Formula 2 Championship leader Gabriel Bortoleto is half a point ahead of Isack Hadjar heading into this weekend’s title decider in Abu Dhabi as the duo prepare for a title showdown.
Bortoleto led the closing laps of the Feature race in Qatar, but a five-second timed penalty for crossing the line at the pit entry bumped him down to third, behind his title rival Hadjar.
Paul Aron inherited the win, giving him a glimmer of hope in the championship fight, but the battle remains mostly between Formula 1-bound Bortoleto and Hadjar.
Bortoleto: ‘I’m ready to have this fight’
Hadjar has four wins this season against Bortoleto’s two victories – the Campos Racing driver won the Feature race at Melbourne, Imola, Silverstone and Spa.
After the Frenchman’s latest victory in Belgium, he held a 36-point lead over his Brazillian rival, but he failed to score in Monza or Baku as Bortoleto closed the gap down and took the championship lead heading into Qatar.
The crucial moment was the Brazilian racing driver’s last to first drive at the Italian Grand Prix in the Feature race.
After an impressive season, Bortoleto is set to race in F1 next year with Sauber, but the 20-year-old insisted the championship means just as much to him as Hadjar, despite having his future in F1 secured.
“I mean, I’m ready to fight as hard as I need to, there is no limit,” he told media including Motorsport Week.
“Whatever game he wants to play, I’m ready to do that.
“I don’t care if I had or not my seat, my approach would have been the same to be honest.
“It doesn’t change the fact that I’m already signed in F1, that I’m going to race less aggressive or more aggressive or whatever.
“I’m ready to have this fight, It’s going to be fun and enjoyable for sure this weekend.
“It has been a long season so far, we have been playing fair to each other and I believe really that it’s going to be the same this last round.”
Hadjar reflects on dealing with pressure of F2 championship
The Red Bull junior’s 2024 F2 campaign started off poorly after two DNFs in the opening two rounds of the season.
“I remember after Jeddah when I had like five points on the board and Zane (Maloney) had probably 60 and I knew this season was my last shot for Formula 1,” he said.
“I had this pressure of having to deliver and clearly, after round two it was how am I even going to start being on the podium and scoring points when I literally had all of the pace in the world.
“But these failures and technical issues I had were not allowing me to unlock the podiums and momentum.
“I always kept my head down and from Melbourne, I had a really strong run, never give up, basically.
Fast forward to Qatar, the 20-year-old produces a composed display to take vital points off his championship contender, as Hadjar explained his thoughts on the performance.
“Sunday was critical for me somehow to finish ahead of him.
“I started on the wrong foot and saw my title chances fall a bit apart after the start of the race but luckily, our strategy really paid off.
“We bet on that safety car and he got the penalty as well, It was a tense moment that we dealt with perfectly.”
Hadjar isn’t feeling the heat though, despite trailing his rival by a mere half a point, as he insisted he is going to focus on enjoying the final race of the year.
“I think it’s the weekend I’m going to enjoy the most, I feel like I’ve done all of the hard work already.
“Now, I know the process and how it works, so I’m not going to change anything.
“I really feel much less pressure than at the start of the season.
“I’m just going to enjoy myself and I really want to bring the title to Campos, so I think it’ll be the most enjoyable weekend so far.”
Bortoleto ready to make ‘history’ in final F2 round
The Invicta Racing driver also had a difficult start to the year with three retirements in a row, starting with a DNF in Jeddah’s Feature race before a double retirement in Melbourne.
Speaking about his opening performances in the campaign, he added: “Yeah, I think the beginning of the season was very tough for me.
“I had two qualifiers that I didn’t perform as I should, there was Jeddah and Melbourne.
“I did some mistakes, I also had a crash at the beginning of the year with Hadjar in Melbourne.
“Zero points for two weekends in a row, basically, that was very bad and that was a difficult moment in the season, especially when you know you have a good car able to fight for a championship.
“You never want to let points escape, you want to maximise everything, to go over that moment was very tough but we did it.
“I went over it and became a better driver after that, 100%”.
After Melbourne’s DNF, Bortoleto only finished outside of the points twice in 20 races, showcasing real consistency in his bid for the F2 title.
“Honestly, my consistency helped me to get to the point where I am in the championship now fighting for the title, especially after a tough beginning of the season, to get to where we are now in terms of points and everything wasn’t easy,” he said.
“We had a lot of races in a row that we scored points and even when they had tough weekends, we still maximized everything.
“I think it’s going to be tough for me and Isack, to race knowing that we need to basically beat each other.
“But it’s going to be very cool and we’re going to make history in F2.
READ MORE: Paul Aron inherits Qatar F2 Feature win as penalty denies Gabriel Bortoleto
