McLaren junior Gabriel Bortoleto took victory for Invicta Racing in the Formula 2 feature race on Sunday at the Red Bull Ring in Austria.

Bortoleto has taken his first ever Formula 2 victory after graduating from Formula 3 championship glory last year. The Brazilian driver had to make moves at a critical point in the race and fully earned his victory.

The McLaren junior finished ahead of the rapid Argentinian MP Motorsport driver Franco Colapinto, who was second with Isack Hadjar holding off his teammate Josep 'Pepe' Maria Marti to take third.

Championship leader Paul Aron finished sixth after being demoted due to a time penalty.

Time for Feature race Sunday as the Formula 2 feature race was to follow the morning's earlier Formula 3 feature race at the Red Bull Ring in Austria, on Grand Prix Sunday.

It was a great Saturday sprint race for Oliver Bearman who took his first win and podium of the 2024 Formula 2 season, as well as Prema Racing's first podium. Josep 'Pepe' Maria Marti would finish second and Paul Aron would claim third to make it seven podiums in seven rounds in 2024.

The feature race grid would see Dennis Hauger set to start on pole position for MP Motorsport after a great lap from the Norwegian driver, who's time was eight thousandths of a second faster than Joshua Durksen's time who was second.

It was set to be a great race with fantastic action already being produced across the weekend and the great commentary duo of Chris McCarthy and Alex Brundle.

Drama at the start on the formation lap with three cars failing to get away as they had stalled on the grid. One of them being the pole sitter Dennis Hauger. The MP Motorsport driver was joined by the Invicta of Kush Maini and the DAMS of Jak Crawford. All three of them would be made to start from the pit lane.

This would mean that Joshua Durksen would be on his own at the front row. As the lights went out Durksen would get away well and maintain the lead from Gabriel Bortoleto who was now in second and Franco Colapinto the top three.

At the start, championship leader, Paul Aron would be put under pressure by Isack Hadjar and would have to maintain this with the first few laps. The championship protagonists would be going at it for a few laps with Aron putting up a physical and robust defence.

Hadjar would complain and moving under braking would be noted by race control and would be under investigation by the Stewards.

Lap 3 and a move for the lead from Bortoleto took the lead from Durksen with a lovely move into turn 4. Durksen had such a lack of grip on the supersoft tyres and would be an easy target.

Durksen would soon be overtaken by Franco Colapinto and would be down to third. A nightmare for the AIX driver.

The Virtual Safety Car would be deployed as Zane Maloney who stalled as the lights went out but would then stop with a mechanical issue on the run to turn 4. A nightmare weekend for the boy from Barbados and not one that he would like to look back on.

Josep Maria Marti, who finished second in the sprint race, had pulled a bold strategic move as he dived into the pit lane, just before the Virtual Safety car was deployed, so this would count as a mandatory pit stop. It would not have counted had he pitted after the VSC was deployed.

Could it turn out to be a brilliant move of strategy from Campos and Marti and had he managed to get into the pits before the VSC was deployed

Once the VSC had been withdrawn with many cars in a couple of laps coming into the pit lane  including the race leader Bortoleto. Hadjar, Durksen, Aron and Andrea Kimi Antonelli who stalled exiting his pit box. It had been a nightmare of a weekend for Antonelli and one of learning.

Franco Colapinto would have the race lead for the time being. 

An incident would occur between Roman Stanek and Rafael Villagomez. Stanek under-steered into the side of the Van Amersfoort of Villagomez and the Mexican driver went into the gravel. Villagomez was less than impressed with the Trident driver on the team radio.

Ritomo Miyata was slow down the pit straight and looked to have an issue. Luckily he was able to get back going but his race was completely ruined. A nightmare for Rodin at the Red Bull Ring this weekend.

A five second time penalty would be awarded to the championship leader for the moving under braking and this would be added to his race time when he crossed the line at the end of lap 40.

An issue for Bearman, the Prema car was slow. After winning the sprint race on Saturday he had a mechanical issue and was forced to retire the car. The Trident of Richard Verschoor would also be forced to retire due to a mechanical issue. A nightmare for both

Josep Maria Marti was in seventh and Gabriel Bortoleto had closed right up to the back of the Red Bull junior. Bortoleto had the pace at this stage and made a move into turn 3 and Marti would make no attempts at re-overtaking.

It would not be long until Bortoleto caught Stanek up and into turn 4 made the pass. Stanek would soon be hounded by Marti, who could not afford to lose time to the Trident. He would find it difficult but Marti finally delivered a pass.

Stanek would be handed a five-second penalty for the collision with Villagomez

Hadjar had closed up to Marti and frustration was building for the Frenchman as Marti was defending him hard. After a bit of team instruction from the engineer, Hadjar comfortably got through and was now able to set his sights on Bortoleto.

Colapinto had done an amazing job on his stint and finally came into the pit lane for the supersoft tyres. He had changed his tyres and would have great pace to take to the end of the race.

It took him no time at all to get ahead of Joshua Durksen and Enzo Fittipaldi and was up into sixth. He had lightning pace on the brand new tyres and was chasing after Hadjar, Marti and Aron in the hunt for a podium. Aron with that penalty. 

The feud at Campos was ongoing on the team radio with Marti wanting to be allowed to go by Hadjar, who had been allowed to go by him earlier in the race.

Colapinto had caught Aron and managed to pass his fellow rookie with a great overtake on lap 38 to take fourth place. A huge overtake and now he was right on the tail of the two Red Bull juniors of Campos.

On the run into turn four on the penultimate tour, the Argentinian MP Motorsport driver got ahead of Marti and the Williams Academy driver was heaping pressure on Isack Hadjar for second. 

The final lap would be the opportunity for Colapinto to get ahead of Hadjar on the final lap to take second place in a fantastic drive from the Williams backed driver. He had maximised the strategy and would go onto take a result.

Out front, Gabriel Bortoleto would be too far ahead for Colapinto. He had driven a fantastic race at the Red Bull Ring showing great pace and making overtakes at critical points in the race. He would cross the line first to take the victory and his maiden victory in Formula 2.

Colapinto would come across the line in second behind the McLaren junior driver Bortoleto. The South American pair would be followed by the two Campos drivers with Hadjar taking third ahead of Marti.

Aron would drop to sixth with the penalty as Enzo Fittipaldi would just be within five seconds of the championship leader and jump up to fifth. Joshua Durksen would finish seventh despite having the front row at the start all to himself.

Amaury Cordeel, Taylor Barnard and Zak O'Sullivan would complete the top 10 and points scorers.

At the end of the seventh round, it would be a tight fight at the top of the standings with Aron's lead being cut after yesterday to nine points. Although nine points was the gap coming into the round from Spain.

Bortoleto with his great race result has brought himself into contention for the championship as an outside contender. It was the McLaren junior who shone in the feature race and was rewarded by being handed the trophy by former McLaren and Brazilian world champion Emerson Fittipaldi.

A brilliant day for the reigning Formula 3 champion and a day he will remember and he can potentially use for a championship charge in the next few rounds.

Action will return in a week's time when the series heads to Silverstone on support for the British Grand Prix weekend.
​

Brandon Whiteside
​Writer - F1 Journal

Oliver Bearman took his first Formula 2 victory of the season in Austria as he won the Saturday sprint race at the Red Bull Ring.

Bearman maximised tyre management and pace to take his and Prema's first podium of the Formula 2 season as well as the first victory.

The Ferrari Academy driver finished just over a second clear of Campos' Josep 'Pepe' Maria Marti who came across the line to finish second.

Championship leader Paul Aron took the flag in third place for his seventh podium of the season. Aron has picked up at least one podium in every round so far.

After a fantastic sprint Saturday so far with the Formula 3 and Formula 1 sprint races, it was the turn of Formula 2 to put on a show for the crowd at the Red Bull Ring.

Racing action would begin for round seven of 14 of the 2024 championship in Formula 2 championship. After Dennis Hauger took pole position in the Friday qualifying session, the top 10 would be reversed for the sprint - as is common with formula 2.

This would mean Alpine Academy driver Kush Maini of Invicta Racing with the Ferrari Drier Academy Prema driver of Oliver Bearman on the front row alongside. Josep 'Pepe' Maria Marti would start third for Campos.

Lights out and the racing was green as a rocket of a start for Oliver Bearman saw him take the lead into turn one, while a poor start from Maini saw him get passed by Marti who was second with Maini under pressure from Taylor Barnard in fourth. 

The battle for second was all the way into turn 3 with Marti having the second place with Maini and Barnard running off the road.

Battles were forming throughout the field as DRS would be enabled at the end of the first lap Bearman would be over a second clear of Marti, which would become two seconds at the end of lap 2. A fantastic start from the Brit.

The gap was starting to come down between Bearman and Marti out front, with Marti just out of DRS range.

DRS trains were forming through the field and someone who was not wanting to wait around and sit behind the driver ahead was the championship leader Paul Aron. A move from Aron into turn 3 on lap 7 of the race on the AIX of Taylor Barnard.

Aron with a lovely move down the inside on Barnard and was up into fourth. Maini was the next on the list for the rookie at Hitech.

Gabriel Bortoleto was under pressure from the MP Motorsport of Colapinto and he had to get on with overtaking Taylor Barnard who was just in front of him to avoid being overtaken himself. Bortoleto would do just that to take fifth place. It was clear Barnard was suffering from a lack of pace.

Out front, there was a battle for the lead as Marti had closed to within DRS range of Bearman and behind Marti, Maini and Aron had also closed up to the back.

Lap 11 and Franco Colapinto sailed by the McLaren junior Taylor Barnard. Colapinto, the Williams Academy driver, was up into sixth place.

Lap 14 and Barnard's pace issues were unresolved and he was now passed by Durksen, his AIX teammate, for seventh. Barnard was now under pressure from Hauger to keep the final points position in eighth.

Onto lap 16 and Hauger would not wait long to get by Barnard. The MP Motorsport of Hauger, which is set to start the feature race from pole position in Sunday's feature race was up into eighth.

The DRS train was still in existence for the top five as the final 12 laps were upon the race in Austria and Bearman would have his work cut out to take victory here with Marti piling on the pressure and Maini, Aron and Bortoleto were eager to pounce.

Lap 19 and Barnard was really starting to struggle. He was passed twice on the lap. Firstly, the ART of Zak O'Sullivan got ahead into turn 3 and by turn 4 had the move completed and Jak Crawford round the outside of turn 6. A great move from the DAMS of Crawford who was up into 10th.

On the following lap and Crawford was up into ninth after a move on O'Sullivan for ninth place.

The lap after and a huge battle was forming for third with Maini really under pressure and he was passed by Aron on the exit of turn 3 and the run down to turn 4. The championship leader was up into third.

However, matters were made worse for Maini as his Invicta teammate Gabriel Bortoleto got ahead of him too into turn 5. Disaster of a lap for Maini who said he felt contact from Aron behind as they made their way through turn 3.

Victor Martins would be shown a black and white flag for track limits. The red Bull Ring had gravel traps added at turn 9 and 10 to prevent track limits being exceeded but in other parts of the circuit Martins had been exceeding them. One more violation of track limits and he would be handed a penalty for track limits.

A good move from Dennis Hauger saw him take seventh from Durksen, who like his teammate, his tyres were starting to go off.

Martins would be making a pass though for 11th place as he would be the next driver on the AIX of Barnard.

Bortoleto was closing up to Aron in the latter stages with aspirations of a podium. Aron's tyres had fallen off.

In the other Invicta Racing car Maini had lost two places to both MP Motorsport cars and the pole sitter was down to seventh place a nightmare for him. 

Oliver Bearman out front had managed his tyres perfectly and delivered a brilliant performance. The Prema driver had managed his tyres superbly and shown great pace. He had struggled all season long with luck in the championship. Coming into the round he was lower in the Formula 2 standings than he was in the Formula 1 standings.

The driver who finished sixth in the standings in 2023 would take his first win and first podium of the 2024 season. Bearman took the chequered flag to win the sprint race for Prema's first podium of the season.

He had pulled out to over a second in terms of distance to Pepe Marti who was second overall, for his second podium of the season and his first podium since the opening round in Bahrain. Championship leader Paul Aron was third in a fantastic drive to take his seventh podium in as many rounds.

Bortoleto would finish just behind Aron in fourth as the late drama saw Dennis Hauger finish fifth after he and his teammate Colapinto came together on the final lap. Colapinto shoving Hauger wide and Colapinto spinning under contact from his MP Motorsport teammate. Colapinto dropped to 11th and out of the points. 

Jak Crawford took sixth ahead of Kush Maini in seventh. Joshua Durksen for AIX Racing completed the points in eighth place.

A fantastic Formula 2 race that delivered as it usually does around the Red Bull Ring and Oliver Bearman really impressed. The British driver showcased the talent that makes him in so high demand at Haas for 2025. 

He took the victory which will do him a world of good for his confidence.

Action will return in FIA Formula 2 for the feature race on Sunday morning with 40 laps of racing action awaiting the 22 drivers. Dennis Hauger will start from pole position with Paraguayan rookie Joshua Durksen on the front row alongside.

A fantastic qualifying performance saw Dennis Hauger of MP Motorsport take a marginal pole position in Austria on Friday afternoon.

Hauger took pole position by just eight thousandths of a second to Paraguay's Joshua Durksen of AIX Racing who came home in second place. Gabriel Bortoleto took third for Invicta Racing.

Paul Aron, who is the championship leader coming into the round qualified fifth but will be off to see the Stewards after the session for a potential unsafe release.

Isack Hadjar, Aron's closest challenger, had an engine issue when on the provisional pole. After the final runs he finished seventh.

Friday afternoon on a Formula 2 weekend signals the start of the weekend qualifying session and this time it was taking place around the Red Bull Ring in Austria for round seven of 14 in the 2024 championship.

It was top in the day's earlier free practice session for Red Bull junior driver Isack Hadjar who managed to put his Campos two tenths quicker than championship leader Paul Aron.

The green light came on at the end of the pit lane as the session got underway, for 30 minutes in where the drivers would determine the grid for both races.

An issue in practice for Taylor Barnard ruined his running and his qualifying did not get off to the best of the starts as he would stall in the pit lane due to a bit of an unsafe release from Paul Aron. Not the start to the qualifying he would have wanted.

The incident between Aron and Barnard in the pits would be investigated by the Stewards after the session while Rafael Villagomez and Zane Maloney also had an incident in the pit lane with an unsafe release. This would also be investigated after qualifying.

In the first lap times, after a few installation laps, it was the Campos of Hadjar who set the pace in the early stages and he was ahead of Paul Aron, who was second just like practice. Gabriel Bortoleto had done a lap to put himself fourth behind third place Dennis Hauger.

An issue though had appeared for Hadjar, his engine was smoking as he tailored off into the pit lane and it would ultimately end his session. Huge drama in the Formula 2 qualifying and for one of the championship protagonists. He would have to watch and hope that his final qualifying position would not be too dissimilar to pole position.

The drivers would then all head back to the pit lane to get some fuel on board as none of them would want to be disqualified from the session, which happened to the other Campos of Josep Maria Marti in the Friday practice session.

On the final runs, Dennis Hauger went to the top of the times an onto provisional pole and above Hadjar. His teammate Franco Colapinto would go second fastest which would soon be third as Bortoleto would split the pair.

Paul Aron was up to fifth as a great lap each for the two AIX Racing cars saw both go to into the top six with four minutes remaining. A fantastic lap from the pair as Barnard would go to sixth, while his teammate Joshua Durksen would find a lot of time to go second and to the front of the row of the field.

Dursken was flying and was on another personal best and missed out on pole position by eight thousandths of a second. A great effort from the Paraguayan rookie.

The chequered flag would be out and that would be the end of the session for Formula 2 qualifying and delight for Dennis Hauger who put his car on pole position for the feature race to come on Sunday.

Hauger just managed to have enough to beat Joshua Durksen who was second and so close to his maiden pole position. Gabriel Bortoleto was third for Invicta Racing.

Franco Colapinto was fourth for MP Motorsport while it was the championship leader, Paul Aron, who completed the top five. Barnard was sixth with Hadjar seventh, despite the engine issue. A great qualifying for the Campos driver.

His teammate Marti was eighth, while Oliver Bearman of Prema and Kush Maini completed the top 10. Maini will start Saturday's sprint race from reverse grid pole.

The Saturday sprint race will be the next action to come from round seven of the Formula 2 Championship and will take place on Saturday afternoon. Racing action that would not want to be missed.

Brandon Whiteside
Writer - F1 Journal

Campos Racing's Isack Hadjar of Red Bull driver academy, at the Red Bull Ring, was fastest in Formula 2 practice on Friday morning in Austria.

Hadjar was fastest by over two tenths ahead of championship rival Paul Aron of Hitech who was second. DAMS' Jak Crawford was third fastest.

Aron leads the championship over Hadjar by just nine points heading into this round at Austria, which is round seven of the 2024 championship.

Formula 2 would return to action once again for racin action and this time for the round that meets the midway point of the season. The Championship heads to the Red Bull Ring in Austria for round seven of 14 of the 2024 season.

The Red Bull Ring has produced a lot of racing action in the past and was sure to do the same in 2024 with the new generation of Formula 2 machinery.

The first session of the weekend would be the free practice session of 45 minutes, where drivers would be wanting to get used to the circuit and get some important running and data competed to aid the strategy for the feature race.

Green light would be on at the end of the pit lane to signal the start of the session and cars headed out of the pits as the session was underway.

Oliver Bearman would have the fastest pace in the early stages once all drivers had set lap times and completed their installation laps. A 1:17.011 for the Ferrari Academy driver with 10 minutes gone in the session. 

Gabriel Bortoleto of Invicta Racing would soon to beat it to go fastest as he would soon be beaten by Spain sprint race winner Victor Martins and championship leader Paul Aron who would be next to go fastest.

The track was ramping up here so the places were changing a lot with drivers improving enough to make significant gains. One of those would be Jak Crawford who split Aron and Martins to go second fastest. 

Crawford moved up to fourth in the standings with the feature race win last time out in Barcelona.

Issues plagued the feature race for AIX last time out in Barcelona with both cars retiring due to mechanical issues and sadly mechanical issues ruined the session for British rookie Taylor Barnard who pulled up on the start/finish straight with a mechanical issue. The red flag was introduced while the marshals removed the car from the circuit.

With under 25 minutes remaining, the session resumed with the green light at the end of the pit lane. The broken down AIX Racing car had been removed and running could now be completed ahead of the qualifying session.

Isack Hadjar and managed to make use of the time to improve to third. The Campos Red Bull junior driver had been having a very impressive season so far and would have been hoping to shine here at Red Bull's home venue. 

He was doing just that. He would beat championship rival Paul Aron's lap time by just 0.056s. A 1:16.624 from Hadjar with the session really close as there was less than a tenth separating the top three into the final 15 minutes.

Hadjar would soon improve on the lap time and pull two tenths clear of Aron. A 1:16.441 would be the new time to beat for the rest of the field as time was ticking down at the end of the session. 

Fantastic mechanical work from AIX Racing as despite the technical issue, Taylor Barnard managed to get back out on track to get some running done late on around the Red Bull Ring ahead of the day's later qualifying session. A fantastic job from the mechanics.

Lots more running would be completed towards the end of the session and as the chequered flag was brought out to signal the end of the session, no one could dislodge the time of Campos' Isack Hadjar.

His teammate Josep 'Pepe' Maria Marti would end up coming to a stop on circuit at the exit of turn 3 with an apparent mechanical issue. He had ended the session parked up and in 12th place overall.

Hadjar's lap time of 1:16.624 was the fastest time and was over two tenths clear of second place Paul Aron, who leads the championship. Feature race winner from Spain Jak Crawford was third for DAMS.

Dennis Hauger was fourth for MP Motorsport, while Spain sprint race winner Victor Martins was fifth fastest for ART. 

Gabriel Bortoleto was sixth for Invicta Racing and Enzo Fittipaldi was seventh overall for Van Amersfoort Racing. Joshua Durksen, Oliver Bearman and Roman Stanek completed the top 10.

Action returns on Friday afternoon for qualifying which will determine the grid order for the races to come on Saturday and Sunday.

Brandon Whiteside
Writer - F1 Journal

FIA Formula 2 is back in action this coming weekend as the championship heads to the Red Bull Ring in Austria for round seven of 14 in 2024.

This will be the midway point of the season with still many points up for grabs in a title race that is definitely hotting up.

It was delight for DAMS last time out with a double podium in the Barcelona feature race with Jak Crawford taking victory.

Paul Aron has the lead in the championship coming into the event with 100 points to his name after the first six rounds. Aron has a nine point lead over Red Bull junior Isack Hadjar.

Formula 2 heads to the Red Bull Ring this coming weekend in Austria, a venue that has been a staple to the Formula 2 calendar since the championship had its first year in 2017 - after re-branding from GP2.

Situated close to the Styrian hills in Spielberg, the Red Bull Ring has hosted a round of the FIA Formula 2 championship apart from the 2021 season with lots of memorable moments being produced including Artem Markelov passing four cars on the final lap to take reverse grid pole for the sprint race. Three of the four overtakes he made at turn 3.

Last year there was a lot of action that was produced at this iconic European circuit. In the Friday qualifying session, it would be the ART rookie Victor Martins to take pole position for the Sunday feature race. He beat Frederik Vesti by 0.139s who was second for Prema, while eventual champion Theo Pourchaire would qualify third.

In Saturday's sprint race, it would be a maiden Formula 2 win for Hitech's Jak Crawford. Crawford would take victory by over two seconds to Martins, who finished second in a brilliant drive. Isack Hadjar ended third completing the podium places - making it a double podium for the Hitech team.

However, in Sunday's feature race Van Amersfoort Racing would take their first win in Formula 2. The Dutch team celebrated their first win with their Dutch driver, Richard Verschoor taking victory. It would have been a really emotional win for Verschoor as the day prior, his friend Dilano Van 't Hoff was tragically killed at Spa Francorchamps in the Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine 

Verschoor delivered the win as he beat Ayumu Iwasa and Frederik Vesti who completed the podium places. A fantastic achievement for the Dutchman, who has been strong around the Red Bull Ring in previous seasons. The current Trident driver crossed the line first in 2022 but was disqualified after the race for a technical infringement.

The Red Bull Ring itself is what the drivers will go racing on and is one of 4.318km with 10 corners making up the circuit. The 10 corners make it the circuit with the least corners on the Formula 2 calendar. Three DRS zones are around the Red Bull Ring and are into turns 1,3 and 4.

The lap record in Formula 2 was set by Charles Leclerc in the inaugural F2 season of 2017. His time of 1:13.396 is the lap record that has withstood all the following years that Formula 2 has visited this venue.

In terms of racing action, there will be 28 sprint race laps on Saturday while 40 feature race laps will come on Sunday morning.

Last time Formula 2 went racing in the 2024 championship, was the previous weekend as the teams and drivers went racing around Circuit Barcelona-Catalunya in Spain for round six 

It would be the start of a triple header and the first of five rounds in six weeks This would be an important weekend to go well in as it could help build confidence ahead of the congested period.

One driver who would have been hoping for a better start to the season in the first five rounds would have been 2023 rookie of the year Victor Martins. Martins was yet to pick up a podium in 2024 and had been having rough run of results.

However, he looked to have put that behind him as he had a fantastic sprint race and took victory for the first time in 2024. He finished in a comfy first ahead of Kush Maini and Juan Manuel Correa who would initially join him on the podium. Maini and Correa would be initially promoted to second and third respectively after Ritomo Miyata had time penalties for track limits. 

Correa himself would lose third not long after the race due to his penalty. This would promote Paul Aron up to third to clinch his sixth podium in the sixth round of the season.

As for Aron, he would take pole position in a superbly close qualifying session on Friday. He put in an almighty lap to take pole by just two thousandths of a second. Jak Crawford, Correa's DAMS teammate was second, while Franco Colapinto was third and only six thousandths behind Aron. An amazing session that priduced great drama. 

Aron would start on pole for the feature race but he would fail to win. It was Crawford who took a brilliant victory that was very well controlled. He maximised the pace and tyre life to perfection and saw off the competition to win. He managed to have enough to be clear of Colapinto, who was making a late charge for victory.

In third place an emotional podium awaited Juan Manuel Correa, who took his first F2 podium since 2019 at Circuit Paul Ricard in France. The ultimate comeback from Correa who had to make such a big recovery to get back to racing nevermind back to Formula 2 - after his horror crash at Spa that year with Anthoine Hubert.

A brilliant story and an even greater moment for sport in 2024. The 'never give up' energy clear to see from how much Correa would have had to work.

A lot of excitement will be built for fans of FIA Formula 2 as the series will go racing for the seventh round of the season.A track that always produces great overtaking and wheel-to-wheel action. This is not one to be missed.

Paul Aron holds the championship lead but the chasing pack are ready to pounce should a mistake be made from the Estonian rookie.

Free Practice gets underway on Friday morning.
 

Track Times:

• Free Practice 28/06: 10:05-10:50
• Qualifying 28/06: 14:55-15:25
• Sprint Race 29/06: 13:30-14:15
• Feature Race 30/06: 10:00-11:00

UK Times

• Free Practice 28/06: 09:05-09:50
• Qualifying 28/06:13:55-14:15
• Sprint Race 29/06: 12:30-13:15
• Feature Race 30/06: 09:00-10:00

Brandon Whiteside
Writer - F1 Journal

Aston Martin development driver Jak Crawford took victory in a entertaining Formula 2 featture race in Barcelona on Sunday.

Crawford maximised pace and strategy brilliantly to win for DAMS as the team scored a double podium, with Juan Manuel Correa bringing home third place after losing out on his third place in the sprint yesterday.

Franco Colapinto of MP Motorsport of Williams Academy had a fantastic race with superb pace. He finished in second place.

Championship leader Paul Aron started from pole position and finished in fourth after an error in the race. However, he still extends the lead.

It was time for the sixth Formula 2 feature race of the season and this one would come at the Circuit Barcelona-Catalunya that had already produced amazing drama so far in the weekend.

Victor Martins won on Saturday in the sprint race for his first win and podium of the year ahead of Kush Maini and Paul Aron would gain second and third due to penalties for Ritomo Miyata and Juan Manuel Correa.

Paul Aron took pole position for the feature race in Friday's qualifying session by the slimmest of margins with six thousandths of a second separating the top three with Jak Crawford in second and Franco Colapinto in third.

There would be 20 cars on the grid to start the race due to Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Roman Stanek stalling on the grid heading to the formation lap. They were unable to get their cars back going and would start from the pit lane.

With the lights having gone out, Paul Aron got a great start off the line and managed to fend off any attacks from Crawford and Colapinto behind. A fantastic start from two-time winner in 2024, Isack Hadjar, who had made up six places at the start.

However an incident into turn 2 as Dennis Hauger and Victor Martins came together into the gravel with Josep Maria Marti and Amaury Cordeel taking evasive action into the gravel. Hauger was off the road and tried to fight his way back on the track - instead colliding into Martins and taking the pair out of the race.

The safety car would be brought out while the two cars were cleared up.

At the end of lap 3 and the safety car would be withdrawn with lap 4 the first lap of green flag racing at the restart as Aron maintained the lead from Crawford and Colapinto.

​ Further behind, Hadjar was thinking of a move into turn 1 on the Invicta of Gabriel Bortoleto. Hadjar thought better of it and stayed behind the Brazilian.

The soft and hard tyres had switched to which one was the stronger tyre as the hard tyre was coming to life. This was proven by the AIX Racing car of Joshua Durksen who overtook Isack Hadjar for fourth place. 

A brilliant pass from the Paraguayan as his teammate Taylor Barnard got ahead of Rafael Villagomez into 12th.

On lap 9 and Jak Crawford, Zak O'Sullivan, Ritomo Miyata and Roman Stanek came into the pit lane in an undercut attempt. They ditched the soft compound for the hard compound of tyres with Crawford attempting the undercut on race leader Aron.

The following lap a pit stop race between Enzo Fittipaldi at Van Amersfoort and Zane Maloney of Rodin Motorsport. Both feature race winners in 2024 and Maloney won the pit battle.

Many drivers were coming in as at the end of lap 10 Bortoleto came in for his change of tyres.

Aron came in on lap 11, as did Colapinto. This was a huge moment in the context of the race win. The Hitech of Aron had a slow stop and on pit exit it left the championship leader Vulnerable to Crawford who got ahead of Aron for eighth place.

Colapito came out ahead of Bortoleto but at the end of lap 12 and the start of lap 13 Bortoleto in the bright yellow Invicta found a way ahead of the Williams liveried MP Motorsport for 10th place.

Taylor Barnard came to a stop on the approach to turn 14 right on pit entry right near a marshal point. The virtual safety car would be deployed and no drivers could serve their mandatory pit stops as is a rule in Formula 2 - different to Formula 1.

It would be a short stint of the Virtual Safety Car before it was withdrawn and green racing would resume once again.

A huge moment would appear for Paul Aron on lap 17! The championship leader had a huge moment of over-steer and ended up in the gravel on the exit of the final corner, dropping to him 11th. 

The VSC would make a second appearance as another issue, this time for race leader Joshua Durksen! A mechanical issue for the AIX car meant he had to pull over at turn 8 and he was out of the race, much to his frustration.

After a lengthy VSC, the green flag racing would continue with battles ongoing almost immediately with Colapinto sizing up a move on Bortoleto for eighth. He would be unable to make a move on this occaision and the Argentinian remained in ninth.

Paul Aron would make a move though and he would get ahead of Zak O'Sullivan to get himself back into the top 10. Aron was pushing and trying to make up ground that he had lost earlier in the race. 

O'Sullivan was struggling for grip and it would not be long before the Campos of Isack Hadjar and the Rodin of Zane Maloney found their way through.

Lap 23 and a great move from Colapinto and the Williams Academy driver had finally taken eighth from Bortoleto, which would become seventh as the Trident of Richard Verschoor came into the pit lane for a change of tyres.

Jak Crawford had caught up to Andrea Kimi Antonelli,, who was on the alternate strategy. Another rough weekend for Prema in 2024 was continuing. Crawford on fresher tyres made an easy pass for turn 5 and up into sixth.

Lap 28 and Aron had found a way ahead of Bortoleto after he had been catching the Brazilian for the few laps previous to it. The two that fought for the Formula 3 championship in 2023 were fighting for position in 2024.

A moment in the pits with Kush Maini being released into the path of Josep Maria Marti's Campos. A moment that could come back to haunt the Alpine Academy driver.

All the drivers yet to pit stop had come in by lap 30 and Jak Crawford had the lead for DAMS with Colapinto and Aron second and third respectively.

Juan Manuel Correa, who inherited the race lead from Durksen when the AIX car retired, was on the alternate strategy and was flying. He cleared Zane Maloney in a stunning pass for sixth. Correa's pace was really strong and it would not be long before he took fifth from Hadjar.

Correa's option soft compound of tyre was giving him great pace and before long he was into fourth ahead of Bortoleto for fourth. The American DAMS driver who lost his podium in the sprint race due to track limit penalties. That would have hurt him but he was intent on getting a podium in the feature race.

Juan Manuel Correa was flying and caught Aron within a lap. The gap was 2.5 seconds when he had passed Bortoleto for fourth. On la 33 he made light work of Aron and into turn 1 he took third place with an amazing pass. 

Hadjar on lap 34 had found a way through Bortoleto. Similar to the sprint race on Saturday, the invicta driver's tyres were going off and he was down to sixth. His teammate Kush Maini had fresh soft tyres and made a move on Maloney for seventh.

Enzo Fittipaldi would be handed a five-second time penalty for exceeding track limits.

Drama on the final lap as the two Invicta cars came together in Kush Maini and Gabriel Bortoleto with Bortoleto picking up front wing damage in a fight for position. Maini took sixth from Bortoleto into seventh.

The debrief would be interesting post-race between the pair of them and the team would not be happy seeing the pair coming together.

Jak Crawford out front had maximised the combination of pace and strategy. He had looked after his tyres, while demonstrating great speed and would see the chequered flag to take victory in FIA Formula 2 for the second time and his first for DAMS. 

He won in Barcelona with a comfy gap to Franco Colapinto of MP Motorsport and Williams Academy, who came across the line to take second place.

While a memorable moment for Juan Manuel Correa. He had been stripped of the podium in Saturday's sprint race due to track limit infringements but when the dust settled in the feature race it was a redemption for him. Correa took third in such a special moment for him personally and a double DAMS podium. The French team with a great result in the feature race.

Paul Aron took fourth place after the error. He would have been hoping for better but a decent points haul over the weekend keeps him in the championship lead. Isack Hadjar finished fifth ahead of the two Invicta Racing cars that came together on the final lap - Maini sixth ahead of Bortoleto.

Zane Maloney, Amaury Cordeel and Josep Maria Marti, on home soil, complete the top 10.

A fantastic weekend of Formula 2 action comes to a close with so much action from free practice all the way through to the chequered flag in the feature race at the Circuit Barcelona-Catalunya.

An extremely tight qualifying which saw the top three separated by six thousandths of a second. 

A sprint race that saw the first podium and win of the year for 2023 rookie of the year Victor Martins and what could have been the first podium of the year for Juan Manuel Correa after such a remarkable comeback to racing after the incident at Spa in 2019. He had it cruelly taken away from him due to track limits.

However, in the feature race it was a delight for DAMS as Aston Martin development driver Jak Crawford took victory  ahead of Franco Colapinto, while Correa would get back on the podium with a mega stint on the alternate strategy.

Action will return next weekend in Austria at the Red Bull Ring for round seven of the championship.

As at the end of round six, Paul Aron extends his championship lead as Formula 2 action concludes with Juan Manuel Correa making the "comeback of all comebacks".

Brandon Whiteside
​Writer - F1 Journal

Podium finisher Juan Manuel Correa is among the drivers that have been handed a post-race grid penalty after the Barcelona sprint race in FIA Formula 2.

Correa picked up a post-race time penalty for track limits and he was among seven drivers to have been handed a penalty after the sprint by the Stewards.

It was a crazy sprint race for round 6 of the 2024 Formula 2 sprint race that saw Alpine Academy talent Victor Martins win for the first time in 2024 ahead of Kush Maini.

Juan Manuel Correa was in third on the podium after inheriting the place after Ritomo Miyata’s penalties for track limits dropped him from second to eighth.

Correa was handed a five-second time with penalty after the race by the Stewards for exceeding track limits for the fourth time. Each driver is allowed three violations before a penalty is handed to them.

Sadly Correa exceeded the three and due to him doing so he would receive the time penalty that would cost him the podium and drop him to eighth.

Correa’s penalty would promote championship leader Paul Aron into third place, which adds to his podium collection across the Formula 2 season in 2024.

Another driver in trouble for track limits was Dennis Hauger of MP Motorsport. Hauger was handed 10 seconds worth of time penalties overall, which was given in two five-second time penalties for the fourth and fifth track limit violations.

This would drop Hauger from ninth place to 12th overall.

As for Hauger’s teammate Franco Colapinto, he too would be penalised post-race for exceeding track limits too many times.

Like his teammate, Colapinto was found guilty of exceeding track limits for a fourth and fifth time during the sprint race in Barcelona. The Williams Academy driver, exactly like Hauger, would be handed two five-second time penalties – accumulating 10 seconds overall.

Colapinto would drop from his original finishing position of 11th to 18th. A painful one for the Argentinian.

Highly rated rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli was another driver who had been found guilty of exceeding track limits one too many times.

Antonelli of Prema would be handed one five-second time penalty for the offence of exceeding the track limits for a fourth time. This dropped Antonelli from 10th to 15th overall. A difficult race for Antonelli ups have only been compiled by this penalty.

Van Amersfoort Racing’s Rafael Villagomez was another driver who was handed a post-race time penalty for track limit offences. He would be awarded a five-second penalty for him exceeding the track limits a fourth time. This dropped the Mexican driver from 15th to 17th.

​Former championship leader in 2024 Zane Maloney would join the club of drivers handed a post-race time penalty for track limits after the sprint race.

Maloney had already been handed 10 seconds worth of time penalty for track limits violations. He would be handed an additional five-second penalty by the Stewards. This would drop him from 17th to 19th.

Last but not least Roman Stanek would be handed an additional five-second time penalty to the one he had been given in the sprint race for a track limit infraction.

He was already 22nd and last and the time penalty would mean he was certain to stay there in the final classification.

​That would be the track limits violations sorted and racing action would return on Sunday for the feature race.

ART Grand Prix's Victor Martins takes his first podium and victory of the season in the Formula 2 Barcelona Sprint.

Martins, part of the Alpine Academy, drove a dominant race to win by three seconds. Joining him on the podium were Kush Maini and Juan Manuel Correa, who were promoted to second and third respectively as Miyata was demoted due to time penalties for track limits.

Championship leader Paul Aron finished fourth.overall and just missed out on a podium.

After a mightily close qualifying, in a fantastic Friday of running it was championship leader Paul Aron who took pole position by the slimmest of magins, with six thousandths of a second separating the top three. Jak Crawford was second with Franco Colapinto is third.

As is often with the sprint races, the top 10 of the qualifying classification are reversed, meaning that Invicta's Alpine Academy talent Kush Maini would start from pole position and he would have 2023 rookie of the year Victor Martins alongside him on the front row.

All 22 cars would take to the grid including Taylor Barnard, who was given permission to race despite not setting a time. All cars lined up and it was time for racing.

Lights went out and a bad start from Kush Maini and a great start for Martins. The two Alpine Academy drivers had differing starts to the race but it was Martins who led into turn 1 and the first lap.

Action was happening up and down the field with Ritomo Miyata was up to second, while a horror start for maini and was down to fourth.

Maini's adventurous racing continued on the following lap as he made a move on Juan Manuel Correa into turn 1 and the Indian driver was up into third place overall. This left Correa at a bad position momentum wise and Maini's teammate Gabriel Bortoleto found his way through.

Bortoleto up to fourth and Correa down to fifth and under pressure from Paul Aron who had started ninth and was up to sixth. It would have been fifth had Correa not been brilliant with his defence 

This 26 lap race was already producing a fascinating spectacle,  as a good lap for highly rated rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli put him in a good position to try and get ahead of Aron. He was however back under pressure from Isack Hadjar. Antonelli defended the Frenchman's attempted pass and the Italian kept seventh place.

Hadjar was not giving up on Antonelli and his latest attempt was a move into turn 1 but Antonelli was defending well of Campos.

Oliver Bearman had been having another difficult weekend to what has been a difficult Formula 2 campaign so far. There was a moment between Rafael Villagomez and Bearman. Villagomez made a move on the young Brit for 14th.

The Ferrari Academy driver going off the track and rejoining via the escape road.

Bearman would lose another position on the following lap and this time it would be Richard Verschoor in the Trident who would find a way ahead of the Prema. His Prema was having a really difficult time of it and was struggling to stay within the confines of track limits. 

On lap 10 and it was clear Bearman had an issue. He was losing places to Roman Stanek, Enzo Fittipaldi, Taylor Barnard and Amaury Cordeel. The British driver was now last and it looked like a mechanical problem.

Antonelli in the other Prema as he was struggling for pace in the sprint as Hadjar's relentless trying was rewarded and the Red Bull junior driver got ahead of Antonelli for seventh. Jak Crawford then took advantage of Antonelli being vulnerable and the DAMS driver cleared the Mercedes Academy talent.

The midway point arrived and Martins had a lead just over a second to second place Ritomo Miyata in the Rodin Motorsport.

Miyata would be a driver along with Trident's Roman Stanek and Prema's Bearman to receive a black and white flag for track limits. Penalties could start coming for drivers as Zane Maloney, Miyata's teammate was the next driver to be issued the driving standards flag.

A penalty did arrive relatively soon and Stanek was the first driver to be awarded the penalty.

Kush Maini was trying to recover after his poor start from pole position and was applying the pressure onto Miyata. Whatever Maini was doing, the pressure caved in for Miyata and he would receive a five-second time penalty for track limits.

Antonelli was under pressure from another driver. This time it was Dennis Hauger, who was the latest driver to receive a black and white flag for track limits.This order could change a lot before the end.

Maloney would then receive a five-second penalty for track limits, joining his teammate with a penalty. Fifth place

Juan Manuel Correa would be the next to receive a black and white flag for track limits and was putting huge sums of pressure on Gabriel Bortoleto. This allowed Paul Aron to slowly catch up to the back of Correa. This was building into a fight for a potential podium as Miyata would receive another penalty for track limits

Further back and Hauger could breathe a sigh of relief as he finally got ahead of Antonelli for ninth as at a similar time Jak Crawford found his way ahead of Antonelli into seventh.

Into the final few laps and the battle for third was really hotting up as Hadjar was not all too far away from the train being headed by Bortoleto - the reigning Formula 3 champion.

Rafael Villagomez and Andrea Kimi Antonelli would be the next two drivers to get a black and white flag for track limit violations.

Onto the penultimate lap and a huge lock up for Bortoleto leaves him under huge pressure from the train into turn 10 and Correa sent a lovely move for fourth place in the race, which would be a podium thanks to Miyata's penalty.

Onto the final lap, and Aron sent a lovely move round the outside of turn 3 to take fourth from Bortoleto, a quite sensational move and Crawford would get the move done into fifth.

However, out front Victor Martins had dominated. After such a difficult start to the season with a best finish of seventh, when a lot of people thought he'd be running for the title. He found his groove again though on Circuit Barcelona-Catalunya.

He took the chequered flag for over three seconds to take victory for ART. A sensational drive. It was an Alpine Academy 1-2, with Kush Maini for Invicta Racing coming home in second place after Miyata's penalties saw him drop to eighth. 

In third place, a memorable podium would be Juan Manuel Correa's. His first podium in the category since the Circuit Paul Ricard since 2019 when he joined Anthoine Hubert, a guy who lost his life in the incident that Correa was involved in at Spa.

It took a lot of mental courage and a lot of recovery for the Amercian and has fought his way back to Formula 2 and Correa could now say he was a podium finisher once again. He came across the line to take fourth but it would be third for the American driver. A magical podium.

Paul Aron took fourth ahead of Jak Crawford who ended fifth thanks to the penalties of Miyata and Gabriel Bortoleto finished sixth. Isack Hadjar would pick up seventh with Miyata's penalty dropping him to the final points position in eighth.

A sensational race and sensational drive from Victor Martins and he had to work hard but it was a well earned and deserving drive.

Action will return for the feature race on Sunday.  

Formula 2 championship leader Paul Aron took his maiden pole position in the series, with a sensational lap time in the Friday qualifying at Barcelona.

Aron put together a brilliant lap time that by a very fine margin got him pole position. He managed to beat Jak Crawford by two thousandths of a second and Franco Colapinto by six thousandths of a second. The top three were separated by 0.006!

The top five were separated by just over a tenth with Gabriel Bortoleto fourth and Andrea Kimi Antonelli fifth.

It was an incredibly tight qualifying, with championship challenger Isack Hadjar 11th overall.

The qualifying session for Formula 2 would be the second session for the series on Friday after the morning's practice session that was topped by championship leader and Hitech's Estonian rookie Paul Aron. 

Round six in Spain would be the start of a triple header and this would be an important three weeks of the championship.

Qualifying began as the green light was on at the end of the pit lane and the session was underway in a quest for pole position around the Circuit Barcelona-Catalunya.

Aron would set the quickest time in the very early stages with a 1:23.385 ahead of Dennis Hauger and Franco Colapinto who were the top three. However, it wouldn't be long before there was a stoppage due to a red flag.

The red flag was for the AIX Racing car of Taylor Barnard who went into the barriers on the exit of turn 9 in a speedy shunt. Thankfully he was okay and climbed out the car. However, the same could not be said for his car and he was out of qualifying.

A short delay while the car was cleared and the session would be green flagged within five minutes.

On the lap times. Isack Hadjar of Campos was flying in the first two sectors and was purple in both. He jumps to the top of the times with a 1:25.205. Provisional pole for the Frenchman, who came so remarkably close to three feature race wins in a row. However, Hadjar in a great position in Spain.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli with a strong lap goes second quickest just 0.141s off the pace as Zane Maloney went fourth fastest. The boy from Barbados was 0.382 off the lap from Isack Hadjar.

Most drivers then visited the pit lane for a fresh set of tyres and with eight minutes remaining the field began to head out in an attempt to put their best laps on the board and to take pole position. 

As the drivers headed out, there was an incident in the it lane between provisional pole man Hadjar and Enzo Fittipaldi of Van Amersfoort. Hadjar pulled out on Fittipaldi, leaving the Brazilian far from impressed. It would be investigated no further.

On the laps then and Paul Aron was purple in the middle sector but flying behind was Ritomo Miyata. Miyata went purple in the firts sector.

Aron set a beauty of a lap time to take a provisional pole with a 1:24.766. The championship leader in a stunning lap time with a 1:24.766, to put himself 0.439s clear of Hadjar.

Speaking of Hadjar he could not improve! He was going to fall down the order massively!

Miyata to the line could not jump Aron and missed out, despite the purple first sector he put together. In other news Franco Colapinto was magnificently quick and he went to take second place and was unbelievably close to the pole position - six thousandths off Aron's time.

Remarkably for Colapinto, he would not stay there as Jak Crawford jumped to second to send Colapinto down to third. A stunning lap from Crawford who missed out on pole by two thousandths of a second. Incredibly unfortunate for Crawford of DAMS but it was so tight up at the top.

No one could beat Aron's time though! He was on pole position as no more laps were completed. He was on pole by an extremely narrow margin with six thousandths separating the top three. Jak Crawford was second ahead of Franco Colapinto as the top three.

The top five would be separated by narrowly over one tenth of a second. Gabriel Borotleto was fourth for Invicta Racing and Andrea Kimi Antonelli was fifth for Prema, while his teammate was 15th.

Miyata ended sixth despite such an impressive time. He was ahead of Joshua Durksen was seventh and Juan Manuel Correa in the other DAMS was eighth.

Victor Martins ninth and Kush Maini ends 10th and will start on reverse grid pole for Saturday's sprint race.

Another fantastic performance from Paul Aron and his lap time was simply brilliant to take pole position in such a tight and high-pressured qualifying session.

He has really earned his maiden pole in FIA Formula 2.

Aron will start from pole position on Sunday's feature race, with Jak Crawford joining him on the front row.

It will be Invicta's Kush Maini who starts from reverse grid pole for Saturday's sprint, which comes next in this Formula 2 weekend.

Brandon Whiteside
​Writer - F1 journal

Championship leader Paul Aron topped free practice in Barcelona ahead of qualifying on Friday in FIA Formula 2. 

Aron ended the session top of the times by a tenth. Enzo Fittipaldi was second for Van Amersfoort, with Franco Colapinto third for MP Motorsport.

This is the start of a triple header and five rounds in the next six weekends, where the championship fight will really begin to take shape.

Aron took the lead from Zane Maloney last time out in Monaco.

Formula 2 returned to action this weekend around the Circuit Barcelona-Catalunya for round six of the 2024 Championship. This would be the start of the triple header for the drivers and teams, with rounds in Austria and Silverstone fast approaching.

Green light came on at the end of the pit lane, and drivers headed out on circuit for an installation lap, as the 45 minute session got underway.

Three drivers would be out on circuit and they would be Ritomo Miyata and the two AIX Racing cars of Joshua Durksen and Taylor Barnard.

Ritomo Miyata would have the fastest time, after the three out there were trading places multiple times. Miyata's 1:27.639 would be top as with just under half an hour remaining, the other 19 cars headed out on circuit.

Track began to see a flurry of lap times as championship leader Paul Aron, who went fastest on the first runs with a 1:26.922, which was an impressive lap time. He beat the MP Motorsport of Franco Colapinto by almost two tenths of a second.

Colapinto would soon be knocked down to third as Enzo Fittipaldi went second fastest - 0.044s faster than Colapinto with 20 minutes remaining.

Most of the drivers headed back to the pit lane as the two Campos cars remained out on track. Campos is on home soil, with drivers Isack Hadjar and home favourite Josep 'Pepe' Maria Marti. The drivers would both put themselves into the top 10. Hadjar would go seventh and Marti was ninth.

10 minutes to go and the drivers were venturing out onto the circuit with the hope of competing some late session flying laps. 

Could anyone stop the time from Paul Aron from Hitech? The championship leader's time had a tenth on second place Enzo Fittipaldi and was looking good to end the session top with five minutes remaining in Barcelona. Would his time be topped?

The answer would be no as no improvements were made and nothing changed at the top of the time sheets and Aron would end the session fastest for Hitech. Fittipaldi would be second for Van Amersfoort and Colapinto was third for MP Motorsport.

The two DAMS Lucas Oil cars were fourth and fifth, with Jak Crawford ahead of Juan Manuel Correa to complete the top five. Monaco feature race winner Zak O'Sullivan was sixth for ART, while Isack Hadjar was seventh for Campos.

​Richard Verschoor, Pepe Marti and Victor Martins rounded out the top 10.

Paul Aron can feel the happiest after practice with him ending top of the free practice session in Barcelona, ahead of qualifying to come later on Friday.

The top 20 separated by just over a second, meaning that all is still very much to play for in the 2024 FIA Formula 2 Championship.

Action continues on Friday afternoon for qualifying. 

Brandon Whiteside
Writer - F1 journal