Prema’s Andrea Kimi Antonelli took a lights-to-flag victory in a heavily-disrupted Formula 2 sprint race at Silverstone, while chief title rivals Paul Aron and Isack Hadjar both retired.
The race commenced with a rolling start in wet conditions which soon worsened, with Antonelli making used of reversed-grid pole to pull clear immediately while his team-mate Ollie Bearman damaged a front-wing endplate while battling Gabriel Bortoleto and slipped back three places to ninth.
Rodin Motorsport”s Zane Maloney maintained second ahead of Invicta Racing duo Kush Maini and Bortoleto, the latter sweeping past DAMS’ Jak Crawford for fourth on the opening lap.
Following an early virtual safety car period to recover debris from the circuit, Hitech GP’s points leader Paul Aron pounced to snatch 10th from Campos Racing title rival Isack Hadjar who then slipped back to 14th.
With the rain intensifying, officials deployed the safety car before bringing out the red flags. The race resumed following a short delay, with Antonelli pulling clear once more, but soon there was more drama which resulted in the safety car returning to track.
Having lost out to ART Grand Prix’s Zak O’Sullivan, Aron was slow exiting from the Loop and was rear-ended by Campos driver Pepe Marti. Both drivers retired on the spot with damage, and Hadjar’s race also came to an end later in the lap after sliding into the gravel.
The race resumed on lap 13, with Antonelli again building a gap at the front, while Bearman spun moments aftter passing MP Motorsport’s Dennis Hauger for eighth. Zak O’Sullivan drove around the outside of MP Motorsport’s Franco Colapinto at Copse before challenging his team-mate Victor Martins for sixth, but the ART Grand Prix duo retired after colliding at the Loop.
Another VSC followed, with Bearman having also pulled off the circuit with an issue. The green flags were waved with three laps to go, and Antonelli romped clear to finish 8.7 seconds clear of Maloney and become the 13th different winner of the season.
A thrilling battle ensued for third on the final lap, with Bortoleto snatching the final podium spot from his team-mate Maini at the chequered flag. Colapinto passed Crawford for fifth, with his team-mate Hauger finishing seventh. Trident’s Roman Stanek climbed from 22nd on the grid to score the final point in eighth ahead of AIX Racing’s Taylor Barnard and Rodin’s Ritomo Miyata.
Featured image credit: Formula Motorsport Ltd
