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F2 Abu Dhabi: Pourchaire clinches title despite Vesti fightback, Doohan wins

Invicta Virtuosi driver Doohan put in an assured performance to take the final win of the season as F2 waved farewell to the current specification chassis.

But the Alpine Formula 1 reserve's uneventful run to a third feature win of the year was shaded by a thrilling battle for championship honours between Pourchaire (ART) and Prema rival Frederik Vesti.

After a charging victory in Saturday's sprint race, Vesti fell painfully short of making back the 16-point deficit with which he had been faced, crossing the line in third after starting ninth.

Pourchaire, who had started 14th, finished fifth with a stout three-lap defence when battling Vesti a period that can be pinpointed as the moment he secured his title.

The opening lap was a relatively calm affair in F2 terms, with the only incident of note being Ayumu Iwasa making use of the runoff at the Turn 6-7 chicane and gaining fourth from Zane Maloney. One lap later, he handed the position back at the same place but immediately retook the place, meaning the incident was noted by race control, although no further action was taken.

Prema put Vesti on the alternate strategy, running the medium tyres in the opening stint and going long while those ahead fitted softs. Conversely, Pourchaire started on the red-walled softer option.

At the end of lap six of 33, Pourchaire pitted for mediums, removing the risk of a poorly timed safety car interruption ruining his charge.

Neither championship protagonist had made significant progress in the early laps with Vesti finding himself stuck behind Isack Hadjar (Hitech). But once the Frenchman pitted at the end of lap eight, he could get the hammer down, with his engineers urging him on and demanding the next 10 laps to be “like one big quali lap”.

Race leader Doohan pitted for mediums at the end of lap nine, returning to the track in 12th spot.

Jack Doohan (Photo by: Formula Motorsport Ltd)

As the drivers on fresher rubber led by Doohan began to close on those yet to stop, Vesti’s Prema team-mate Oliver Bearman was forced to retire as his engine went into a self-preservation mode.

Although he was able to recover to the pitlane, his car came to a halt at the pit entrance, causing it to be temporarily closed. But happy that the car was far enough out of the way, the recovery action was halted and the lane reopened.

At the end of lap 22, Vesti filed into the pits and fitted soft tyres, ready for his final push for glory and rejoined immediately behind Pourchaire.

Arthur Leclerc was the final driver to pit on lap 24, handing the lead back to Doohan.

On lap 25, Vesti and Pourchaire went wheel-to-wheel, with the former finding a way past into Turn 6 before dropping behind once again as Pourchaire made use of his DRS advantage. Kush Maini also found himself in the middle of the battle, ceding to the warring rivals after twice running wide.

Minus Maini, the situation repeated itself on the following lap as Vesti again made the move before being repassed by Pourchaire on the next straight. Losing precious time, Vesti was reminded he had “nothing to lose”.

However Vesti made the move stick at the third attempt on lap 27, remaining behind Pourchaire along the first straight and utilising the DRS on the run to Turn 9.

With Pourchaire in sixth, Vesti now needed to make up 13 seconds in six laps, to climb to the second spot held by Victor Martins (also on the alternate strategy) to take championship glory for himself.

But then came a further twist, with Pourchaire noted for leaving the track and gaining an advantage in the earlier battle with Maini.

Jack Doohan, Invicta Virtuosi Racing, 1st position, Victor Martins, ART Grand Prix, 2nd position, and Frederik Vesti, Prema Racing, 3rd position, celebrate on the podium by spraying champagne (Photo by: Jake Grant / Motorsport Images)

Moments after Vesti took fourth from Maloney, his charge was interrupted as the virtual safety car was deployed to cover the recovery of Joshua Mason’s PHM car, which had stopped on the straight opposite the support pit building.

Knowing he had fallen short, Vesti went all in when battling Maloney on the final lap, with contact on the exit of Turn 9 sending the Red Bull liveried car spinning as Vesti went on to take the final podium position.

Maloney's spin boosted Pourchaire another position to finish fifth and clinch the crown despite having only one win to his name all season.

With Martins second behind Doohan, who secured third in the drivers' standings, ART was also confirmed as the teams’ champion.

F2 Abu Dhabi feature race results 

 
 
       
Driver Info
 
 
 
   
Cla Driver # Laps Time Interval km/h Pits Points Retirement Bonus
1 Australia J. Doohan Invicta Virtuosi Racing 14 33

-

           
2 France V. Martins ART Grand Prix 6 33

+3.800

3.8

3.800          
3 Denmark F. Vesti Prema Powerteam 7 33

+22.400

22.4

18.600          
4 Japan A. Iwasa DAMS 11 33

+26.200

26.2

3.800          
5 France T. Pourchaire ART Grand Prix 5 33

+27.600

27.6

1.400          
6 Monaco A. Leclerc DAMS 12 33

+28.300

28.3

0.700          
7 Norway D. Hauger MP Motorsport 1 33

+29.000

29.0

0.700          
8 France I. Hadjar Hitech Pulse-Eight 10 33

+30.000

30.0

1.000          
9 India K. Maini Campos Racing 24 33

+33.100

33.1

3.100          
10 United States J. Crawford Hitech Pulse-Eight 9 33

+36.200

36.2

3.100          
11 Israel R. Nissany PHM Racing by Charouz 16 33

+38.900

38.9

2.700          
12 Czech Republic R. Staněk Trident 20 33

+43.600

43.6

4.700          
13 United States J. Correa Van Amersfoort Racing 23 33

+48.300

48.3

4.700          
14 Brazil E. Fittipaldi Rodin Carlin 4 33

+49.600

49.6

1.300          
15 Switzerland R. Boschung Campos Racing 25 33

+54.800

54.8

5.200          
16 Belgium A. Cordeel Invicta Virtuosi Racing 15 33

+1'05.400

1'05.4

10.600          
17 Barbados Z. Maloney Rodin Carlin 3 32

1 lap

           
18
P. Aron Trident
21 32

1 lap

           
19 United Kingdom J. Mason PHM Racing by Charouz 17 28

5 laps

           
dnf Netherlands R. Verschoor Van Amersfoort Racing 22 23

10 laps

        Retirement  
dnf United Kingdom O. Bearman Prema Powerteam 8 16

17 laps

        Retirement  
dnf Argentina F. Colapinto MP Motorsport 2 15

18 laps

        Retirement  
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