In a weekend full of drama in the Ardennes, the Barcelona-born driver finished fourth in a challenging rain-soaked Sunday race, having already taken fifth place the day before in the sprint race. Lindblad, who also demonstrated strong pace in all conditions, was denied a second-place finish on Sunday due to an issue with minimum tire pressures
FIA Formula 2’s visit to Spa-Francorchamps, venue of the ninth round of the season and held in support of the F1 Belgian Grand Prix, gave the drivers no respite. Extremely changeable weather conditions demanded the very best from both drivers and engineers. For Campos Racing, Spain’s Pepe Martí left Belgium with a valuable haul of points for both himself and the team. That total could have been even greater, as Arvid Lindblad also delivered a strong performance throughout the weekend, though the circumstances would ultimately work against him.
In Friday’s free practice, Lindblad posted a best time of 2m00.138s after completing fifteen laps. His teammate Martí set a best time of 2m00.877s. Later in the day, under warm summer conditions, both Campos Racing drivers kept the team’s colors high in the qualifying session. On their first push laps, Martí clocked a personal best of 1m58.680s, while Lindblad managed a 1m58.879s. With the second set of tires and the session winding down, both drivers improved almost identically. Lindblad secured fifth place with a lap of 1m57.674s, while Martí’s 1m57.699s earned him sixth on the grid.
Saturday’s sprint race, held at midday and contested over 18 laps, saw Martí and Lindblad start fourth and fifth respectively on the reversed grid. When the lights went out, both Campos Racing drivers avoided the chaos at the start, which brought out the safety car after Jak Crawford, Luke Browning, and Richard Verschoor were involved in a collision. Following three laps behind the safety car, the race resumed with Martí leading the Campos pair in fifth. As Martí pressured Victor Martins ahead, Lindblad defended strongly against Gabriele Minì and Alex Dunne. The safety car returned on lap 12 after contact eliminated Amaury Cordeel. With tire degradation becoming a factor, Martí, Lindblad, and several other drivers pitted for soft tires to attack in the final stages. Martí overtook Cian Shields at the restart and attempted to pass Oliver Goethe, ultimately finishing fifth. Lindblad crossed the line in ninth but was handed a five-second penalty for an incident with Dino Beganovic, dropping him to 17th place.
Rain was the dominant factor on Sunday, forcing drivers to start on wet rubber. The race began behind the safety car due to the heavy water on track and got underway after three formation laps. Lindblad maintained fifth position in the early stages, while Martí dropped to seventh before reclaiming sixth after passing Leonardo Fornaroli. Despite the tricky conditions, both Campos Racing drivers pulled away from the chasing pack and stayed within reach of the leaders. Pit stops began on lap ten, with Martí pitting on lap 12 and Lindblad shortly thereafter. As the rain persisted, everyone opted for a second set of wet tires. After the stops, Lindblad was up to fourth and then overtook Roman Stanek with a brave move into La Source to move into third. Martí held fifth. A spin by Ritomo Miyata promoted Lindblad to second behind Dunne. Another spin, this time by Sebastián Montoya at Eau Rouge on lap 18, brought out the safety car. During the caution period, Goethe’s engine failed, prompting red flags and the end of the race. Lindblad’s second-place finish was later annulled due to a tyre pressure infringement, promoting Martí to fourth.
Following the Belgian round, Martí and Lindblad sit sixth and seventh in the standings with 85 and 84 points respectively. Campos Racing lies second in the teams’ championship with 169 points.
With no time to rest, the next round is just days away at the Hungaroring, which will also mark the start of the summer break.
Arvid Lindblad (Campos Racing driver in FIA Formula 2): “Bit of a shame this weekend at Spa-Francorchamps. I felt more comfortable with the car after free practice, fixed some issues from previous rounds. Quali was decent—made top five. Sprint race pace was lacking and a poor strategy under the safety car dropped us out of the points. In the feature race, we were P2 on track and even P1 briefly, but got disqualified due to a tire pressure issue. It really hurt our championship hopes. Still, some positives and now we look ahead to Budapest.”
Pepe Martí (Campos Racing driver in FIA Formula 2): “Somewhat good weekend at Spa, we had a decent Friday with 6th in Qualy. In the Sprint Race we held onto 5th in a tough fight. On Sunday with the adverse conditions we had a decent race, unfortunately a slow pitstop due to a miscommunication between the team and I and a small mistake made us lose some time which eventually cost us two places during the pit stop. Looking forward to Budapest to fight for more.”
