Marti wins sprint race as Bortoleto extends championship advantage

Pepe Marti became the 18th different winner in the 2024 Formula 2 season in a race that was decided by a phenomenal start that promoted him from fourth to first by Turn 1 of the 23-lap race.

The Campos driver was followed home by championship leader Gabriel Bortoleto, who had started behind rivals Isack Hadjar and Paul Aron on the grid but made an equally impressive start to usurp his contenders in the opening stages.

With 26 points remaining on offer on Sunday, Bortoleto now holds a five-and-a-half point lead over Hadjar – who finished sixth.

With Paul Aron finishing third, the Estonian is now 27.5 points back on the leader, making it a two-horse race for the championship.

In a chaotic opening lap that saw Marti launch to the front, Maini flew through the pack from ninth to second as Bortoleto followed his Invicta team-mate up to fifth. This fast start for Maini included contact with Hadjar into Turn 1, as he entered the corner with his left front fully locked and slid into the front wing endplate of the Campos.

Feature race pole sitter Victor Martins saw his day end in those opening exchanges after being struck by Ritomo Miyata’s Rodin at Turn 6 – the Japanese driver receiving a 10s penalty for his actions.

After the eventful lap one, the race began to settle into a rhythm, although Bortoleto was aiding his title bid with further gains on Joshua Durksen and Cordeel putting him in third and directly behind Maini.

On lap six, Bortoleto completed a textbook DRS move on his team-mate for second while Aron and Hadjar were lapping in sixth and ninth.

With Maini dropping to the chasing pack he was powerless to prevent Hitech drivers Cordeel and Aron from powering by, with Durksen finding a way past around the outside of Turn 9 on lap eight. Oliver Bearman, Dino Beganovic and Hadjar followed past one lap later, shuffling Maini out of the points.

Bearman had been the biggest gainer on lap one, climbing seven places, but as the medium Pirelli rubber struggled to manage the 24-lap distance, the Prema driver was among an ever-growing number of drivers seeing times deleted for track limits breaches. With a handful of laps remaining, he was hit with a 5s penalty for the consistent violations.

Team orders are not commonplace in F2 and this was evident as Cordeel put up a stout defence on team-mate Aron. But this was resolved on lap 17 when a lockup opened the door and allowed championship challenger Aron through.

A further lockup for Cordeel while defending into Turn 6 resulted in contact with Durksen. While Hadjar gained a place on Durksen’s stricken AIX, he gained another point when Cordeel was hit with a 10s penalty – promoting Hadjar to sixth.

Aware that his advantage was shrinking, Bortoleto attempted to close the margin to leader Marti. But he was unable to make significant gains and crossed the line 2.2s behind in second.

1	P. Martí Campos Racing	21		23
2	G. Bortoleto Invicta Racing	10		23		2.200
3	P. Aron Hitech Pulse-Eight	17		23		11.700
4	D. Beganovic DAMS Lucas Oil	8		23		4.900
5	O. Bearman Prema Powerteam	3		23		0.700
6	I. Hadjar Campos Racing	20		23		3.400
7	L. Browning ART Grand Prix	2		23		3.800
8	R. Verschoor MP Motorsport	11		23		1.100
9	J. Crawford DAMS Lucas Oil	7		23		1.900
10	O. Goethe MP Motorsport	12		23		1.900
11	L. Fornaroli Rodin Motorsport	5		23		1.700
12	R. Miyata Rodin Motorsport	6		23		0.400
13	R. Villagomez Van Amersfoort Racing	15		23		1.000
14	A. Cordeel Hitech Pulse-Eight	16		23		1.500
15	M. Esterson Trident	22		23		4.500
16	J. Bennett Van Amersfoort Racing	14		23		2.700
17	C. Mansell Trident	23		23		1.900
18	K. Maini Invicta Racing	9		23		7.200
19	C. Shields PHM AIX Racing	25		23		8.000
20	V. Martins ART Grand Prix	1		22				1
dnf	J. Duerksen PHM AIX Racing	24		18				1		Retirement