This is probably one of the smallest qualifying gaps in the whole history of Formula 2: on Friday in Monaco, just 3 thousandths of a second separated championship leader Alexander Dunne (Rodin Motorsport) and Frenchman Victor Martins (ART GP). It is therefore the young Irishman who will start from pole position in the Feature Race at 9.40am on Sunday morning.
Starting in Group A, Martins, a development driver at the Williams Academy, thought he had done the hard part by improving his time from free practice on Thursday by a massive half-second: 1:21.145 compared with 1:21.715 the day before. But that was without taking into account the talent of Dunne, who set a time of 1:21.142 at the end of the session, three thousandths better than Martins. That’s the equivalent of not even a metre on the 3.3km of Circuit de Monaco.
With the grid split in two for this weekend’s races, it’s Group B which will be lining up behind poleman Dunne, with reigning F3 champion Leonardo Fornaroli (Invicta Racing) on row 2, Sebastian Montoya (Prema Racing), son of former Williams F1 driver, on row 3, and Luke Browning (HiTech) on row 4.
On the other side of the grid, behind Martins, there will also be some fine names in the shape of Richard Verschoor (MP Motorsport), another 24-year-old ‘veteran’ like the Frenchman, followed by Arvid Linblad (Campos Racing), who is very young and very talented, and above all, on the 4th row, next to Browning, another Italian, Gabriele Mini (Prema Racing), who has won the Monaco race twice in F3. He is almost at home in the Principality. Very exciting!
⏱️ Alexander Dunne grabs pole position in Monaco ⏱️
Victor Martins will start next to him on Sunday !
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⏱️ Alexander Dunne réalise la pole position à Monaco ⏱️
Victor Martins partira à ses côtés dimanche !
#MonacoGP #F1 #F2 #MonacoCircuit pic.twitter.com/36DWRkZUsX— Automobile Club de Monaco (@ACM_Media) May 23, 2025