Formula 2 last raced in Melbourne, 54 days back. Since then the championship has had an in-season test in Barcelone and now it finally returns to racing this weekend in Imola for round 4 of the championship.
Isack Hadjar won the race for Campos Racing last time out in Melbourne and continued that form into the in-season test at Barcelona, setting the fastest time during the 3 days of testing.
Meanwhile heading into the weekend, in the Championship standings, Zane Malone tops the charts with 62 points ahead of Hitech Pulse-Eight’s Paul Aron, currently the highest-ranked rookie with 47 and second overall. Dennis Hauger remains third in the Standings just six points further back while Hadjar, thanks to his Feature Race win finds himself in fourth position with 34 points. Kush Maini finds himself one point back in fifth place for Invicta Racing.
In the team’s championship, Rodin leads with 78 points, Campos’ recent results have put them closest to the top team on 60. Hitech are third currently just three more points further back from their Spanish rivals. MP Motorsport aren’t far behind on 54 points in fourth position while Invicta round out the top five currently with 48 points in their column.
Qualifying
Gabriel Bortoleto took pole position in a dramatic Imola Qualifying session marked by track limits violations. The Invicta Racing driver posted the fastest lap of 1:27.056, beating out PREMA Racing’s Oliver Bearman and Campos Racing’s Isack Hadjar.
Bortoleto initially led with a 1:28.044, then improved to 1:27.739. After a pit stop for new Pirelli Supersoft tyres, Bearman briefly took the lead with a 1:27.111 before Bortoleto reclaimed the top spot on his final lap. Bearman and teammate Andrea Kimi Antonelli had their times briefly deleted for track limits but were later reinstated.
Joshua Duerksen secured P5, followed by Championship leader Zane Maloney. Roman Stanek finished P7, with Paul Aron in eighth. Franco Colapinto took P9, while Amaury Cordeel qualified tenth, securing reverse grid pole for the Sprint Race.
Kush Maini qualified in 14th place, however his time was deleted and he then moved back to 17th on the grid for both races.
Sprint Race
MP Motorsport’s Franco Colapinto achieved his first Formula 2 win with a dramatic last-lap overtake on Hitech Pulse-Eight’s Paul Aron during the Sprint Race at Imola. Colapinto, who initially lost a position at the start, fought back from P3 to claim victory, while Championship leader Zane Maloney of Rodin Motorsport secured third place.
Aron made a strong start from P3, overtaking Colapinto and teammate Amaury Cordeel to lead into Turn 3. A Safety Car was deployed after Roman Stanek and Isack Hadjar collided, causing a chain reaction involving Joshua Duerksen, Enzo Fittipaldi, and Dennis Hauger.
Racing resumed on Lap 6, with Aron extending his lead. Cordeel’s mistake on the next lap allowed Colapinto to move into second. By Lap 9, Colapinto was closing in on Aron, and Cordeel was under pressure from Maloney, Oliver Bearman, and Gabriel Bortoleto.
On Lap 12, Colapinto was within DRS range of Aron, while Maloney overtook Cordeel on Lap 22 for his fourth podium of the year. On the final lap, Colapinto made a decisive move at Tamburello to take the lead and secure his first win. Aron finished second, with Maloney third. Cordeel took fourth, followed by Bearman in fifth, who held off Bortoleto.
“I’m super happy, first win in Formula 2, it’s a very special day for me and for every Argentinian that has been supporting me so far. I’m super proud of the team, very proud of everyone who has been supporting me. Thank you, thank you. Thank you to all the fans and let us hope for more wins in the next few races.”
-Franco Colapinto, MP Motorsport
Kush made up 8 places at the start of the race to go from P17 to P9 in the first lap but failed to improve from there and finished the race in 9th. Taylor Barnard who initially finished in 7th was disqualified from the sprint as he failed to engage the start set-up procedure as required. This promoted Kush to P8, the final point-paying position.
Feature race:
Isack Hadjar secured his second win of the season in a thrilling Imola Feature Race for Campos Racing, moving up from third on the grid. Despite a strong challenge from Gabriel Bortoleto of Invicta Racing, who had to settle for second, Hadjar’s defensive skills ensured his victory. Joshua Duerksen of AIX Racing claimed his and the team’s first F2 podium by finishing third.
Pole-sitter Bortoleto had a slow start, dropping to fourth and allowing Oliver Bearman to take the lead, followed by Hadjar and Duerksen. Bearman struggled to shake off Hadjar, who stayed within DRS range. After the first round of pit stops, Hadjar and Duerksen swapped their Supersofts for Mediums, with Hadjar taking the effective race lead as Bearman stalled twice in the pitlane.
By Lap 10, all drivers on Supersoft tyres had pitted, leaving those on Prime tyres out on the track. Amaury Cordeel led the pack, followed by Josep María Martí, Juan Manuel Correa, Victor Martins, Kush Maini, and Rafael Villagómez. Bortoleto began to close the gap to Hadjar, narrowing it to 1.3 seconds by Lap 16.
Further back, Championship leader Zane Maloney was stuck behind Roman Stanek and losing ground. Jak Crawford eventually overtook Maloney and then Stanek by Lap 25. By Lap 30, drivers on alternative strategies began pitting, but bad stops for Cordeel and Martí, where both had tyres come off, ruled them out of the race.
In the final laps, Bortoleto closed in on Hadjar, but the Frenchman held firm to claim victory. Duerksen finished third, making history as the first Paraguayan driver on the F2 podium.
“Really happy with the Feature Race win today after yesterday’s disappointment. Unbelievable job by the team, it was a really intense race with Gabriel, but we were really flying today and to take that win is great, so on to Monaco now.”– Isack Hadjar, Capos Racing.
Antonelli finished fourth, followed by Colapinto and Aron. Crawford and Correa secured P7 and P8 for DAMS Lucas Oil, while Victor Martins climbed from the back to finish ninth, with Richard Verschoor rounding out the top ten.
Kush Maini finished the race in 14th place after choosing to stay out late in the alternate strategy hoping for a safety car to help him with the pit stop, but there was no safety car during the race and the Invicta driver had to settle out of the points.
Championship Standings
Zane Maloney remains at the top of the Drivers’ Championship despite finishing 11th, though his lead has shrunk to just five points over Paul Aron. Isack Hadjar’s latest performance moves him into the top three, with 59 points, only nine behind Maloney. Gabriel Bortoleto’s strong showing in Imola places him fifth in the Championship with 38 points. Kush Maini finds himself 8th in the standings with 34 points
In the Teams’ Standings, Campos Racing now leads with 85 points, thanks to Hadjar’s victory, just one point ahead of Rodin Motorsport. Hitech Pulse-Eight is in third with 78 points, closely followed by MP Motorsport, while Invicta Racing holds the fifth spot.
Up next
The championship heads to the streets of Monaco this weekend for the season’s second double header. The Indian audience can catch all the sessions live on Fancode and F1TV.
