F2 – British Grand Prix – Free Practice: Martins narrowly beats Browning at Silverstone

Victor Martins had the best possible start to his weekend at Silverstone by dominating the free practice of the Formula 2 British Grand Prix. The French driver for ART Grand Prix set a time of 1:41.699 in the final moments of the 45-minute session, ahead of Luke Browning by just 0.051 seconds. Jak Crawford completed the top 3 for DAMS Lucas Oil.

The session marked the beginning of the second half of the 2025 championship for F2. After a mandatory virtual safety car test, times quickly dropped as drivers found their rhythm.

Montoya sets the initial pace.

Sebastián Montoya of PREMA Racing set the pace with the first serious benchmark time of 1:43.160, ahead of Martins by 0.145 seconds. The Colombian then improved his time to 1:42.465, taking a comfortable lead over his pursuers. Leonardo Fornaroli and Jak Crawford then settled into second and third places, before Martins briefly regained the lead with a time of 1:42.393.

Sami Meguetounif from Trident then took the lead with 1:42.369, but the session was interrupted by a red flag 26 minutes before the end. Rafael Villagómez from Van Amersfoort Racing had lost control of his car at turn 16, ending his run in the gravel trap.

End of an animated session after the resumption

The restart with 16 minutes remaining reignited the action. Browning was the first to react, taking the lead with 1:42.324, immediately beaten by Martins who clocked 1:42.317. Alex Dunne climbed to third place before losing his time for exceeding track limits.

Montoya regained the advantage with 1:42.004, but Browning responded by becoming the first driver to break the 1:42 barrier with a time of 1:41.750. In the final minutes, Martins came within 0.051 seconds of the Brit, setting up his final attack.

On his last attempt, Martins found the last few hundredths to set the fastest time at 1:41.699. Crawford narrowly missed after locking up his wheels at the last corner, nevertheless holding onto third place ahead of Dino Beganovic and Montoya.

Oliver Goethe finished sixth for MP Motorsport, while championship leader Richard Verschoor could do no better than eighth. Dunne, struggling after his challenging weekend in Austria, had to settle for eleventh place, six-tenths off the best time.

The gap of less than two seconds between the first and last confirms the competitiveness of the field for what promises to be a closely contested weekend on the British circuit.