Mclaren Junior Gabriel Bortoleto took his first win in the 2024 F2 Austrian Feature Race. The Brazilian rookie is the reigning F3 champion, and is chasing after the rookie F2 title.
Colapinto and Hadjar followed closely behind, as championship leader Paul Aron only managed sixth after an early penalty pushed him further down the order.
Lights Out
Young rookie Joshua Duerksen is promoted to pole after three drivers stalled on the grid. It was heartbreak for Dennis Hauger, as our original pole sitter couldn’t get off the line, along with Kush Maini and Jak Crawford. All three drivers were forced to start their races from the pits.
Dürksen held position into Turn 1, all 22 of the drivers filed into the first few corners in an orderly fashion.
Another driver stalled as the lights went out. Zane Maloney couldn’t get off the line He came into the pits to start his race, souring his afternoon and dropping him well behind the pack.
Gabriel Bortloleto was the man in second place at the start, following closely behind the AIX driver, biding his time and waiting for an opportunity.
Tensions were high with championship rivals, Paul Aron and Isack Hadjar. The two fought hard over fourth and fifth, but it was Aron who came out on top. Hadjar, unhappy with his movements, settled behind Aron after some pushing and shoving from the pair.
First Stops
Dürksen was the first to bite the bullet in the front. He came in for this mandatory stop and triggered a wave of drivers to react.
Maloney pulled over in Turn 4 on lap 7, causing a brief Virtual Safety Car to be deployed. He was out after a miserable start to the 2024 F2 Austrian Feature Race.
Pepe Martí takes his chance for a cheap stop under the VSC, jumping the leaders and taking a net P1.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli stalled during his stop. The incident dropped him to the back of the field and out of any hope for a good points haul.
After the first round of stops for those running the super soft tyres, it was Martí in front of Bortoleto. Crucially, Hadjar had jumped Aron in the pits, as Dürksen separated the two in 12th, 13th, and 14th.
Colapinto led the Soft tyre runners, yet to stop and trying desperately to build a gap.
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Mid-race
Looking towards those yet to stop, it was a three-way battle for the fifth position between Stanek, Miyata, and Villagomez. The Rodin of Miyata comes out on top initially before he slows on the pit straight. A strange incident which drops him down the order before he got going once again.
Paul Aron was handed a five-second time penalty for an earlier incident with Hadjar. After their initial battle in the early laps, the penalty was given to Aron for “moving under braking”.
Net leaders Martí and Bortoleto cut their way through those yet to stop, whilst they managed their own battle between themselves.
In the middle of the pack, Bortoleto got within DRS o f Martí ahead before he made his way through for seventh on the road in the 2024 F2 Austrian Feature.
Ollie Bearman, Saturday’s Sprint Race winner, began to show signs of struggle as he had engine issues. The Brit kept it clean and crawled to the pits on lap 21, retiring from the race and promoting those behind him up the order.
Hadjar very quickly caught his teammate. The two Campos drivers jostled over position as he begged the team to let him through. Eventually, Martí conceded the position with a promise to be let through if Hajdar fails to catch leader Bortoleto.
Bortoleto led comfortably, unchallenged as he passed those ahead who had not yet pitted, maintaining a calm and cool demeanor.
10 laps to go
Franco Colapinto was one of the final drivers to box from the lead, taking a chance on fresher tyres at the end. After his stop, the Argentine driver was flying on track, taking seconds out of the top four every lap.
Josh Dürksen lost out to Fittipaldi for seventh, the driver from Paraguay slipping down the order to meet his teammate at the rear end of the top 10.
Last Laps
Colapinto became a very serious threat after his stop. He quickly made his way past Aron and Martí before taking second place from Isack Hadjar on the final lap.
Paul Aron, still carrying his penalty, had built a safe gap to Fittipaldi behind but could not challenge those ahead. The fight between the two Campos teammates dropped the group further into the clutches of Fittipaldi.
Across the line, Fittipaldi had scraped his way within five seconds to steal fifth place from our championship leader. Aron had to settle for sixth, losing points to his closest rival – just nine points separate Aron and Hadjar in the standings.
Gabriel Bortoleto took the win in the 2024 F2 Austrian Feature Race, followed by Colapinto, Hadjar, Martí, and Fittipaldi to round out the top five.
O’Sullivan and Crawford had a close battle for the last point, racing all the way to the line, but the American could not find his way past O’Sullivan in the end.
A double points finish for the AIX team, with Dürksen holding onto seventh and Taylor Barnard in ninth, a strong showing for the team and a major improvement that they can build upon.
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Image Credit: Formula Motorsport Limited