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F2 Belgium: Hadjar tightens title grip with feature win as dramas cost Aron

Isack Hadjar Oliver Bearman Pepe Marti Red Bull Zane Maloney Campos (Organization) Lucas Oil

Red Bull junior Isack Hadjar extended his Formula 2 championship lead with a dominant performance in the feature race at Spa-Francorchamps.

After engaging in a thrilling battle 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.

But 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.

The stewards ultimately blamed Bearman for the incident, handing him a five place grid penalty for the Monza sprint race, with Andrea Kimi Antonelli handed a 10 place grid drop for having dry ice pellets falling from his car on the formation lap - a repeat of an incident at Silverstone for which he had been handed a suspended penalty. 

Oliver Bearman, Prema Racing, collides into Pepe Marti, Campos Racing (Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images)

Before the safety car was deployed, Hadjar managed to blast past Bortoleto for second into Les Combes, leaving him behind only pole starter Aron. 

Less than a lap after being withdrawn, the safety car was back out again, this after Victor Martins was unable to avoid Rafael Villagomez’s Van Amersfoort Racing car as it spun back across the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 used his fresher tyres to close in on Aron and expected to have an advantage in the final laps relative to Hadjar. But this failed to transpire as Hadjar swept to a fourth feature race win of the season.

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 boosted to fourth having started 10th.

Richard Verschoor (Trident) was the best of the drivers on the alternate strategy in fifth, having started on the medium tyre and switched late in the race to the softs.

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 across the final four rounds.

F2 Belgium - Feature Race results

   
1
 - 
4
   
   
1
 - 
2
   
Cla Driver # Laps Time Interval km/h Pits Points Retirement Bonus
1 France I. Hadjar Campos Racing 20 25

-

     2      
2
G. Bortoleto Invicta Racing
10 25

+2.900

2.9

 2.900   2      
3 United States J. Crawford DAMS Lucas Oil 7 25

+12.000

12.0

 9.100   2      
4 United Kingdom Z. O'Sullivan ART Grand Prix 2 25

+13.700

13.7

 1.700   2      
5 Netherlands R. Verschoor Trident 22 25

+19.300

19.3

 5.600   2      
6 Barbados Z. Maloney Rodin Motorsport 5 25

+21.200

21.2

 1.900   2      
7 Japan R. Miyata Rodin Motorsport 6 25

+21.800

21.8

 0.600   2      
8 Belgium A. Cordeel Hitech Pulse-Eight 16 25

+25.300

25.3

 3.500   2      
9 Italy A. Antonelli Prema Powerteam 4 25

+31.800

31.8

 6.500   2      
10
J. Duerksen PHM AIX Racing
24 25

+32.400

32.4

 0.600   2      
11 United States J. Correa DAMS Lucas Oil 8 25

+39.500

39.5

 7.100   2      
12 Norway D. Hauger MP Motorsport 11 25

+42.000

42.0

 2.500   2      
13
T. Barnard PHM AIX Racing
25 25

+43.700

43.7

 1.700   2      
14 Czech Republic R. Staněk Trident 23 25

+53.600

53.6

 9.900   3      
15 India K. Maini Invicta Racing 9 25

+58.800

58.8

 5.200   2      
dnf
P. Aron Hitech Pulse-Eight
17 24

1 lap

     2   Retirement  
dnf Brazil E. Fittipaldi Van Amersfoort Racing 14 10

15 laps

     2   Retirement  
dnf Mexico R. Villagomez Van Amersfoort Racing 15 3

22 laps

     1   Accident  
dnf France V. Martins ART Grand Prix 1 3

22 laps

     1   Accident  
dnf Argentina F. Colapinto MP Motorsport 12 24

 

         Retirement  
dnf United Kingdom O. Bearman Prema Powerteam 3 24

 

         Accident  
dnf
P. Martí Campos Racing
21 24

 

         Accident  
View full results  
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