Campos Racing’s Isack Hadjar bounced back from a slow start to score his third Formula 2 feature victory of the season at Silverstone
Jak Crawford finished first on the road ahead of Hadjar and Rodin Motorsport’s Zane Maloney, but a five-second penalty for an unsafe release in front of the latter during his pitstop demoted the DAMS driver to third.
Hadjar lined up from pole but slipped to third at the start behind ART Grand Prix’s Victor Martins and Prema’s Ollie Bearman who made a lightning getaway from fifth.
Bearman’s team-mate Andrea Kimi Antonelli retired on the opening lap after been tapped into a spin by Invicta Racing’s Kush Maini at Village, triggering a brief safety car period. The race resumed on lap three, but it wasn’t long until the safety car returned to track.
AIX Racing’s Joshua Duerksen was squeezed onto the grass by Hitech GP’s points leader Paul Aron at Woodcote as the pair tussled over 11th place, with Duerksen spinning into his rival before retiring in the gravel. After limping back to the pits with a puncture, Aron was a further hampered by a 10s penalty after being deemed at fault for the incident.
Hadjar passed Bearman for second shortly after the restart before the duo made their mandatory stops, with the latter delayed by a slow tyre change. Martins pitted from the lead on the next lap and rejoined in front of Hadjar. Crawford moved into a net third after sneaking ahead of Maloney leaving his pit box, but he was soon handed a penalty for an unsafe release.
Martins resisted a challenge into Stowe from Hadjar, who ran off the road and slipped back for a few laps. Hadjar then closed back in before drawing alongside into Vale, and the pair continued to go side-by-side until Martins went off at Abbey and lost two places.
Crawford capatilised on the squabble to grab the net lead from Hadjar on the run to Brooklands. He remained ahead until the finish, taking the overall lead with two laps remaining once Aron made his mandatory stop, but could not build a big enough gap to overcome his penalty. Hadjar inherited the win ahead of Maloney to take the championship lead, while chief rival Aron finished out of the points in 12th.
MP Motorsport’s Franco Colapinto led for a few laps on an alternate strategy, and after pitting in the closing stages used his fresh tyres to pass Martins for fourth.
Invicta’s Gabriel Bortoleto was sixth ahead of Bearman and Van Amersfoort Racing’s Enzo Fittipaldi. MP’s Dennis Hauger was ninth while Campos driver Pepe Marti who climbed from 19th on the grid to 10th.
Featured image credit: Formula Motorsport Ltd
