Definition takes place in the main race in the United Arab Emirates, the last of 2024, this Sunday (7), at 6:15 am
The Brazilian took second place in the Abu Dhabi sprint race this Saturday (7) and opened a 5.5 point advantage over Frenchman Isack Hadjar, who finished in sixth place, in the dispute for the season title. The definition takes place in the main race in the United Arab Emirates, the last of 2024, this Sunday, at 6:15 am. If the Frenchman does not win the race this Sunday, the Brazilian, a future F1 driver, will only have to finish one position behind to win the title. The winner of the sprint was Spaniard Josep Martí, who took his first victory, and Paul Aron, from Estonia, completed the podium, in third position.
Classified with the second best time for the main race in qualifying training on Friday, Bortoleto started in ninth place in the sprint, reversing the top ten grid. His main competitor for the title, Hadjar started from sixth place in the sprint and on Sunday starts from fourth place. The Frenchman benefited from the punishment suffered by Kush Maini, who lost three positions on the sprint grid.
Moments before the start, Prema announced that Italian Andrea Antonelli would not compete in the sprint race for health reasons. The decision did not influence Bortoleto, as the Italian had only achieved the 11th time in the classification. The start was very good for Bortoleto. He took advantage of the tangled drivers (pole driver Amaury Cordeel lost three positions) and closed the first lap in fifth position. Hadjar, who was boxed in at the start, finished the initial spin in only 11th place. The leader was Josep Martí, followed by Maini.
On the third lap, Bortoleto overtook Joshua Dürksen in turn 6 and in the next lap he overtook Cordeel to reach third place. In the lead, Marti was more than 3 seconds ahead of Kush Maini, Borboleto’s Invicta teammate. The Brazilian overtook Maini on the sixth lap, but was already 4 seconds behind Martí. Meanwhile, Hadjar was in ninth place and was struggling with Swede Dino Beganovic, who was just ahead.
On the 13th lap, leader Martí’s advantage over Borboleto had already fallen to 2.8 seconds. Further back, Hadjar continued in an intense dispute with Beganovic, now in seventh place, as Maini lost performance and was overtaken successively. The Brazilian maintained the pace and distance to Martí at around 2.7 seconds, while opening up a lead of more 8 seconds for third place, Cordeel, on the 16th lap. The Belgian driver, however, made mistakes and allowed Paraguayan Joshua Dürksen, who was in third, to approach.
In a position dispute on the 18th lap, Cordeel and Dürksen collided. The Paraguayan abandoned the race, and Cordeel was punished for 10 seconds as he was considered responsible for the collision. As a result, Hadjar gained positions without having to overtake his rivals on the track and completed the 23 laps in sixth place.
Check out the results of the Formula 2 Abu Dhabi sprint race:
- Josep Martí (ESP/Campos), in 38min36s039
- Gabriel Bortoleto (BRA/Invicta), at 2s286
- Paul Aron (EST/Hitech Pulse-Eight), a 13s971
- Dino Beganovic (SUE/Dams), a 18s828
- Oliver Bearman (GBR/Prema), a 19s547
- Isack Hadjar (FRA/Campos), a 22s980
- Luke Browning (GBR/ART), a 26s798
- Richard Verschoor (HOL/MP Motorsport), a 27s8896
- Jak Crawford (EUA/Dams), a 29s768
- Oliver Goethe (ALE/Van Amersfoort), a 31s618
- Leonardo Fornaroli (ITA/Rodin), at 33s307
- Ritomo Miyata (JAP/Rodin), a 33s784
- Rafael Villagómez (MEX/Van Amersfoort), at 34s727
- Amaury Cordeel (BEL/Hitech Pulse-Eight), a 36s268
- Max Esterson (USA/Trident), at 40s756
- John Bennett (GBR/Van Amersfoort), a 43s493
- Christian Mansell (AUS/Trident), a 45s303
- Kush Maini (IND/Invicta), at 52s570
- Cian Shields (GBR/AIX), a 60s505
- Victor Martins (FRA/ART), one lap away
- Did not complete the race: Joshua Dürksen (PAR/AIX)
Published by Luisa Cardoso
*With information from Estadão Conteúdo
