Formula 2 had its first sprint race round Lusail International Circuit with the championship getting tighter.
With just two rounds left in the Formula 2 season, the championship battle was getting closer between Isack Hadjar and Gabriel Bortoleto with 4.5 points between them.
Ollie Bearman lined up in P1 for the sprint race with Isack Hadjar beside him. Hadjar is starting the feature race ninth, so he was eager to make the most of the sprint. Bortoleto was starting in eighth so his focus was climbing through the grid.
Race Start
Pepe Martí was the only driver who didn’t make it to the starting grid, with an issue causing him to retire his car before the race started.
The other 21 drivers lined up on the grid raring to go. The lights went out and Oliver Bearman’s PREMA led the grid into Turn 1. Isack Hadjar slotted himself behind Bearman but wasn’t close enough to make a move.
Goethe was noted for his race start as he fell back behind Victor Martins who moved from seventh into third. Gabriel Bortoleto lost a place to Paul Aron at the start. Villagomez had a spin in the opening corners, luckily he regained control and kept his car going.
Isack Hadjar was nearing the back of Ollie Bearman down the main straight, he dove down the inside but still wasn’t close enough to the Brit to make the move stick. The gap was just 0.2 from Bearman to Hadjar on Lap 2, and Hadjar moved to the inside on turn 10 and took the lead.
Hadjar was on the softer compound of tyre, while Bearman’s would last longer so the fight was not over between the front runners. Behind the front two, there was a 2.2-second gap to Victor Martins in the ART behind in third.
Lap 4, Isack Hadjar had already put a 3.4-second gap between his Campos and Ollie Bearman’s PREMA. Gabriel Bortoleto had gotten ahead of Beganovic and Miyata and then set his sights on Goethe moving up to seventh.
Oliver Goethe then had his race go from bad to worse with plumes of smoke coming from his Red Bull liveried MP Motorsport. A yellow flag was waved as Goethe slowed and moved off the racing line. On lap 6, a Virtual Safety Car was called.
LAP 6 / 23
Oliver Goethe is out of the race ❌
? Virtual Safety Car #F2 #QatarGP pic.twitter.com/c6NBTmKXKl
— Formula 2 (@Formula2) November 30, 2024
Race restart
On lap 7, the VSC ended with Jak Crawford locking up on the restart, almost going into the back of Victor Martins. Crawford kept control of his DAMS car and stayed close to the back of Martins, fighting for P3.
Martins found his medium tyres falling apart on just lap 8. Jak Crawford, Richard Verschoor, Paul Aron and Gabriel Bortoleto were all stuck behind the ART.
Bortoleto in seventh was just 0.2 away from Paul Aron in sixth. He made a lunge to the inside but was too far back to make it stick.
On lap 10, Crawford made another lunge behind Victor Martins, but he locked up his front left tyre and remained in fourth behind the Frenchman. The two went side by side into Turn 7, Martins pushing Crawford off the track and maintaining their positions.
LAP 10 / 23
Crawford tries to go around the outside of Martins but has the door shut on him ?
"He ran me off the track! Position back!" ?
This battle for P3 is getting spicy! ?️#F2 #QatarGP pic.twitter.com/ZrVN2yC2f6
— Formula 2 (@Formula2) November 30, 2024
At the front, Hadjar had begun to complain about his front tyres and the 3.4-second gap was down to just 1.9 seconds as Ollie Bearman began making inroads.
Hadjar and Martins were the only two drivers at the front of the field on the medium compound and both were struggling on Lap 12 of the 23-lap race.
10 laps to go
With 10 laps to go in the sprint race, Bearman closed the gap to Hadjar to 1.1 seconds. Lapping faster than the Red Bull junior but still not within the DRS. On lap 15, he finally broke the one-second distance, gaining DRS to Hadjar ahead.
Victor Martins in third was still holding on to third, despite having four cars with DRS behind him. The incident between Martins and Crawford was noted by the stewards with a potential penalty looming.
Jak Crawford finally pulled off the move around the outside of Victor Martins moving up into third. Crawford immediately managed to get a second between him and the cars behind.
Bearman managed to get the gap between him and Hadjar down to 0.5 seconds as they drove down the main straight. Further down the grid, Richard Verschoor also got ahead of Victor Martins as Gabriel Bortoleto ran wide and into the gravel.
Bortoleto recovered quickly and was back on the hunt for Paul Aron in fifth. A yellow flag was waved as Beganovic dropped down the order to 13th after having contact with Miyata.
Final 3 laps
In the closing laps, Ollie Bearman still found himself behind the Campos of Isack Hadjar, the gap down to just 0.3 seconds. 3 laps left and Bearman dove down the inside into Turn 1 and he managed to take the lead from the Campos driver.
After losing the race lead Hadjar had a massive spin pushing him down to fourth in a vital moment in the championship.
Further down the grid, there was a spin between Kimi Antonelli and Kush Maini. Both were seemingly out of the race. A safety car was brought out due to the PREMA and Invicta waiting at the side of the track.
LAP 21 / 23
Kush Maini and Kimi Antonelli come together at turn 1
? SAFETY CAR ?#F2 #QatarGP pic.twitter.com/onVtTnVS63
— Formula 2 (@Formula2) November 30, 2024
Lap 22, the cars followed behind the safety car, the championship contenders now down in fourth for Hadjar and sixth for Bortoleto.
On lap 23, the safety car was still out and the race finished under those conditions. Ollie Bearman took his third race win of the season. Hadjar’s late spin leaves him still second in the standings only closing the championship gap by two points.
That winning feeling! ?
It's a third victory of the season for Ollie Bearman ?#F2 #QatarGP pic.twitter.com/230gi7qlOF
— Formula 2 (@Formula2) November 30, 2024
Featured Image Credit: James Sutton – Formula 1/Formula Motorsport Limited via Getty Images