Richard Verschoor took victory during the F2 Sprint Race at the 2025 Qatar GP for MP Motorsport. Joshua Durksen finished in second for AIX Racing, with Rafael Villagomez taking third for Van Amersfoort Racing.
Richard Verschoor lined up on Pole, hoping to close the gap to Leo Fornaroli in his championship charge. Joshua Durksen joined him on the front row, with Rafael Villagomez lining up in third.
Lights Out
It was an impressive start for Durksen who was able to take the lead from Verschoor off the line.
Nikola Tsolov improved into third, making a statement during his Formula 2 debut this weekend.
There was a brave battle between championship leader Fornaroli and his Invicta Racing teammate Roman Stanek throughout the early phase of the race. However, this saw them lose ground to Alex Dunne, who was on the back of Montoya in their battle for P5.
Jak Crawford was able to improve to 11th from 15th in these early stages, crucial as he sits second in the championship.
A Change of Lead
Lap four saw Verschoor retake the lead from Durksen on the main straight. The AIX Racing driver was already struggled to remain in DRS, over a second behind by lap 5.
Furthermore, Tsolov was also falling back towards Villagomez in 4th.
Down in 18th position, Luke Browning was told to “go for it” by his Hitech team, with nothing to lose in his championship charge.
Victor Martins ran wide at Turn One, allowing Crawford and Dino Beganovic to pass. The ART Grand Prix driver was clearly struggling as Gabriele Mini also overtook for P12.
Safety Car
A battle between the Trident drivers saw James Wharton find the gravel at Turn One. Therefore, the Safety Car was released.
Stanek was the first to pit for soft tyres. Oliver Goethe, Arvid Lindblad, Browning, John Bennett and Cian Shields followed.
Additionally, the Safety Car was then extended after Kush Maini came to a stop on track after his pit stop.
Green Light
Lap 16 saw the resumption of green flag conditions.
It was a conservative restart for this stage of the race, with Verschoor comfortable maintaining the lead.
Durksen was told he had to “push like crazy” to break the DRS from Tsolov behind.
By lap 16, Villagomez was struggling and coming under pressure from Sebastian Montoya in P4.
Further down the field, Stanek was beginning to make moves in P13, yet briefly ran wide into the gravel.
The Soft tyres appeared to have fallen away as the Hard tyre runners were significantly quicker.
Safety Car
Once again, the Safety Car was deployed after Shields came to a stop on track after suffering from a spin.
Green Light
As the Safety Car ended, there was just one lap remaining under green flag conditions.
Tsolov went tumbling down the order after going wheel to wheel with Villagomez, who was promoted into the final podium position.
An outstanding performance from Verschoor boosted his title hopes ahead of Sunday’s Feature Race. Furthermore, his eighth win equals Felipe Drugovich’s record of the most races won in the series.
Richard Verschoor took victory during the F2 Sprint Race at the 2025 Qatar GP for MP Motorsport. Joshua Durksen finished in second for AIX Racing, with Rafael Villagomez taking third for Van Amersfoort Racing.
Featured Image Credit: Dutch Photo Agency