McLaren junior Gabriel Bortoleto went from last to first to clinch the second victory of his rookie Formula 2 campaign and heap pressure on points leader Isack Hadjar, who failed to score across the Monza weekend.
Having ended his qualifying session in the gravel, Bortoleto (Invicta) lined up at the back of the grid for both races but, after finishing in a dead heat for eighth on Saturday, he completed an unlikely comeback drive with relative ease on Sunday.
The Brazilian had remained on the track for a lap longer than the majority of those on the regular strategy of starting on the supersoft tyres, but was aided by a safety car moments before he stopped.
Losing less time in the pits as a result, he returned to the track in the net race lead and, showing his class in clean air, he eventually took the flag by over 8.5 seconds.
Zane Maloney (Rodin) started from pole position with title combatants Hadjar (Campos) and Paul Aron (Hitech) directly behind.
But as has been so often the case in a recent luckless spell, Aron’s race-winning hopes ended immediately, as Pepe Marti (Campos) locked his brakes into the first corner and slammed into the Estonian’s gearbox. Although Marti continued, albeit with a 10-second penalty, Aron was left to be wheeled from the circuit.
Hadjar was forced onto the escape road in the same incident, having made a poor start, but the defining moment of the race came on lap eight, when Dennis Hauger (MP Motorsport) was spun around by Ritomo Miyata (Rodin) at the Rettifilo chicane.
This moment changed the complexion entirely, as Bortoleto leapt to fifth – behind only those who were running the reverse strategy – and Hadjar was forced down to 18th with a poor stop.
While the podium places went largely uncontested from there on, there was am intense battle between Prema team-mates Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Oliver Bearman, both of whom have confirmed F1 seats for 2025.
This reached a head on lap 24 of 30 when Antonelli, having already reported his team-mate for moving under braking, made a late braking move on the outside into the Rettifilo chicane, forcing Bearman onto the exit kerb in a pass that caused the Briton to drop also behind Joshua Durksen (AIX).
Richard Verschoor, having stalled at the start of the formation lap, finished third, with Antonelli fourth.
Bortoleto now trails Hadjar by 10.5 points, having entered the round 36 points back.
Monza - Feature race
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| Cla | Driver | # | Laps | Time | Interval | km/h | Pits | Points | Retirement | Bonus | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1 |
G. Bortoleto Invicta Racing
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10 | 30 |
- |
1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2 |  Z. Maloney Rodin Motorsport |
5 | 30 |
+9.400 9.4 |
9.400 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3 |  R. Verschoor Trident |
22 | 30 |
+11.600 11.6 |
2.200 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 4 |  A. Antonelli Prema Powerteam |
4 | 30 |
+14.100 14.1 |
2.500 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 5 |
J. Duerksen PHM AIX Racing
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24 | 30 |
+14.500 14.5 |
0.400 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 6 |  V. Martins ART Grand Prix |
1 | 30 |
+15.000 15.0 |
0.500 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 7 |  O. Bearman Prema Powerteam |
3 | 30 |
+15.300 15.3 |
0.300 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 8 |  R. Villagomez Van Amersfoort Racing |
15 | 30 |
+15.700 15.7 |
0.400 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 9 |  J. Crawford DAMS Lucas Oil |
7 | 30 |
+17.000 17.0 |
1.300 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 10 |  E. Fittipaldi Van Amersfoort Racing |
14 | 30 |
+17.300 17.3 |
0.300 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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