Richard Verschoor claimed his fourth FIA Formula 2 win and his first of the season after a chaotic Feature Race in Baku which left Gabriel Bortoleto the new championship leader.

The Dutchman converted his pole position into victory after a hectic race which as delayed by half-an-hour after a horrifying start-line crash, with Kush Maini’s stalled Invicta collecting Oliver Goethe’s MP and Pepe Marti’s Campos.

Victor Martins, who harried Verschoor for much of the race, finished second after a late Safety Car would halt his charge. Kimi Antonelli, in contention early-on in the race, would see his chances disappear after an incident with Zane Maloney, but would manage to finish third.

Bortoleto never looked like contending for victory, but did enough to secure a title lead with Isack Hadjar failing to score any points.

Sprint Race winner Joshua Durksen came home in fifth, with Paul Aron sixth and Luke Browning coming seventh in his first F2 Feature. Jak Crawford was eighth, with Dennis Hauger ninth, and Browning’s fellow debutant Christian Mansell in 10th.

HOW THE RACE UNFOLDED

At the start, Verschoor got away cleanly from pole but Maini stalled, leaving cars to dart quickly to avoid the stranded Invicta, but Goethe and Marti were left unsighted, careering into the Indian, firing a confetti of carbon fibre debris into the air. The red flag was immediately brought out, with a nervous wait to find out if all drivers were OK. Thankfully, all climbed out of their cars unscathed, with a shaken Marti taking a moment on the side of the track to gather his thoughts.

A delay of around half-an-hour would follow, with marshals clearing the carnage. The race would now be up against the clock in terms of the whole time, with around another 30 minutes remaining. Race control opted to order a rolling start procedure for the restart, with the laps reduced so the event would in effect become another sprint-style.

The rolling start would leave Verschoor in a precarious state of vulnerability, and would choose to bunch the pack up and wait until just before the line to put his foot down, catching-out Antonelli and holding his lead.

Martins was now swarming all over Antonelli’s Prema, with Browning taking Hauger for 11th, but the Norwegian immediately taking back the place, with Aron just ahead in 10th place. The Williams Academy man, in his first F2 race, was not looking intimidated, fighting Hauger until part of his front wing was lost after running out of room and tagging the wall.

At the start of lap two, Martins dived down the inside of Antonelli at T1 for second, with Verschoor opening-up a gap of eight tenths. Further back, Mansell was impressing in his first F2 Feature, sitting in seventh ahead of fellow debutant Mini.

With DRS now enabled, Martins set about closing the gap to Verschoor, and was now within range, closing the gap in the first sector, but the Trident would open up a gap in the second, but Martins was much faster in the final sector, giving him a slingshot into T1. Ducking out of the draught, the the Frenchman repeated his move on Antonelli, taking the lead.

Antonelli set the fastest lap so far, with Maloney also keeping tabs in fourth, with Bortoleto just behind. Mansell took Durken for sixth, as Browning, Crawford, Durksen all choosing to pit. Martins would follow a lap later with Verschoor and Antonelli also coming in, giving Maloney the lead. Verschoor would get the jump, with Martins the biggest loser, coming out behind Antonelli, effectively in third.

Maloney and Bortoleto would come in next, with Mini now taking a temporary lead. Maloney would get out ahead of Antonelli, but on cold tyres, he would be vulnerable to the Italian’s stern challenge, and got into T3, Maloney locked-up, leaving Antonelli with little space to turn into, and the two made contact. Maloney would be stranded half-way up the escape road, now in last, with Antonelli now in fifth.

Fittipaldi eventually pitted from his lead on lap 11, with Hadjar now finding himself at the front, with Verschoor in a net lead in second place, with Martins and Antonelli behind him. Hadjar would now pit with just nine minutes left, rejoining in 14th. Durksen, Aron and Browning would be benefit, the pair now fifth, sixth and seventh.

Verschoor, unsighted by TV cameras, appeared to have tagged the wall at some stage, the Trident seeming misaligned, but with five minutes remaining, he would have a 1.2 second lead from Martins.

Mini would set the fastest lap to date as Verschoor continued to keep his buffer, desperately needed to keep Martins out of his DRS range. Antonelli was now falling back from the front two, but new team-mate Mini was in the wall at T15, bringing out yellow flags at the second and third sectors, with the Safety Car deployed soon after. With only one-and-a-half minutes left, Verschoor’s victory was now secure.

Under the crawling pace of the Safety Car, Verschoor crossed the line to take his first win of the season, with Martins and Antonelli following close behind. Bortoleto coming home in fourth ensured he would now be leading the championship, taking it into Lusail in December.

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Trident’s Richard Verschoor took pole position for the FIA Formula 2 Feature Race on Sunday after a frantic last lap qualifying battle after the session was halted by a bizarre red flag incident.

The Dutchman nabbed top spot with a time of 1:54.857 from Kimi Antonelli, who looked to be heading for P1.

Victor Martins will start in third, with Zane Maloney fourth, Kush Maini fifth and Gabriel Bortoleto sixth. Joshua Durksen qualified in seventh, with Jak Crawford ninth. Eighth and tenth will be occupied by debutants Gabriele Mini and Christian Mansell, with fellow first-timer Luke Browning also impressing in 11th.

This means Mansell will line-up for the Sprint Race, his first taste of racing action in the competition, in first.

Isack Hadjar set the early pace with a 1:57.423, but was quickly displaced by 10 others as the rubber began to be laid down and times tumbling. Verschoor would go top as the yellow flags briefly went out with Dennis Hauger spinning off in the second sector.

Drivers began to improve their times, with Verschoor bettering his time with a 1:55.655, with Martins not far behind, the Frenchman’s ART necessitating a repair job after suffering a front brake fire before the start of qualifying. Antonelli was sitting in third just under half-a-second adrift.

With drivers pitting ready for a second run, the business end of the session was curtailed by the red flag being brought out after an unusual incident, with Campos drivers of Pepe Marti and Hadjar locking-up and careering off into the barrier at the run-off at T1. The session was delayed for just under ten minutes whilst the barrier received necessary repair. Hadjar was placed under investigation for causing a red flag.

The session resumed with just over four laps remaining, giving drivers enough time for one more flying lap, leaving them without enough time to get their fresh tyres up to an optimum temperature.

Antonelli was then blistering, taking three tenths out of the fastest first sector, going six tenths quicker in the second. Maini went quickest, then Maloney, with Antonelli then going predictably fastest, but then Verschoor, quickest for much of the half-hour, took it off of him at the last by one one hundredth of a second, the change in driver order happening within a matter of seconds.

The session leaves title leader Hadjar in danger with Bortoleto and Maloney looking in better shape for the races ahead.

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Both Trident’s race winner Richard Verschoor and team-mate Roman Stanek have been disqualified from Saudi Arabia’s Formula 2 Sprint race after a technical breach.

F2 issued a report which read that: “The Trident #22 and #23 cars were found to have had an incorrect throttle pedal progressivity map installed prior to the race which was not in compliance with Article 8.2.6 of the Technical Regulations.”

As a result, Verschoor has been stripped of his victory, promoting MP Motorsport’s Dennis Hauger to first place and Hitech’s Paul Aron to second.

Van Amersfoort Racing’s Enzo Fittipaldi can now add a podium result to his records after being promoted to third, with Zane Maloney’s fine drive from 15th on the grid now resulting in a fourth-place finish.

DAMS Jak Crawford, Prema’s Andrea Antonelli, Campos Racing’s Josep Maria Martí and Invicta’s Kush Maini complete the points-paying positions to eighth.

Stanek loses 10th spot and as a result Maini’s Invicta teammate and McLaren Development Driver Gabriel Bortoleto completes the new top-10.

The amended result means that Maloney now sits with 41 points at the top of the Drivers’ standings, with Aron on 28 points in second.

Martí lies third with 26 points and new race winner Hauger sits fourth in the standings with 16 points.

Verschoor and Stanek remain with zero points on the board.

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Trident’s Richard Verschoor converted a front row start into a race victory in the Formula 2 Sprint Race in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

MP Motorsort’s Dennis Hauger finished 0.7s shy in second, with Hitech rookie Paul Aron finishing third.

There was one absent figure in the form of feature race pole-winner Oliver Bearman, with the Prema river stepping up to the Ferrari Formula 1 garage in place of Carlos Sainz, who is recovering from an appendicitis operation.

As a result, Aron inherited the reverse grid Sprint pole, with Verschoor, Isack Hadjar, Hauger and Andrea Kimi Antonelli completing the top five spots on the grid.

Enzo Fittipaldi started sixth, Victor Martins seventh, Jak Crawford eighth, Kush Maini ninth and Josep Maria Marti lined up at the end of the fifth row.

Championship leader and double Bahrain race winner Zane Maloney resigned to a lowly 15th place grid slot.

Initially slated to get underway at 18:10 local time, formation lap proceedings were slightly delayed to the tune of 10 minutes.

At lights out and Aron retained the lead into Turn 1, meanwhile Antonelli had a nightmare start from fifth, dropping down the order and getting embroiled in a mid pack melee, tagging the right rear of Crawford’s DAMS car and losing his front wing endplate.

Art Grand Prix’s Victor Martins also had trouble out of the first sequence of corners, sustaining damage as he was squeezed hard into the outside wall out the exit of Turn 2 and dropping out of the race

The Safety Car was then deployed before the end of the first lap with Williams Academy Drivers Zak O’Sullivan (ART GP) and Franco Colapinto (MP Motorsport) stalling at the race start, lucky not to be collected from those starting behind.

Aron led from Verschoor, Hadjar, Hauger and Maini as the field toured behind the Safety Car.

At the end of the fourth lap of 20 it was time for green flag racing with the Safety Car due to come back into the pits.

Aron pulled the pin on the restart ahead of the final corner and led the field at the start of Lap 5.

Maini attempted a pass on Hauger to take fourth toward the end of Lap 5 but to no avail, meanwhile Maloney successfully ascended into eighth at the start of Lap 6.

The pack at the front were tightly packed together with Aron snaking his way down the start/finish straight to start Lap 7 with Verschoor, Hadjar and Hauger all within two seconds of the race leader.

Keeping tabs on Aron was Verschoor and the Trident driver lunged down the inside of Turn 1 to take the lead on Lap 8 as Enzo Fittipaldi poached fifth and fastest lap in equal measure.

Hauger too a leaf out of Verschoor’s book as he picked of Hadjar for third into Turn 1 on Lap 10.

The Safety Car was then deployed for the second time after Amaury Cordeel Hitech spun and stopped on track at Turn 2 with the field carried through the pit-lane to complete half race. distance

As Lap 11 drew to a close the Safety Car returned to pitlan and it was Verschoor’s turn to lead the field back to green.

The Trident driver did so comfortably and maintained the lead as Maloney dove down the inside of Maini at Turn 1 to take sixth.

As the field rounded the circuit to start Lap 14, Fittipaldi vaulted Hadjar to take fourth and Crawford passed Maini for seventh, making his second overtake in as many laps.

Maloney tried a move on Hadjar around the outside of Turn 1 on Lap 15 but had to escape off road, passing the Red Bull Junior off track before giving the positon back, making him vulnerable to a hard charging Crawford who poached sixth off of the championship leader in the Tunr 22/23 sequence.

But Maloney reclaimed the position at the Start of Lap 16, with Antonelli up into the top 10 after passing Marti.

Out front with five laps remaining, Verschoor enjoyed 1.6s lead over Aron as debris littered the track in Sector 3 after Juan Manuel Correa clipped the wall, causing he American to retire and bringing out the yellow flag, then the Virtual Safety Car on Lap 17 to swiftly remove the stranded carbon.

Green flag conditions were reinstated with just over three laps remaining as Verschoor maintained his slight advantage and Aron had Hauger for close company.

Hauger used DRS to take second position at the start of Lap 18, subsequently setting the fastest lap but with Aron still on his tail.

Maloney’s charge from 15th continued at the start of the penultimate lap as he used Turn 1 again to make a move, this time on Hadjar to take fifth.

Hadjar’s race then went south as he slowed with an apparent technical problem, dropping out of contention and the points.

Verschoor held on out front to take a approximate one second winning margin over MP Motorsport’s Hauger in second, with Sprint polesitter Aron completing the podium and taking bonus point for fastest lap.

Fittipaldi took fourth for Van Amersoort Racing with Maloney rounding out the top five.

Crawford came home in sixth with Prema rookie Antonelli and Campos Racing’s Marti completing the top eight and the points paying positions.

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Richard Verschoor took a commanding victory at the Red Bull Ring, securing his second race win of the 2022 Formula 2 season.

The race started in mixed conditions, with several drivers opting to start the race on slick tyres despite the track being somewhat saturated.

However, it proved to be the right decision as not long after the start, the drivers on the wet drivers lost all grip. Most made their pit stop after lap six, which was the earliest they could complete the mandatory stop.

Verschoor flew to the lead of the race while several others on wet tyres lost their speed, and after sailing to the head of the pack, the Dutchman was unchallenged.

Roberto Merhi, who is subbing for Ralph Boschung this weekend, crossed the line in second place after starting toward the back of the field.

However, Merhi was handed a five-second time penalty for a track limit violation, and dropped to fifth place, with Jehan Daruvala and Logan Sargeant inheriting second and third respectively.

Enzo Fittipaldi crossed the line in fourth, securing the position ahead of the penalised Merhi.

Liam Lawson came home in sixth place, but was demoted well back in the order after he too was deemed guilty of violating track limits during the race.

Instead, the position went to reigning Formula 3 champion Dennis Hauger, who headed Jake Hughes and Olli Caldwell.

Ayumu Iwasa was ninth despite also being handed a five-second time penalty, while Juri Vips rounded out the top 10 for Hitech Grand Prix.

Formula 2 will return in two weeks’ time for the ninth round of the season at Le Castellet, France.

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The grid for this weekend’s opening round of the Formula 2 championship has been set after confirmation that Richard Verschoor will compete for MP Motorsport.

MP Motorsport was the only team not to confirm its line-up prior to pre-season testing in Bahrain earlier this month.

Verschoor tested the F2/18 alongside Lirim Zendeli and on Tuesday the team duly announced that he will race the car in Bahrain this weekend.

Verschoor, formerly part of Red Bull’s young driver scheme, has spent the bulk of his junior single-seater career with the Dutch outfit.

Verschoor claimed Formula 4 crowns in 2016 and went on to triumph at the prestigious Macau Grand Prix in 2019.

That remains his only victory at Formula 3 level, having taken one podium across the past two years in the FIA-run championship, finishing ninth in last season’s standings.

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