Pepe Marti became the 18th different winner in the 2024 Formula 2 season in a race that was decided by a phenomenal start that promoted him from fourth to first by Turn 1 of the 23-lap race.
The Campos driver was followed home by championship leader Gabriel Bortoleto, who had started behind rivals Isack Hadjar and Paul Aron on the grid but made an equally impressive start to usurp his contenders in the opening stages.
Aron finished third meaning he dropped out of title contention, making it a two-horse race for the championship. But things got worse post-race when he was disqualified for running a DRS actuator, "modified to extend the length of the piston by 1 millimetre, allowing a wider opening of the DRS wing".
As a result, the Estonian will now also start the season-ending feature race from the pitlane.
With 26 points left available on Sunday, Bortoleto now holds a four-and-a-half point lead over Hadjar – who finished sixth but gained a place with Aron's troubles.
In a chaotic opening lap that saw Marti launch to the front, Maini flew through the pack from ninth to second as Bortoleto followed his Invicta team-mate up to fifth. This fast start for Maini included contact with Hadjar into Turn 1, as he entered the corner with his left front fully locked and slid into the front wing endplate of the Campos.
Feature race pole sitter Victor Martins saw his day end in those opening exchanges after being struck by Ritomo Miyata’s Rodin at Turn 6 – the Japanese driver receiving a 10s penalty for his actions.
After the eventful lap one, the race began to settle into a rhythm, although Bortoleto was aiding his title bid with further gains on Joshua Durksen and Cordeel putting him in third and directly behind Maini.
On lap six, Bortoleto completed a textbook DRS move on his team-mate for second while Aron and Hadjar were lapping in sixth and ninth.
With Maini dropping to the chasing pack he was powerless to prevent Hitech drivers Cordeel and Aron from powering by, with Durksen finding a way past around the outside of Turn 9 on lap eight. Oliver Bearman, Dino Beganovic and Hadjar followed past one lap later, shuffling Maini out of the points.
Bearman had been the biggest gainer on lap one, climbing seven places, but as the medium Pirelli rubber struggled to manage the 24-lap distance, the Prema driver was among an ever-growing number of drivers seeing times deleted for track limits breaches. With a handful of laps remaining, he was hit with a 5s penalty for the consistent violations.
Team orders are not commonplace in F2 and this was evident as Cordeel put up a stout defence on team-mate Aron. But this was resolved on lap 17 when a lockup opened the door and allowed championship challenger Aron through.
A further lockup for Cordeel while defending into Turn 6 resulted in contact with Durksen. While Hadjar gained a place on Durksen’s stricken AIX, he gained another point when Cordeel was hit with a 10s penalty – promoting Hadjar to sixth.
Aware that his advantage was shrinking, Bortoleto attempted to close the margin to leader Marti. But he was unable to make significant gains and crossed the line 2.2s behind in second.
F2 Abu Dhabi sprint race result
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2
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| Cla | Driver | # | Laps | Time | Interval | km/h | Pits | Points | Retirement | Bonus | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1 |
P. Martí Campos Racing
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21 | 23 |
- |
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| 2 |
G. Bortoleto Invicta Racing
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10 | 23 |
+2.200 2.2 |
2.200 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3 |
P. Aron Hitech Pulse-Eight
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17 | 23 |
+13.900 13.9 |
11.700 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 4 |
D. Beganovic DAMS Lucas Oil
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8 | 23 |
+18.800 18.8 |
4.900 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 5 |  O. Bearman Prema Powerteam |
3 | 23 |
+19.500 19.5 |
0.700 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 6 |  I. Hadjar Campos Racing |
20 | 23 |
+22.900 22.9 |
3.400 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 7 |
L. Browning ART Grand Prix
|
2 | 23 |
+26.700 26.7 |
3.800 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 8 |  R. Verschoor MP Motorsport |
11 | 23 |
+27.800 27.8 |
1.100 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 9 |  J. Crawford DAMS Lucas Oil |
7 | 23 |
+29.700 29.7 |
1.900 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 10 |
O. Goethe MP Motorsport
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12 | 23 |
+31.600 31.6 |
1.900 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 11 |
L. Fornaroli Rodin Motorsport
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5 | 23 |
+33.300 33.3 |
1.700 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 12 |  R. Miyata Rodin Motorsport |
6 | 23 |
+33.700 33.7 |
0.400 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 13 |  R. Villagomez Van Amersfoort Racing |
15 | 23 |
+34.700 34.7 |
1.000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 14 |  A. Cordeel Hitech Pulse-Eight |
16 | 23 |
+36.200 36.2 |
1.500 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 15 |
M. Esterson Trident
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22 | 23 |
+40.700 40.7 |
4.500 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 16 |
J. Bennett Van Amersfoort Racing
|
14 | 23 |
+43.400 43.4 |
2.700 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 17 |
C. Mansell Trident
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23 | 23 |
+45.300 45.3 |
1.900 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 18 |  K. Maini Invicta Racing |
9 | 23 |
+52.500 52.5 |
7.200 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 19 |
C. Shields PHM AIX Racing
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25 | 23 |
+1'00.500 1'00.5 |
8.000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 20 | V. Martins ART Grand Prix |
1 | 22 |
1 lap |
1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| dnf |
J. Duerksen PHM AIX Racing
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24 | 18 |
5 laps |
1 | Retirement | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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