Red Bull junior Isack Hadjar extended his Formula 2 championship lead with a dominant performance in the Belgian feature race.
After engaging in battle under DRS with primary title rival Paul Aron (Hitech) in the early stages, Campos driver Hadjar recovered from a slow stop to press home his advantage after the pitstops.
But as Aron’s challenge faded, the Frenchman was forced to instead focus on Gabriel Bortoleto (Invicta), who entered the round third in the standings.
Despite having DRS advantage for a sustained period in the closing stages, Bortoleto was unable to make a move as he reported graining on his tyres and finished 2.9s back.
Hadjar’s grip on the title further tightened on the final lap as Aron, who had been set to finish third, crawled to a halt on the Kemmel Straight with a reliability issue. Aron’s points deficit now stands at 41 heading into the summer break.
The race got off to a frantic start as Haas-bound Oliver Bearman and Campos driver Pepe Marti made contact after the pair made lightening starts. Zane Maloney (Rodin) made an awful launch and was caught in the middle as the trio arrived at La Source, with Bearman fired left into Marti and both destined for retirement.
Before the safety car was deployed, Hadjar was able to pass Bortoleto for second, leaving him behind only polesitter Aron.
Less than a lap after being withdrawn, the safety car was back out again, this after Victor Martins was unable to avoid Rafael Villagómez’s Van Amersfoort Racing car as it spun back across the track at Les Combes.
With no further interruptions, the tyre strategy was left to play out unaffected. Aron triggered the stops from the leading bunch moments after being passed into Les Combes to Hadjar, who followed suit one lap later in switching from soft to medium tyres.
Stopping after the lead pair, Bortoleto expected to have an advantage in the final laps, but after being stuck in the dirty air of Hadjar’s Campos, this failed to transpire.
As Aron slowed on the final tour, DAMS driver Jack Crawford was promoted for an unlikely podium, with sprint race winner and Williams junior Zak O’Sullivan fourth having started 10th.
As Hadjar’s championship lead grows, Bortoleto moves clear of Aron into second, trailing by 37 points.
Finishing sixth, Maloney’s title hopes are beginning to fade with a 59-point margin to recover.
F2 Belgium - Feature Race results
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| Cla | Driver | # | Laps | Time | Interval | km/h | Pits | Points | Retirement | Bonus | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1 |  I. Hadjar Campos Racing |
20 | 25 |
- |
2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2 |
G. Bortoleto Invicta Racing
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10 | 25 |
+2.900 2.9 |
2.900 | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3 |  J. Crawford DAMS Lucas Oil |
7 | 25 |
+12.000 12.0 |
9.100 | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 4 |  Z. O'Sullivan ART Grand Prix |
2 | 25 |
+13.700 13.7 |
1.700 | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 5 |  R. Verschoor Trident |
22 | 25 |
+19.300 19.3 |
5.600 | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 6 |  Z. Maloney Rodin Motorsport |
5 | 25 |
+21.200 21.2 |
1.900 | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 7 |  R. Miyata Rodin Motorsport |
6 | 25 |
+21.800 21.8 |
0.600 | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 8 |  A. Cordeel Hitech Pulse-Eight |
16 | 25 |
+25.300 25.3 |
3.500 | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 9 |  A. Antonelli Prema Powerteam |
4 | 25 |
+31.800 31.8 |
6.500 | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 10 |
J. Duerksen PHM AIX Racing
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24 | 25 |
+32.400 32.4 |
0.600 | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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