Isack Hadjar (FRA, Campos Racing), leads Gabriel Bortoleto (BRA, Invicta Racing)
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.
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Less than a lap after being withdrawn, the safety car was back out again, this after Victor Martins was unable to avoid Rafael Villagomez’s Van Amersfoort Racing car as it spun back across the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.
-
+2.900
2.9
+12.000
12.0
+13.700
13.7
+19.300
19.3
+21.200
21.2
+21.800
21.8
+25.300
25.3
+31.800
31.8
+32.400
32.4
+39.500
39.5
+42.000
42.0
+43.700
43.7
+53.600
53.6
+58.800
58.8
1 lap
15 laps
22 laps
22 laps
Source: Autosport