Official F1 Journal Formula 2 Feature Race Round Up- Australia

Feature Race 

Hauger was on Pole for the 1st time in Formula 2 with Antonelli next to him on the front row also for the 1st time in his brief Formula 2 career and as the lights went out Hauger got a great start and all the cars made it through turn 1 without incident till Stanek spun at turn 5. Martins got a brilliant start and had made up 6 places by turn 5.
Bearman made a great move on Hadjar but couldn't keep the place just before his rookie team mate made a mega move for the lead, getting past Hauger but couldn't keep it for long with Hauger using the DRS to take the lead back the same lap.
Maloney was up to 3rd after passing Vershoor and was looking to catch the front 2 cars 1.5 seconds down the road.
Lap 4 Martins passed Durksen and was into the top 10 after starting on the back row. 
Lap 6 Marti found the gravel at the exit of turn 12 losing places in the process, Maloney also made the same mistake letting Maini pass him for 3rd and as soon as he was released from behind Maloney, Maini was straight onto the back of Antonelli and wasted no time passing the rookie for 2nd place, a brilliant couple of laps for the Indian driver. Durksen brought out a Virtual Safety car when he went out of the race stuck on the grass and requiring recovery. 

Lap 9 the track went green and Aron was straight on the attack with Maloney as Maini passed Hauger for the lead and we started to see the cars running the super soft tyres taking their mandatory pitstop, Hauger had a great stop while Prema did a top job of double stacking their cars, Maini stayed out in the lead with Hadjar in 2nd still needing to pit. 
Lap 11 on his way out of the pits Hauger went straight on at turn 5, hitting the barrier  and throwing him on to the track just past turn 6, triggering another Virtual safety car, which benefited Hadjar greatly, allowing him to pit and get out in front of Antonelli before a full Safety car was called to recover Hauger's car and clear the debris from the track.  

Under the Safety car and after some of the cars had made their stops it was Maini in the lead, Correa 2nd, Fittipaldi 3rd, Crawford 4th, Stanek, Barnard & Hadjar were 5th, 6th and 7th and Antonelli, Aron & Miyata completing the top 10. Maloney  was 12th, Bearman 17th, Martins was now 15th and everyone below Hadjar had made their mandatory Pitstop as the race resumed on lap 15.
Maini went very early to make a gap before turn 1 and was safe as Fittipaldi was under pressure from Crawford who passed at turn 5 followed by Stanek. Aron went for a move on Antonelli but couldn't get it done, Hadjar was all over the back of Fittipaldi on old tyres as Maloney was desperate to get past team mate Miyata as Vershoor pressured him from behind. 

Lap 17 Hadjar passed Fittipaldi for 5th as Prema erged Antonelli to pass Barnard. Bearman and Marti made contact that dropped them to the back of the pack.
Lap 18 Maloney passed his Rodin team mate Mityata for 11th as Villagomez went off ahead of the pair handing them another place and putting Maloney up to 10th.
13 laps to go Maini was 2 seconds ahead of 2nd place man Correa both yet to pit. Aron made a very aggressive move on Antonelli to take what could become 2nd or 3rd after the pitstops are complete. 
Maloney passed Barnard for 9th on lap 22 and was just 1.1 behind Antonelli and it was announced that the pass of Aron on Antonelli was under investigation by the Stewards along with the Bearman/Marti incident.  
Taylor Barnard was really struggling on his tyres slowly dropping down the order as the cars with fresher rubber picked him off. 

Lap 24 Fittipaldi had a look at Stanek into turn 1 but couldn't get it done and ended up going onto the gravel at turn 5 and dropping to 10th. Maloney had caught Antonelli for 7th but before he could make the move Antonelli passed Stanek for 6th, taking Maloney with him and dropping Stanek to 8th.
Lap 25 Maloney was passed Antonelli for 6th as Stanek and Fittipaldi found themselves back together on track but this time Fittipaldi passed his team mate as Stanek finally dove into the pits for fresh rubber rejoining in18th & last. (No further action for Aron/ Antonelli pass)
Maini in front was losing pace on his old tyres with Hadjar less than 6 seconds off the lead having pit earlier in the race. 
Lap 28 Crawford passed Correa for 2nd but both still needed to make their stops. In the fight for the net lead Aron was catching Hadjar as he caught the last of the cars yet to pit and Bearman had a big spin after taking to much kerb into turn 1. 

3 laps to go the top 3 of Maini, Crawford & Correa were yet to pit and Hadjar in 4th was just 1.3 seconds behind Correa when he finally dove into the pits coming back out in 15th. The next lap Crawford passed Maini at the front for the lead before both dove into the pits rejoining in 12th for Crawford and 13th for Maini. 
Hadjar inherited the lead with Aron 2nd &, Maloney 3rd in front of Antonelli in 4th. Miyata had another strong race in 5th and Vershoor, Colapinto, Villagomez, Martins & Bearman completed the top 10. It was an emotional win for Hadjar after having his Sprint race win taken from him after a penalty was applied after the racejust 24 hours before.  

Feature Race Result 

1 HAD
2 ARO +4.454
3 MAL  +9.649
4 ANT +12.990
5 MIY +13.652
6 VER +18.059
7 COL +19.741
8 VIL +23.600
9 VMA +25.080
10 BEA +29.442
11 CRA +31.199
12 ACO +33.841
13 MAI +34.041
14 JMA +34.594
15 JCO +41.772
16 STA +58.194
17 BAR +59.319
18 FIT  +1'09.169
HAU DNF
BOR DNF
OSU DNF
​DUR DNF

Joanna Blackmore 
Writer @f1journal.co.uk