Written by Jasmin Low
Isack Hadjar extends his championship lead after winning in Spa | Image Credit: Formula 2
Formula 2 took to the famed Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium for round 10 of the 2024 season.
Saturday’s sprint race was rain-delayed, however only two racing laps were completed after Pepe Marti came to a stop, bringing out the safety car. As the field was led by the safety car, the rain intensified so much that the race was red-flagged on lap 7.
With only the top five scoring points (as the race was less than 50% completed) it was Zak O’Sullivan who converted his reverse-grid pole to the top step of the podium, joined by Dennis Hauger and Richard Verschoor.
Paul Aron took his second consecutive feature race pole, with hopes to close in on Isack Hadjar’s championship lead before the summer break. However, the Frenchman would start close behind in third. The duo were split on the grid by rookie Gabriel Bortoleto, who sat third in the standings.
The Race:
As soon as the five lights went out, Paul Aron launched off the line, before Oliver Bearman and Pepe Marti were wiped out of the race. Zane Maloney had suffered a poor start, whilst Marti had a superb launch, however Bearman’s attempt at avoiding Maloney sent him careering into Marti’s Campos.
Isack Hadjar made his way past Bortoleto to claim second on the road, as Franco Colapinto came to a halt in the first sector. The safety car was called for, leading the cars through the pit lane to avoid the recovery vehicle on the track.
Racing resumed at the end of lap 3, with Paul Aron continuing to lead the field. However, Victor Martins was taken out on lap 4 by Rafael Villagomez after the Mexican spun in turn 6, which prompted a second safety car. Roman Stanek swapped out his tyres under the safety car, needing to catch up to the field before racing resumed entering into lap 7.
Dennis Hauger was the first to pit under green flag conditions, as Aron begun to defend from Hadjar. After putting in the fastest lap, Isack Hadjar took the race lead with the help of DRS. Aron jumped into the pitlane in an attempt to undercut Hadjar later in the race, re-joining the track in sixteenth.
Richard Verschoor passed Crawford for third on the road, before Hadjar and Crawford were both called into the pit lane. Hadjar suffered a slow stop, as Paul Aron chased down the Campos from behind, hoping that his warmer tyres would aid in his pursuit of the championship leader.
Bortoleto pitted from first on the road, re-entering behind Aron. The Estonian re-took the net race lead from Hadjar on lap 11, whilst Enzo Fittipaldi stalled in the pit lane, making it a double DNF for Van Amersfoort.
Verschoor was left first on-track, leading from Kimi Antonelli on the alternate strategy. On lap 13, Hadjar passed Aron on the Kemmel Straight, DRS proving a helpful tool for the two fighting for the eventual race lead.
The frontrunners on the alternate tyre strategy made their way into the pit lane on lap 16, trading their medium tyres for the faster soft rubber. Hungary’s feature race winner, Kimi Antonelli, lost a position to Amaury Cordeel as his car was not positioned correctly on the front jack, resulting in a slow pitstop. Gabriel Bortoleto made his way up to second place on lap 17, quickly catching up to Hadjar.
Aron suffered with tyre degradation later into the race, leaving him vulnerable to an attack from Jak Crawford, which would push him off the podium. Kush Maini was the first driver to be handed a penalty followed by Roman Stanek, both of them being given 5 seconds for breaching track limits. Cordeel claimed ninth place from Antonelli whilst Verschoor made his way past Maloney, the drivers scrapping for valuable championship points.
On the final lap, Paul Aron slowed, quickly dropping to the back of the field and destroying his hopes for ever-important points. It was Isack Hadjar who won yet again, followed by Bortoleto and Crawford. Hadjar now extends his championship lead, whilst Bortoleto promotes himself to second in the standings with Aron now in third.
Formula 2 will return to the Temple of Speed after the Summer Break, with four blockbuster rounds left to decide the championship.
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