Frenchman Victor Martins (ART GP), a Formula 2 veteran at just 24 years of age, got his Monegasque weekend off to a flying start by setting the fastest time in free practice on Thursday afternoon (1:21.715). At the end of a very intense session, just like the Formula 3 session just before, interrupted ten minutes before the end by a red flag after Belgian driver Amaury Cordeel (Rodin Motorsport) went off the track at Sainte Dévote.

When the session resumed, the final laps completely changed the standings, except for Victor Martins who managed to improve his time again to finish six tenths ahead of Luke Browning (HiTech), currently 2^nd in the championship, and one second ahead of Luca Fornaroli, 2024 Formula 3 champion and therefore a very promising rookie at this level.

A member of the Williams Driver Academy, Martins has often been at the front in F2 since his arrival in 2023, on the heels of an F3 championship title in 2022. But he accumulated a lot of bad luck, taking only 5^th place in the championship in 2023 and 7^th in 2024. As a result, he has seen several rivals move up to F1 this year, including his compatriot Isack Hadjar, now a very consistent driver at Racing Bulls, the Junior team for Red Bull.

The current championship leader, Ireland’s Alexander Dunne (Rodin Motorsport), could only manage 8^th place in this session, behind Italy’s Gabriele Mini (Prema), a two-time F3 winner in Monaco and logically promoted to F2 this season. Mini set the 4^th fastest time, ahead of Sweden’s Dino Beganovic (HiTech), another F2 debutant like himself.

F2 qualifying will take place on Friday, for two groups of 11 drivers, between 3.10 and 4.00 pm. This is between the two F1 free practice sessions, and there are still a few places available in the grandstands, at the ACM sales desks at Direction du Tourisme and in Rue Notari, close to the circuit.

Results

📊 Results from the Free Practice session in F2

—

📊 Résultat de la séance d’essais libres en F2 #MonacoGP #F1 #F2 #MonacoCircuit pic.twitter.com/WLIANuNVyz

— Automobile Club de Monaco (@ACM_Media) May 22, 2025