Oliver Bearman takes first Formula 2 win of the year in Austria Sprint Race

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.

How the Austria Formula 2 sprint race unfolded

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.

2024 FIA Formula 2 Championship: Round 7 - Austria sprint race provisional classification

1. Oliver Bearman (Great Britain, Prema Racing)
2. Josep Maria Marti (Spain, Campos Racing)
3. Paul Aron (Estonia, Hitech Pulse-Eight)
4. Gabriel Bortoleto (Brazil, Invicta Racing)
5. Dennis Hauger (Norway, MP Motorsport)
6. Jak Crawford (United States, DAMS Lucas Oil)
7. Kush Maini (India, Invicta Racing)
8. Joshua Durksen (Paraguay, AIX Racing)
9. Zak O'Sullivan (Great Britain, ART Grand Prix)
10. Victor Martins (France, ART Grand Prix)
11. Franco Colapinto (Argentina, MP Motorsport)
12. Taylor Barnard (Great Britain, AIX Racing)
13. Isack Hadjar (France, Campos Racing)
14. Enzo Fittipaldi (Brazil, Van Amersfoort Racing)
15. Andrea Kimi Antonelli (Italy, Prema Racing)
16. Juan Manuel Correa (United States, DAMS Lucas Oil)
17. Zane Maloney (Barbados, Rodin Motorsport)
18. Amaury Cordeel (Belgium, Hitech Pulse-Eight)
19. Rafael Villagomez (Mexico, Van Amersfoort Racing)
20. Richard Verschoor (Netherlands, Trident)
21. Roman Stanek (Czech Republic, Trident)
22. Ritomo Miyata (Japan, Rodin Motorsport)