Luke Browning converted pole into his first Formula 2 win at Monza. Duerksen secured second for AIX Racing, Martí fought through to third after late drama.
Luke Browning claimed his first Feature Race victory in monza feature race . The Hitech TGR driver started from pole, lost the lead, and fought back to take it again.
The race delivered three Safety Cars. Pit strategies shuffled the pack. Midfield fights raged throughout. In the end, Browning crossed the line ahead of Joshua Duerksen and Josep María Martí. The result lifts him into second place in the standings and narrows the gap to Leonardo Fornaroli.
Early drama and Safety Cars
The grid formed on Supersoft tyres. Browning launched cleanly while Kush Maini bogged down from the front row and slipped backwards.
Through the Rettifilo chicane the order was already changing. Duerksen jumped from seventh to fourth. Stanek and Goethe went wheel-to-wheel, neither willing to yield.
Further back, Fornaroli clipped Martins in the midfield. He lost part of his front wing endplate but kept going.
Maini’s recovery ended on Lap 2. He went too deep into Turn 1 fighting Lindblad, bounced across the gravel, and dropped to the rear.
At the front Goethe was flying. With DRS on Lap 4 he dived past Browning into Turn 1. He stopped on Lap 7 to try the undercut.
The call went wrong. One lap later Lindblad collided with Dunne at Ascari and sent the Rodin car into the barriers. The Safety Car was called. Most of the field pitted, leaving Goethe out of position.
Restarts and collisions
Browning cycled back into the lead with Stanek close behind. Goethe’s early stop left him eighth.
The restart was messy. Lindblad locked up into Turn 1 and crashed into Stanek. Both were out.
At the same corner Minì clipped Martins. The ART driver spun and retired. Another Safety Car was deployed.
Racing resumed on Lap 14. Duerksen got a perfect tow down the main straight and swept past Browning. For a moment it looked like his race.
Then Meguetounif spun at Turn 1. Out came the Safety Car for the third time.
Browning fights back
The Lap 16 restart put Browning right on Duerksen’s gearbox. He waited, then made his move.
On Lap 19 he used DRS into Rettifilo and retook the lead. That was the decisive moment.
The midfield lit up too. Fornaroli pressed on despite his earlier damage and climbed back into the top five.
Verschoor wasn’t shy. He dived past Montoya, then cleared Crawford to put MP Motorsport into the points.
The crowd loved it.
Minì stormed from P15 into seventh with a string of bold moves. Beganovic matched that charge. He dispatched Crawford and then forced his way past Minì into sixth. Their duel had the grandstands roaring.
Final laps decide the podium
Browning broke Duerksen’s DRS and started to edge clear. The focus shifted to third place.
Villagómez had been holding the spot late on. Martí lined him up and launched a dive into Turn 1. The Campos driver made it stick.
The final lap brought drama. Martí locked up into the chicane and bounced across the escape road. He rejoined just ahead of Villagómez and clung on to the podium.
Browning crossed the line more than three seconds clear. Duerksen secured second for AIX Racing. Martí sealed third — his first Feature Race podium since May.
Top 10 results
- Luke Browning (Hitech TGR)
- Joshua Duerksen (AIX Racing)
- Josep María Martí (Campos Racing)
- Rafael Villagómez (Van Amersfoort Racing)
- Leonardo Fornaroli (Invicta Racing)
- Dino Beganovic (Hitech TGR)
- Gabriele Minì (PREMA Racing)
- Richard Verschoor (MP Motorsport)
- Sebastián Montoya (PREMA Racing)
- John Bennett (Van Amersfoort Racing)
Post-race penalties
Following the Feature Race, Arvid Lindblad was handed multiple penalties.
The Campos driver had originally been given a 10-second time penalty during the race for causing a collision with Alexander Dunne. Because he retired before serving it, the Stewards converted the sanction into a five-place grid penalty for the next event.
Lindblad was also found wholly at fault for contact with Roman Stanek during a Safety Car restart at Turn 1. For that incident he received a further 10-second penalty, which again converts into a five-place grid drop due to his retirement.
The Briton will now serve both penalties at the next round he contests.
Browning: “That one felt pretty special”
“P1 in the Feature Race here at Monza. That one felt pretty special! Walking out onto that podium is something else. It felt pretty cool. It was well managed today, car was just fantastic and what a step from yesterday. So all thanks to Hitech and Williams. It’s a mega start to the second half of the year.”
Championship standings
- Leonardo Fornaroli – 174 pts
- Luke Browning – 153 pts
- Richard Verschoor – 144 pts
- Jak Crawford – 137 pts
- Alexander Dunne – 124 pts
Teams’ top 5
- Invicta Racing – 255 pts
- Hitech TGR – 223 pts
- Campos Racing – 213 pts
- MP Motorsport – 167 pts
- DAMS Lucas Oil – 163 pts
Next stop: Baku
Formula 2 heads to Baku for Round 12 on 19–21 September. Fornaroli still leads the standings, but Browning’s maiden win at f2 Monza has fired up the title fight heading into the final stretch.
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