2025 F2000 Italian Formula Trophy

The 2025 TopJet F2000 Italian Formula Trophy was a multi-event open-wheel single seater motor racing championship. This was the twelfth season of the series, featuring a mix of professional and amateur drivers competing in different classes and using multiple kinds of Formula 3-, Formula Regional-. Formula Renault- and Formula 4-level machinery.^[1]

The championship continued its cooperation with the Drexler-Automotive Formula Cup, with the two series sharing grids and race slots on multiple race weekends.

Jo Zeller Racing's Sandro Zeller won the overall F2000 Championship and in doing so also became Platinum Class Champion. Franz Wöss Racing's defending champion Benjámin Berta secured the Super Formula Class title as Nannini Racing's Davide Pedetti won in the Gold Class, Facondini Racing's Oliver Kratsch claimed the title in the Silver Class, STAC driver Jérémy Clavaud became the inaugural Formula Regional Class Champion and Matteo Zoccali won the Entry Level Class driving for the Henry Morrogh Drivers School. Franz Wöss Racing defended their F2000 Teams' Championship title.

In the F2.0 Cup, Speed Motor's Karim Sartori took the overall title as well as the Open Class title as his team claimed the F2.0 Teams' Championship. Neri Autosport's Bruno Mottez meanwhile won the title in the Light Class.

Teams and drivers competing in the F2000 Trophy were divided into six classes: the Super Formula Class was open to Dallara F320 cars, while the Platinum, Gold and Silver Classes were open to other older F3 cars. The Bronze class was discontinued, while a new Formula Regional Class for cars conforming to these regulations was introduced. The Formula Entry Class lastly was open to Formula 4 cars.^[2] For competition in the F2.0 Cup, the field was divided into Pro and Light Class entries.^[3]

All drivers competed driving Tatuus FFR.0 cars with Renault engines.

The 2025 calendar was announced in late 2024.^[11] The series again only held a single round abroad, but that venue will change from the Red Bull Ring to the Brno Circuit.

The 2025 season began at Monza with defending champion Benjámin Berta claiming pole position for Franz Wöss Racing in qualifying.^[12] That saw him start eighth for the opening sprint race, in which he quickly rose to second place, but found no way past Jo Zeller Racing's Sandro Zeller. Viola Formula's Andrea Benalli took third as his teammate Luis Aguiar claimed the win in F2.0 on his debut in the series.^[13] Berta bounced back in the feature race, delivering a commanding performance in wet conditions to lead Zeller and STAC's Jérémy Clavaud lights-to-flag and take the championship lead. Aguiar took another win in the F2.0 Cup to cement an early lead over Speed Motor's Karim Sartori.^[14]

Qualifying for round two at Mugello saw Berta on top once again.^[15] He only needed one lap to claim the lead from eighth on the grid in the reversed-grid sprint race, leading Zeller and teammate Stig Larsen to an unchallenged victory as Aguiar also extended his winning streak in the F2.0 Cup.^[16] The feature race began with contact between Berta and Zeller, with the former retiring and the latter penalized. That left Benalli leading Nannini's Davide Pedetti and Team Hoffmann's Andre Petropoulos, taking the win in a race further interrupted by a red flag after multiple collisions. The picture in the F2.0 Cup was untroubled by the shake-up in the overall order, with Aguiar claiming his fourth win in a row.^[17]

Vallelunga hosted round three, and Berta continued his unbeaten streak in qualifying.^[18] His rise to the front in the sprint race was interrupted by a safety car, but when it was withdrawn, Berta and Zeller both attacked race leader Clavaud. Berta claimed the victory ahead of Zeller, with Larsen third. In F2.0, a qualifying accident for Aguiar forced him to miss the race, with Sartori claiming the win.^[19] The feature race brought a race-long battle between Zeller and Berta, with both leading at different stages before the Swiss came out in front to shorten the Hungarian's championship lead to only seven points. Petropoulos took third, while Sartori led Aguiar in F2.0, closing up further to the Portuguese.^[20]

The series returned to Mugello four round four, and Berta claimed another pole position.^[21] Zeller got a brilliant start to the sprint race to take the lead right away, with Berta taking longer to move through the field. That allowed Zeller to build a gap, and Berta was unable to challenge him for the victory. Larsen took another podium in third as the title battle in F2.0 heated up when Aguiar retired in the gravel and Sartori won the race.^[22] Zeller took the lead of the feature race for a single corner, before Berta got back in front and controlled the rest of the race as Benalli completed the podium. Sartori led Aguiar in F2.0 to take his fourth win in a row and with it the championship lead in the F2.0 Cup.^[23]

Round five saw the series' debut at Brno Circuit. Contrary to the other events, a separate qualifying session was held for the sprint race, in which Berta continued his pole position streak.^[24] Wet conditions saw the sprint race start under safety car conditions, but when racing got underway, Berta managed the race ahead of Zeller and Benalli to take a largely unchallenged victory.^[25] Berta doubled up in the second qualifying session to take another pole position,^[26] followed by an equally dominant display in the feature race. Leading Zeller and Benalli once again, untroubled by a mid-race safety car, Berta was able to sweep the weekend and significantly bolster his championship lead.^[27]

The penultimate round was held at Imola Circuit, where Berta claimed his seventh pole position of the season.^[28] The sprint race began with a multi-car crash that caused a safety car, and Zeller pounced on the restart to take a race lead he would not relinquish, despite Berta's best efforts. Benalli continued his podium streak in third, while the F2.0 Cup was back in action, albeit with only two cars, and Sartori won the race.^[29] Zeller doubled down in the feature race, taking a hard-fought win after a race-long battle with Berta to keep the title fight close heading into the final round. Sartori was victorious once again in F2.0 and the absence of his closest rival Aguiar saw him seal the title a round early.^[30]

The Misano Circuit hosted the season final, where Franz Wöss Racing's Victor Smialek denied Berta a full-season qualifying sweep.^[31] Berta started the sprint race in usual fashion by rising from seventh to the lead in one lap, but then slowed with a technical issue. He was classified 27th at the finish, while Zeller won ahead of Smialek and Benalli to set up a championship-deciding final race.^[32] That decision would not come on track, however, as Berta again had car issues and was forced to retire. Zeller was therefore able to finish second behind Smialek to claim the title as Facondini Racing's Oliver Kratsch took third. F2.0 Champion Sartori meanwhile ended his season with two more wins.^[33]

Almost nothing separated Zeller and Berta for much of the season. Both were in a league of their own, often dispatching the other cars put in front of them by the newly created reversed-grid sprint races in a matter of a few corners. They took six victories each, but a crucial final round saw Zeller come out on top in the end. With Berta denied back-to-back championship titles by no fault of his own, Zeller claimed his inaugural F2000 Italian Formula Trophy title without an on-track battle in the final, a matter which he regretted afterwards, before highlighting the consistency of both drivers that played part in the close year-long championship fight.^[33]

Drivers scored points in the overall standings, as well as in separate standings per class. Five points were awarded to each driver attending an event. Claiming the fastest lap per race per class awarded a point if at least three cars took part in that class.

The scoring system was overhauled in 2025: The shorter first race of each weekend was designated as the Sprint Race, and finishing drivers scored the following points:

The second race of each weekend, called the Feature Race, awarded more points:

The final score was formed by counting each drivers' five best sprint race scores, six best feature race scores as well as the attendance points for all race weekends.^[34]

The final score was formed by counting each drivers' five best sprint race scores, five best feature race scores as well as the attendance points for all race weekends.^[34]

Each team counted the points of their two highest-finishing cars in each race.

• Official website (in Italian)