Victor Martins wins F2 Qatar feature as Leonardo Fornaroli claims title in debut season
The Italian rookie took out the Formula 2 championship with one round to go as veteran Victor Martins took the race win in Qatar.
DOHA, Qatar–Frenchman Victor Martins was untouchable on the way to victory in the FIA Formula 2 feature race at the Qatar Grand Prix, but second place was enough for Italian rookie Leonardo Fornaroli to seal the series title.
Martins took the lead from the champion-elect at the start and held off the Invicta Racing driver in the closing stages to seal victory.
Fornaroli held on for second and claimed the championship with one round remaining, while Alex Dunne completed the podium.
"Definitely a relief," said race winner Martins.
"It’s been a long season. We have been waiting for that to happen. We were always up there, trying to get it done earlier this season.
"I think this weekend, we felt we had it on the table. Then it was all a matter of putting everything together.
"Today, from start to finish, everything was under control. On my side, on the team side, communication was, was on point. I think we just delivered the job that we needed to do to get this win.
"But definitely, it feels good to be back on the top step."
The order was set amongst the lead runners from lap one, with Martins taking the lead from Fornaroli into turn one, and Dunne into fourth by the third turn, behind Roman Staněk.
The leaders had started on the soft tyres and were into the pits early to change onto the hard compound, with Dino Beganovic taking the lead on the alternative strategy.
The net order was now Martins, Fornaroli, and Dunne as the lead hard-shod runners, and with a safety car on lap 15, they were able to gain valuable ground on their opponents, with martins emerging in fifth when racing resumed.
Those on the alternate strategy started to struggle with less than 10 laps remaining and the lead trio was through to the actual lead of the pack.
There was late drama as Dunne worked to build a five-second gap to overcome a penalty for an unsafe release, but he was clear by the line, and the podium was complete.
"I think the first 10 seconds after the race, I was extremely happy," said the Irishman, "because for the last five laps of the race, my engineer was telling me the gap to the cars behind, and I was pushing 110% ... to try to stay on the podium."
"But then I think once I calmed down again, I realised that the championship was done. And I think then, of course, I was a little bit disappointed, but Leo's done a very good job this year, and he fully deserves it. So well done to him."
Fornaroli's second place sealed the championship with 211 points and an unbeatable 41-point lead ahead of Jak Crawford and Richardo Verschoor.
The FIA Formula 2 field now heads to Abu Dhabi for the final round of the season and while Fornaroli was crowned champion in Qatar, the Teams' Championship wide open with two races remaining.
