Isack Hadjar wins the Feature Race at Spa and extends his lead at the top of the championship. Bortoleto finishes second and becomes the main contender. Very unlucky Paul Aron, who retired on the last lap; a shame for Antonelli!
Isack Hadjar dominates the Formula 2 Feature Race at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit! The French driver engaged in a great battle with Aron in the early laps before pulling away decisively to claim his fourth victory of the championship. Second Gabriel Bortoleto, becoming Hadjar’s main challenger. Crawford completes the podium. Incredible misfortune for Paul Aron., who was forced to retire on the last lap while comfortably holding third place.
In the overall standings, Hadjar moves up to 165 points, with a 36-point lead over his closest rival, who is now Gabriel Bortoleto at 129. Paul Aron slips to third, earning only the two points from pole position, while Zane Maloney falls further behind with 109 points.
F2 Belgium Feature Race: Race Report.
Paul Aron starts from pole position, needing to chase down Isack Hadjar in the overall standings after a disappointing weekend in Hungary. The French Campos driver is third, and between them is Bortoleto, ready to play the role of spoiler in this championship. Andrea Kimi Antonelli is on the third row, having pulled off a fantastic overtake on Colapinto in yesterday’s Sprint Race, alongside Zane Maloney, who needs to make up 37 points on Hadjar after a spectacular start to the season. Once again, Bearman struggled in qualifying and is forced into yet another comeback race from fourteenth position.
Paul Aron gets off to a good start from pole, leading into La Source. Maloney almost stalls and drops to the back of the pack, and Antonelli’s start isn’t perfect either as he loses position to Colapinto. Behind them, there is an immediate crash, with Maloney hitting Bearman, who then crashes into Martì, and both end up in the barriers even before La Source. It’s been a disastrous season for Pepe Martì, who, after a great start to the season, has been continuously plagued by accidents and technical issues. The Spanish driver was also very unlucky, having made a great start that put him ahead of Bearman.
We reach the Kemmel straight: Hadjar passes Bortoleto before the Les Combes braking zone and immediately starts chasing rival Paul Aron. Meanwhile, behind them, Colapinto suddenly slows down and stops on track on the descent to Bruxelles corner. The Safety Car is on track, and the race is neutralized!
The race restarts on the fourth lap, with positions remaining stable. However, Martins crashes at the exit of Les Combes due to a collision with Villagomez. The Safety Car is out again! The Mexican driver was pushed into the gravel by Taylor Barnard and spun out, then was hit directly by Martins, who then crashed violently into the barriers. Stanek takes advantage of this and comes into the pits for the mandatory tire change.
The race restarts on the seventh lap, with Hauger stopping in the pits to switch to medium tires. Antonelli has to defend against O’Sullivan on the Kemmel straight, considering that the Italian driver is on medium tires, while yesterday’s winner is on soft tires.
On the next lap, Hadjar takes advantage of the DRS and passes Aron before the braking zone at Les Combes, taking the lead in the race. At this point, the Finnish driver stops in the pits to switch to mediums and try to undercut his rival. Meanwhile, Verschoor overtakes Crawford for third position.
During the ninth lap, Hadjar and Crawford, among the leading drivers, pit: the French driver comes out ahead of Aron, but the Finnish driver has warm tires and can take advantage of this to close the gap. Meanwhile, Bortoleto also pits, and the two different strategies are starting to take shape. Aron closes in on Hadjar and overtakes him, with a move identical to the previous one by the French driver. A technical problem forces Fittipaldi to retire. On the thirteenth lap, Hadjar overtakes Aron again: a great battle between the two title contenders!
With 10 laps to go, Antonelli comes in for a pit stop: however, the Italian driver encounters problems during the car lifting phase and loses the position to Cordeel, coming out even behind Hauger and Miyata. It’s a shame for Kimi because he was having a great race.
Verschoor also pits and comes back out ahead of Durksen, in the position where Antonelli should have come out. Meanwhile, Bortoleto overtakes Paul Aron, who seems to be struggling with his tires, while Kimi overtakes Cordeel and Hauger and starts a furious comeback.
We are two-thirds through the race: Hadjar has a one-second lead over Bortoleto, who seems to have more pace. Paul Aron currently completes the podium, 3 seconds behind the Brazilian driver, while Crawford is closing in. Then O’Sullivan and Maloney, while the first driver on softs is Verschoor, in seventh, 4 seconds behind Maloney. Antonelli is ninth, attacking Miyata.
With three laps to go, Verschoor overtakes Maloney, while Cordeel gets past Antonelli, who, in the meantime, has lost over 2 seconds to Miyata; the Bolognese driver seems to be struggling with his tires.
Dramatic turn of events on the last lap: a sudden slowdown for Paul Aron, who was comfortably in third place on the podium. This could be a sign of the Finnish driver’s surrender in the title race. Isack Hadjar wins, ahead of Bortoleto and Crawford, with Maloney in sixth, while Antonelli finishes ninth after the pit stop problem.
PHOTO: Formula 2.
