The definition of the championship takes place in the United Arab Emirates, next weekend; sprint race is scheduled for Saturday (7), and the main race takes place on Sunday (8)
The Brazilian was the first to cross the finish line at this Sunday’s Qatar GP (1), but was punished by adding 5 seconds to his time and finished in third place. The winner was Estonian Paul Aron, followed by Frenchman Isack Hadjar, the Brazilian’s opponent for the season title. Bortoleto reaches the last stage of the Formula 2 World Championship with a 0.5 point advantage over Hadjar. The Brazilian had a 3.5 point advantage before this Sunday’s GP, but faced a complicated race. The definition of the championship takes place in the United Arab Emirates, next weekend. The sprint race is scheduled for Saturday (7), and the main race takes place on Sunday (8).
Coming from second place, Borboleto took the lead after a great start and left pole, Paul Aron, behind. Hadjar, who started from ninth place, lost one position and closed the first lap in 11th place. On the sixth lap, Borboleto and Aron were already more than four seconds ahead of third place, Dino Beganovic. The Estonian went to the pits to change tires on the next lap, and the Brazilian was called to enter the eighth lap. Andrea Antonelli, however, ended up in the gravel box after problems with his car, and the safety car was activated.
As he entered the pit lane, Borboleto was warned that the sector was closed and had to make a sudden maneuver to return to the track, but ended up crossing the entry lines. After changing tires, the Brazilian returned to the track in seventh position, behind only drivers who had not yet stopped in the pits. Hadjar managed to benefit from the confusion and returned behind Aron after changing tires. For having crossed the lines at the entrance to the pit lane, Borboleto was punished with 5 seconds added to his time.
On the restart, the Brazilian left the track in turn 1, but managed to come back. Problem with Mexican Rafael Villagómez, who stopped in turn 6, ended up causing the safety car to enter again. After another restart, on the 17th lap, Borboleto gained positions from the drivers who were in front of him with worn tires, but he was right behind Aron and Hadjar. With so many laps with the safety car, the end of the race was determined by the time limit and not by the planned 32 laps.
The Brazilian crossed the finish line in front, but not with enough advantage to climb to the highest place on the podium, which was occupied by Aron. Hadjar also finished less than 5 seconds behind Borboletto and moved up one position.
Check out the results of the Formula 2 Qatar GP:
1º – Paul Aron (EST/Hitech Pulse-Eight), em 55min45s433
2nd – Isack Hadjar (FRA/Campos), at 2s763
3rd – Gabriel Bortoleto (BRA/Invicta), at 3s175
4º – Oliver Goethe (ALE/Van Amersfoort), a 3s796
5th – Dino Beganovic (SUE/Dams), at 5s727
6º – Christian Mansell (AUS/Trident), a 11s509
7º – Amaury Cordeel (BEL/Hitech Pulse-Eight), a 12s556
8º – John Bennett (GBR/Van Amersfoort), a 18s862
9º – Zane Maloney (BAR/Rodin), a 19s818
10º – Ritomo Miyata (JAP/Rodin), a 23s297
11º – Cian Shields (GBR/AIX), a 32s320
12th – Oliver Bearman (GBR/Prema), at 33s737
13º – Richard Verschoor (HOL/MP Motorsport), a 39s043
14º – Joshua Dürksen (PAR/AIX), a 46s123
15th – Kush Maini (IND/Invicta), at 51s909
16º – Luke Browning (GBR/ART), a 53s372
17th – Josep Martí (ESP/Campos), 65s023
18th – Max Esterson (USA/Trident), at 75s033
Did not complete the race: Andrea Antonelli (ITA/PREMA); Rafael Villagómez (MEX/Van Amersfoort); Jak Crawford (USA/Dams); Victor Martins (FRA/ART)
*With information from Estadão Conteúdo
Published by Matheus Lopes
