Van Amersfoort Racing’s Enzo Fittipaldi secured his maiden feature race win in the Saudi Arabia F2 Feature race, driving seven seconds clear of Kush Maini of Invicta Racing. MP Motorsport’s Denis Hauger charged through the pack to finish on the third step of the podium; his second podium of the weekend.
Enzo Fittipaldi clinched his maiden Feature Race victory in the Saudi Arabia F2 Feature Race, reaching the chequered flag seven seconds before his nearest competitors. The Brazilian driver pulled off a daring three-wide pass for the win, and the battle for the remaining podium places behind him culminated in a drag race to the finish line. Kush Maini slid back one position from Pole to finish in second, and a relentless Dennis Hauger drove to third.
At Lights Out
Maini was quick off the line from pole position at lights out, maintaining his lead into Turn 1, while Andrea Kimi Antonelli surged to fourth place for PREMA Racing. Further back, Josep María Marti found himself in a spin, leaving the Spaniard with damage. Roman Stanek’s Trident collided with Marti’s Campos Racing car, triggering a Safety Car before the end of Lap 2.
The green flag was waved again, and Maini comfortably retained his lead, gradually extending the gap on his supersoft tyres ahead of Jak Crawford. By Lap 6, Hauger managed to overtake Victor Martins for fifth place but subsequently lost positions to both Martins and Isack Hadjar on the main straight, disadvantaged with a lack of tow.
Crawford was the first to pit for medium tyres at the end of Lap 6, followed by Hauger, Richard Verschoor, and Paul Aron and the race dynamics began to shift. Hadjar continued to show dominance, overtaking Martins into Turn 1 to claim fourth position on the road.
Juan Manuel Correa’s aggressive driving saw him overtake Martins at Turn 27 for fifth place, prompting him to pit on Lap 8, along with Maini, Fittipaldi, Antonelli, and Hadjar, for their mandatory stops.
Crawford’s early pit stop saw him lose ground initially, falling behind Antonelli. However, Crawford’s rapid tyre warm-up enabled him to reclaim sixth place from Antonelli, with Fittipaldi stretching his lead beyond the DRS range.
Fittipaldi’s Comeback
Cordeel made a bold move to overtake Correa for the lead on Lap 21, with Maini seizing the opportunity to advance to third place by overtaking Barnard. Fittipaldi, however, had a remarkable comeback, sweeping around the outside of Cordeel and Correa to claim the lead in a breathtaking three-wide overtake at Turn 1.
Despite Correa’s attempts to regain the lead, Fittipaldi maintained his position at the front, edging away and securing his first-ever Formula 2 Feature Race victory. Meanwhile, Hauger’s relentless pursuit paid off as he edged past Crawford in a three-wide drag race to secure the final podium position.
As the checkered flag waved, Fittipaldi celebrated his remarkable triumph, while Maini secured second place for Invicta Racing. Hauger’s impressive finish sealed third place by a razor-thin margin, capping off an electrifying race.
Fittipaldi is happy to be in the championship fight in the early stages;
“It was a really good race. Everyone from Van Amersfoort gave me an amazing car. We were absolutely flying out there. Even after the Virtual and normal Safety Car, we still won by almost eight seconds, so we were flying. I’m just so happy to get the win in just the second round and to be in the fight for the Championship.”
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