F2 Imola: Hadjar holds off Bortoleto for victory after costly Bearman pit drama

Hadjar put on a masterful defensive display to fend off polesitter Bortoleto in a race where the main drama was restricted to the pitlane.

A poor start for Bortoleto had seen the Brazilian – who was sporting an eye-catching Ayrton Senna tribute helmet – drop to fourth, with Hadjar promoted to second behind only Oliver Bearman. Joshua Durksen also benefitted and climbed to third.

There was little to separate the quartet during the opening exchanges, leading Hadjar and Durksen to attempt the undercut at the end of lap six.

Bearman and Maloney stopped the following lap but the former endured a nightmare stop, appearing to stall with the team then struggling to get the car moving again. This dropped him to 21st, a position he improved only to 19th by the chequered flag. This means the Ferrari junior driver has still only scored in one feature race in 2024.

Maloney dropped out of the lead battle after being passed by Roman Stanek in the pitstop phase and was left frustrated by the steward's inaction over what he perceived to be weaving by the Czech driver. The championship leader finished 11th.

On the alternate strategy, Amaury Cordeel and Pepe Marti looked like they could threaten the podium positions with Durksen significantly off the top two.

(Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images)

But drama in the pits again cost them, with Cordeel’s right-rear tyre coming loose as he exited the pit box before it stuck another tyre and flew into the air. Moments later, Marti’s own left rear came off in the pits. Both drivers retired on the spot with the stewards quick to confirm they would look into the events.

With Maloney failing to score, Paul Aron closed the gap in the standings to five by virtue of his sixth-place finish. Hadjar is now just nine points from the summit.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli enjoyed another strong performance, finishing fourth for the second feature race in succession, and now sits sixth in the standings, 14 places and 30 points clear of his luckless team-mate Bearman.

F2 Imola: Feature race results

Main Information Additional Data Additional Data Driver Info

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Main Information Additional Data 1  -  2
Cla	Driver	#		Laps	Time	Interval	km/h	Pits	Points	Retirement	Bonus
1	I. Hadjar Campos Racing	20		35	-				25
2	G. Bortoleto Invicta Racing	10		35	+0.500 0.5	0.500			18		2
3	J. Duerksen PHM AIX Racing	24		35	+13.700 13.7	13.200			15
4	A. Antonelli Prema Powerteam	4		35	+18.000 18.0	4.300			12
5	F. Colapinto MP Motorsport	12		35	+18.400 18.4	0.400			10
6	P. Aron Hitech Pulse-Eight	17		35	+18.800 18.8	0.400			8
7	J. Crawford DAMS Lucas Oil	7		35	+20.700 20.7	1.900			6
8	J. Correa DAMS Lucas Oil	8		35	+21.200 21.2	0.500			4
9	V. Martins ART Grand Prix	1		35	+28.300 28.3	7.100			2		1
10	R. Verschoor Trident	22		35	+33.500 33.5	5.200			1
11	Z. Maloney Rodin Motorsport	5		35	+34.100 34.1	0.600
12	D. Hauger MP Motorsport	11		35	+34.300 34.3	0.200
13	Z. O'Sullivan ART Grand Prix	2		35	+37.600 37.6	3.300
14	K. Maini Invicta Racing	9		35	+37.900 37.9	0.300
15	R. Miyata Rodin Motorsport	6		35	+38.400 38.4	0.500
16	R. Villagomez Van Amersfoort Racing	15		35	+42.300 42.3	3.900
17	E. Fittipaldi Van Amersfoort Racing	14		35	+43.000 43.0	0.700
18	R. Staněk Trident	23		35	+43.500 43.5	0.500
19	O. Bearman Prema Powerteam	3		35	+44.000 44.0	0.500
20	T. Barnard PHM AIX Racing	25		35	+44.700 44.7	0.700
dnf	A. Cordeel Hitech Pulse-Eight	16		30	5 laps					Retirement
dnf	P. Martí Campos Racing	21		30	5 laps					Retirement
View full results