FORMULA 2
 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. How the Formula 2 feature race unfolded in BarcelonaIt 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 At the end of lap 3 and the safety car would be withdrawn with lap 4 the first lap of green flag racing at the restart as Aron maintained the lead from Crawford and Colapinto.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". 2024 FIA Formula 2 Championship: Round 6 - Spain feature race result (provisional classification)
Brandon Whiteside
Writer - F1 Journal
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