Pepe Martí leads from the lights to the flag in a strong performance in Abu Dhabi which secures his maiden F2 victory.
Martí claimed his first victory in F2. Photo credits F2 on X
For the final Sprint Race of the 2024 season, Amaury Cordeel started from reverse pole position with Joshua Durksen and Ritomo Miyata lining up behind him.
The championship contenders, Isack Hadjar and Gabriel Bortoleto—separated by half a point—lined up in sixth and ninth, respectively. Despite their need for crucial points, neither was able to gain an advantage in qualifying, with Victor Martins claiming his first pole position of the season.
Before the action, news broke that Kimi Antonelli would not be participating in the Sprint race due to sickness.
As it unfolded
Marti launched off the line and overtook Cordeel into the first corner. Hadjar took a hit on the opening lap, dropping him down to ninth, giving Bortoleto the advantage, who was running in fourth. Further up the field, Martins and Miyata made contact, causing the Frenchman to spin and drop down the standings. After further investigation, Miyata was handed a 10-second penalty for causing a collision.
Kush Maini, who started in eighth, fought past and was running in second by the end of the first lap, an excellent getaway for the Indian. Bortoleto was climbing up the standings and swiftly overtook his teammate, with first place next in his sight.
Hadjar finally claimed a position, slotting into eighth and looking to overtake Dino Beganovic. The rookie wasn’t making the move easy, with Beganovic placing his DAMS car in defensive mode. Kaini struggled with tyre degradation and slipped down the standings, running in 14th on lap 12.
Up at the front, Bortoleto was chipping at the gap between himself and Marti, bringing it down to just over two and a half seconds. The big issue which began emerging for drivers was track limits, with several laps being deleted and Max Esterson being the first to be shown the black-and-white flag.
Cordeel's lock up which costed Durksen's race. Photo credits: F2 on X
Durksen was hit by Cordeel, who locked up, dropping the pair down the standings and providing an opening for Bearman to climb to fourth. However, the Briton was handed a five-second penalty for track limits, crucially placing him and Hadjar five seconds apart.
The Frenchman was pushing to close the gap; he moved up another position after overtaking Cordeel, placing himself in sixth. The gap between himself and Bearman was now up to eight seconds, with the opportunity to gain crucial points in his championship campaign beginning to slip away.
Martí heading to the chequered flag after leading all 23 laps. photo credits: F2 on X
After leading from the lights to the flag, Marti claimed his first victory in F2, becoming the 18th winner in the 2024 F2 season. Bortoleto and Aron were next to cross the line and round out the top three. Bortoleto extends his lead to five points ahead of Hadjar and brings the fight down to just two contenders with Aron mathematically out of contention.
The top eight
1 - Pepe Martí
2 - Gabriel Bortoleto
3 - Paul Aron
4 - Dino Beganovic
5 - Oliver Bearman
6 - Isack Hadjar
7 - Luke Browning
8 - Richard Verschoor
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