Italian Grand Prix: F2 Feature Race Results

Whilst Formula 3 has just crowned a new champion, Formula 2 still have three rounds to go but let’s take a look at what happened in the Monza Feature Race

Abby Bathurst 5 min read

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The final F2 race in Monza saw more chaos ensue with an opening lap Safety Car and competitive battles throughout the points between teammates.

F2
The opening lap chaos in the F2 Feature Race around Monza. (Credit: X @Formula2)

The Formula 2 weekend in Monza has been one to talk about with new drivers in Oliver Goethe and Noels Koolen joining the grid, replacing Franco Colapinto and Taylor Barnard, and Andrea Kimi Antonelli being confirmed as F1-bound for 2025.

But it was Zane Maloney who achieved pole position on Friday in F2 Qualifying and then Oliver Bearman who took the victory in the Sprint Race yesterday. Maloney lined up in P1 for the Feature Race ahead of championship leader, Isack Hadjar, Paul Aron and Dennis Hauger. Second in the championship, Gabriel Bortoleto, lined up in 22nd after spinning in Qualifying.

However, it was Gabriel Bortoleto who achieved victory in the F2 Feature Race around the Temple of Speed and reignited the F2 championship fight.

Let’s get into how it happened.

Lights Out

Only five drivers were on the medium tyres for the start of the race, but Maloney, who was on the super soft (option) tyres kept the lead into Turn 1. However, chaos ensued on the opening lap just like yesterday.

Unfortunately, Pepe Martí locked up going into the first corner and collided with Aron, who had initially overtaken Hadjar for P2. A Safety Car was then brought out as marshals quickly rolled Aron’s car off the track.

As a result of the chaos, Hauger had front wing damage and a puncture from going into the back of Martí. He came into the pits, but that didn’t count as his mandatory pitstop.

The two PREMA drivers had a strong start as they moved up into the final two podium positions with Bearman leading his teammate. Joshua Duerksen, who achieved a podium yesterday, also had a great start, moving up seven positions and was in fourth.

Safety Car Restart

Maloney succeeded in getting the jump on Bearman on the restart, but down the main straight, with cold tyres, Bearman tried to close the gap and get ahead. However, Maloney maintained the lead, holding off the British driver.

Bortoleto looked to have pace in his Invicta Virtuosi, having moved up to P15. Enzo Fittipaldi, just ahead of Bortoleto, kicked up some grass ahead of the McLaren junior, but both drivers avoided any serious incidents.

Hadjar, having overtaken Duerksen, was then under threat from the Paraguayan driver. The championship leader was then bumped back down to P5 as Duerksen retook P4.

Meanwhile, Martí received a 10-second penalty for causing the opening lap collision.

Whilst Bearman fell out of DRS from Maloney, Antonelli was under pressure from Duerksen. The Mercedes-bound driver fought with Duerksen to hold onto a podium position, but couldn’t stick it out for long and fell to P4.

Beaman was told to pit on lap six. The PREMA driver came in and swapped onto the alternative medium tyre. Victor Martins also came in to swap tyres.

Race leader, Maloney, was also instructed to come in and so was Antonelli and Duerksen. The three drivers came in and so did all the other super soft runners, electing to move onto the mediums.

When they came out the pits, the yellow flags were being waved as Hauger was parked on the grass at Turn 1. Coming out of the pits, Maloney came out in P11, leading those who had pitted, ahead of Bearman and Duerksen.

Second Safety Car and Pit Stops

With a second Safety Car called out due to Hauger, the other super soft runners, who had yet to pit, came into the pits with Bortoleto leading the way. Pitting under the Safety Car gives the drivers a benefit of about nine seconds and as such, Bortoleto and Richard Verschoor came out in P6 and P7, just ahead of Maloney.

That means the driver who started last had the net-race lead. And the five drivers of Goethe, Kush Maini, Juan Manuel Correa, Roman Stanek and Koolen still had to pit, but were leading the grid when the Safety Car came in.

Second Restart

The Safety Car came in on lap 10 and Goethe, an F3 graduate, was leading the way. He held onto the lead into Turn 1, whilst further back, Bortoleto was trying his luck on Koolen.

Bearman and Maloney were battling for position on the restart, but the Bajan driver stayed ahead. Antonelli got ahead of Duerksen on the restart, but the AIX Racing driver retook P9 from the Italian.

Maloney and Bearman both overtook Stanek to move up positions, and Maloney then overtook the second Trident of Verschoor. However, Bearman fell backwards as Stanek retook the position. It was then reported that Bearman had a little bit of damage.

The race lead changed hands as Maini overtook Goethe.

Meanwhile, Ritomo Miyata received a 10-second penalty for causing a collision with Hauger whilst Antonelli went over the gravel and Bearman was run off the road and found himself between Correa and Martins.

Up front, Bortoleto overtook Goethe to make it an Invicta 1-2. On lap 15, the Brazilian driver performed another move by overtaking his teammate and taking the lead of the race.

Unfortunately for PREMA, Correa, Bearman and Martins went three-wide into Turn 1. Bearman and Martins went either side of Correa, who ultimately lost a bit of his front wing. Martins came out ahead of Bearman in sixth whilst Correa fell through the pack.

With half of the race complete, all drivers were running the medium tyres, but some still needed to pit.

Halfway point

The third retirement of the race happened on lap 17 when Correa came into the pits and retired the car.

There was a PREMA battle as Bearman and Antonelli went side by side. The British driver continued on ahead of his teammate, but Antonelli was within DRS.

Goethe was forced to battle Verschoor whilst Maloney, who had made his way up to third, chased the two Invicta cars. The PREMA fight was still ongoing and Bearman radioed that Martins kept moving under braking and said it was “too dangerous” to try and overtake the Frenchman.

Antonelli attempted to overtake his teammate down the main straight and into Turn 1. But he couldn’t quite make it and found himself still behind Bearman in eighth.

He did, though, manage to get ahead of Bearman on lap 24. However, Bearman was edged onto the gravel and subsequently overtaken by Duerksen.

Miyata received a five-second penalty whilst Cordeel was forced to come into the pits due to suffering a puncture. Meanwhile,Â?Maini, Goethe, Stanek and Koolen still had to make their mandatory stop.

Final few laps

With five laps to go, Goethe came into the pits and put on the super soft tyres. Duerksen then overtook Antonelli and started chasing down Martins.

On a second attempt, Duerksen was forced to use the run off, which allowed Antonelli to overtake Martins and get ahead of them both for P5.

Martins came under pressure from Duerksen, who eventually fought his way past the ART Grand Prix driver to get into P6. With two laps to go, Maini ceded second position as he came into the pits for his mandatory stop. This meant the top three was: Bortoleto, Maloney and Verschoor.

Results

In a spectacular F2 Feature Race around Monza, Bortoleto started last and found himself in P1, taking the victory. With Hadjar not scoring any points and Aron retiring, Bortoleto closed the gap to first in the championship.

With Bortoleto in P1, eight and a half seconds ahead of the pack, the top 10 of the F2 Feature Race at Monza was as follows:

1 – Gabriel Bortoleto

2 – Zane Maloney

3 – Richard Verschoor

4 – Kimi ANtonelli

5 – Joshua Duerksen

6 – Victor Martins

7 – Oliver Bearman

8 – Rafael Villagomez

9 – Ritomo Miyata

10 – Jak Crawford

Headline image: X @Formula2

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