make the expected difference. Despite a maximized performance, the Trident driver still obtained 7th place^e place, a position gained compared to practice. This will nevertheless allow him to hope for a promising race this Saturday from the second starting row after the grid reversal.

Victor Martins 2nd on the grid in Bahrain! 🇧🇭

The Frenchman is overtaken by Leonardo Fornaroli, champion F3 in title 👏

Sami Meguetounif is ranked 7th! #BahrainGP #F2 pic.twitter.com/lOBqyy6Zom

— CANAL+ F1® (@CanalplusF1) April 11, 2025

Prema still struggling

Respectively 6^e and 7^e of the sprint race in Melbourne, the Prema drivers struggled to emerge from this qualifying session with honors again. Already out of form during the morning tests, Gabriele Mini, cited among the favorites before the start of the season, had painfully inherited a 5^e place 6 tenths behind the leader. 12^e In qualifying, the young Italian is 8 tenths behind this afternoon, and does not yet seem able to compete alongside the leaders.

For the rest of the weekend, the sprint race will be available to follow starting at 16:15 p.m. (French time) this Saturday. The main race will take place on Sunday at 13:25 p.m. (French time).