Dino Beganovic triumphs at the 2025 Azerbaijan GP after securing his maiden F2 win in Saturday’s Sprint Race.
Beganovic Celebrates Maiden Win
After starting in second, Dino Beganovic celebrated his first race win in the FIA Formula 2 Championship for Hitech TGR.
“We knew we had good pace from yesterday and that today was all about executing it well,” reflected Beganovic.
“I think it was all very much under control at all times after lap one and then we just settled into our pace, tried to manage the tyres a bit and be ready for a safety car, because you never know here in Baku.”
“All the restarts were spot on as well, so it was a very good race from inside the car.”
The Swedish driver was forced to lead the field in two Safety Car restarts, the second of which saw slight rainfall.
“We were getting some spots on the visor, and it was a bit difficult to tell how much it was raining. It was a bit tricky in the last sector to understand when it was drying and with the white lines as well, because they’re quite slippery,
“It was very tricky conditions out there today. I think everybody can speak for that, […] with the wind picking up very much today compared to yesterday and the spots of rain, it was a challenging race from inside the car.”
Participating in his first full season in the FIA Formula 2 Championship, it has been a challenging introduction to the series.
“It’s been a more difficult season than expected, especially the first and mid-part of the season,
“Then, in Monza, we saw a big improvement and after that it’s been very strong pace so then it’s about execution.”
Before Monza, Beganovic’s most notable result was a third-place finish in Imola. However, his second weekend in Italy saw a more consistent run in both the Sprint and Feature Races.
“I’ve looked forward to this for a long time,” Beganovic finalised when reflecting on achieving his maiden win.
“The next thing is obviously a feature race win. We can learn from what could have been better today for tomorrow so I’m confident we can be in the fight for tomorrow as well.”
Browning Makes It A 1-2
Celebrating another successful result, Luke Browning made it a 1-2 for Hitech TGR.
“I’ve just got to say Dino did a fantastic job today,
“It was great to see control from him and I think he’s had a lot of bad luck this year […] so it’s really nice to see him.”
On lap 18, Browning was able to take second from Sebastian Montoya, who had no response to the DRS on the final straight.
“Just staying out of trouble served me well. I was just taking caution, honestly, and just used the pace in the middle of the race when I needed to,”
“There was a time when I just passed Montoya that I thought ‘I need to get a gap now’ and I did. Then the last five laps, six laps, I was just chilling, waiting for the race to end.”
Similarly to his teammate, the British driver reflected on the difficulty that the conditions posed throughout the Sprint Race.
“That is probably one of the toughest conditions I’ve ever raced in, and that includes the wet,” admitted Browning.
“I love the wet and sometimes the non-visibility for me is not an issue, but today’s wind, with how unpredictable it was, was super tough. The intermittent rain in the last sector, I went through one lap and had no grip, and then the next lap was completely fine. It was just evolving so fast.”
Another flicker of consistency means that Browning has closed the gap on Championship leader Leonardo Fornaroli, gaining important momentum at a crucial point in the season.
“I just try to not focus on the championship. I know it sounds daft, but the pressure of it is obviously high. You’ve got to be able to, if you’re going to have a career in this, you need to be able to understand this pressure is going to be constant and deal with it,”
“I’m only here because of the consistency that I’ve managed to pull through the middle of the year when […] we weren’t the fastest or it wasn’t going so well or […] I didn’t quite have the pace to keep with them. I still managed to scrape a couple of points here and there, or I managed to keep the position that maybe I didn’t have the pace for. Then when we really had the pace, like Monza, […] I was able to extract the most out of it.”
Dunne Finishes Third
Despite facing a number of challenges throughout, Alex Dunne was able to clinch the final podium position.
“It wasn’t bad. It was relatively, I wouldn’t say chill, because I think with all the safety car restarts […] so I had a lot to think about and a lot to focus on. I was pushing the whole race, but I think, ultimately, it just came down to a silly mistake in turn one,”
“I just braked a little bit too hard and snatched the inside front left. That […] unravelled a lot of the hard work that I had done which then made the end of the race very difficult.”
Despite flat spotting his front left tyre, Dunne was able to hold on to the final podium position.
“Apart from that, I think it was a well-controlled race. I wasn’t really putting myself in difficult positions and I think we made the right moves at the right time.”
Despite The Baku City Circuit being renowned for its difficult overtaking spots, the Rodin Motorsport driver was able to perform several notable moves, particularly into Turn Three.
“It is very, very difficult. I think we had a lot of safety cars, so quite often, […] the brakes probably weren’t at their optimal temperature throughout the race because they cool down through a safety car and then they heat back up when you start driving.”
Also in the fight for the Championship, currently in fifth with 130 points, the Irish driver will be hoping to capitalise as much as possible in Sunday’s Feature Race.
“I think our pace, my pace at the end was massively limited […] with a flat spot on my front left. To be honest, I thought my front teeth were going to fall out from the vibrating of the wheel. It was really, really bad,”
“I think the pace looks strong and if you remove that element, the pace is probably even stronger. We’re always quick in the races, so we’ll have to wait and see how it unfolds.”
Featured Image Credit: Formula 2 on X
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