Prema Racing’s Andrea Kimi Antonelli ended up first at the Silverstone F2 Sprint ahead of Rodin’s Zane Maloney and Invicta’s Kush Maini who successfully re-took 3rd place from his teammate Gabriel Bortoleto after the latter got a 5 seconds time penalty for illegal overtake in last centimeters of the race.
The promising Italian youngster accomplished his maiden victory in Formula 2 in an overfilled race with one red flag and two Safety Cars. Mercedes’ young driver had to regain a lost gap of 4 and 5 seconds respectively due to on-track incidents.
Unlike Formula 3’s delayed sprint race, Silverstone F2 Sprint started behind the Safety Car and under the ominously dark British sky with the rolling start under effect.
F2’s sprint race was dominated by a monsoon-styled rain mixed with very low visibility that forced the race to be red-flagged at an early stage.
Prema’s Andrea Kimi Antonelli was in a ‘reverse pole-position’ situation which allowed him a greater chance of achieving a maiden victory/podium.
The championship leader Hitech’s Paul Aron did not finish a race after the contact with Campos’ Pepe Marti in lap 8.
The rain will normally last for 30 minutes, in 15 minutes it is going to be the highest intensity, the it will be dropping.
Isack Hadjar’s team radio prior to a race start
Rain affected the Silverstone F2 Sprint race
Despite the wet weather situation and the typical chaos surrounding junior single-seaters, the race started without any major incidents.
Bearman’s slight tangle with Invicta’s Bortoleto caused him to lose a front left wing endplate and tumble down the order in the process. This would lead to a virtual safety car as the rain increases to an almost ‘biblical level’.
F2 pack followed a green Safety Car of Aston Martin to a 2-laps before it was decided for another rolling start due to progress in weather.
Aron got hit by Hadjar’s teammate Pepe Marti into Wellington Straight completely obliterating Estonian’s rear wing.
Hadjar had a scary moment in Copse and was stuck in the gravel unable to retrieve the car on the tarmac.
Prema’s Oliver Bearman almost ended up in the same spot as Isack Hadjar, however the newly signed Haas driver managed to survive and continue the race at lap 13.
The 2025 F1 rookie would soon retire on lap 16th after stalling on Hangar straight.
In the dying stages of the race, Victor Martins had to retire after a spin-contact with his teammate Zak o’ Sullivan.
In the overall standings, the DNF of the closest rivals means no change at the top of the standings, Aron still leads with an 11-point gap to Isack Hadjar.