Yesterday’s sprint race saw Richard Verschoor crossing the line first in a race that was dominated by tyre degradation. He was however disqualified for having too much wear on the plank under his car, meaning he lost victory for the third time in his Formula 2 career. This meant Kush Maini inherited the win.
Today’s race would feature Paul Aron on pole, who got a lucky break in his championship fight with Isack Hadjar, as the Red Bull junior failed to get out of the pits in time, meaning he would start from the pit lane. A costly mistake by Hadjar and his Campos team.
When the lights go out it is Victor Martins with the best start, but the Frenchman almost gets taken out by Aron, who fully locks his brakes and has to take a wide line. This results in him coming through in seventh after the first lap.
In the back championship leader Hadjar has already picked off four competitors after two laps, as Enzo Fittipaldi tries to overtake Martins. The two battle it out through the first three corners, but the Alpine junior can keep Fittipaldi behind.
Oliver Bearman is under investigation together with Aron for forcing another driver off the trackin turn 4 at the start. Teammate Andrea Kimi Antonelli overtakes Zane Maloney in the twisty second sector. The Barbados-born does fight back, but eventually has to give way to the Mercedes junior.
This opens up the door for Dennis Hauger to attack Maloney as well, and going into turn 2 he goes to the outside of Maloney. This in turn gives Aron the opportunity to look on the inside of Hauger, but the Estonian driver takes too much speed into the corner and tags Maloney. Both drivers spin and cannot keep their cars running, leaving both stranded.
The ensuing safety car prompts all soft shod drivers to change to the hard compound. Kimi Antonelli takes the field to green from Verschoor. Behind them Martins attacks Maini, and despite a lock-up the Invicta driver manages to stay in third. Further back it is Gabriel Bortoleto that takes seventh from Fittipaldi.
Taylor Barnard and Rafael Villagómez scrap it out for ninth, as Bearman takes the scenic route around turn 1. Next lap Villagoméz is demoted yet another place as Hauger overtakes him. Zak O’Sullivan and Colapinto pass Josep Martí, who is yet to stop.
Amauri Cordeel and Ritomo Miyata scrap for fifth, and while the Belgian driver comes out on top at first, he eventually has to give the place up. Botroletto is the next one to overtake Cordeel. The Hitech driver goes off in turn 3 and is subsequently overtaken by Fittipaldi. He loses yet another place to Barnard in the next lap, as Bortoleto is ramping up the pressure on Miyata.
At the front it is Antonelli who is creating a gap to Verschoor, who is under pressure from Martins. He overakes the Dutchman duly in the next lap. Bortoleto also completes his overtake as both him and Miyata are under investigation for a safety car infringement. Joshua Dürksen is penalised with a 10 second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage.
Hauger in the meantime is stuck behind Cordeel. The MP Motorsports driver sets up an overtake in the final turn, but Cordeel defends with all his might through turns 1 to 3 and keeps the Norwegian driver behind him.
The next lap however the Cordeel loses control over the exit curb of turn 4, crashing the car in the inside wall. This brings out the safety car again, and Antonelli and Verschoor don’t waste any time and enter the pits for their mandatory pitstop. Meanwhile the investigation into Bortoleto and Miyata’s safety car infringement revealed no further action is warranted.
Martins leads the field to green with Bortoleto in his wake, as Antonelli immediately overtakes Hauger and Fittipaldi, making most of his fresh soft tyres. He again tries to overtake in turn 9, but Bortoleto closes the door.
At the start of the next lap he passes the Brazilian Formula 3 champion and can start to hunt down Martins, as the race is changed into a timed race due to the amount of time under the safety car.
Martins tries to defend on the main straight, but he cannot defend from Antonelli, as Hadjar suddenly drops from 11th to 17th. Verschoor is also making up places, albeit not so quick as Antonelli.
The Prema driver gains more than three seconds in his first clear lap, as there are only six more minutes and a lap to drive. Verschoor overtakes Hauger after a dive-bomb into turn 1, but Hauger refuses to give up straight away. The Trident driver makes the move stick and now goes after Fittipaldi.
Yesterday’s race winner Maini is also going forwards, as he is already on Hauger’s gearbox, while Verschoor goes past Fittipaldi.
With the clock running out there is one more lap to go, and Verschoor is in Bortoleto’s DRS range. Maini is in the same position with Hauger, but while Verschoor overtakes Bortoleto for the final podium spot, the Indian driver cannot make a move, cementing the running order.
This means Andrea Kimi Antonelli wins his first Formula 2 feature race, from Martins and Verschoor. Bortoletto, Fittipaldi and Hauger complete the top six, just in front of Maini. Behind them it is Miyata, Barnard and Villagómez who complete the points scoring positions.
