Qatar Formula 2: Bearman wins Sprint; Aron wins Feature

So does young English chap Oli Bearman and his Italian Prema teammate Kimi Antonelli race next season in F1 with Haas and Mercedes, respectively?

Over the weekend, 20-year-old Estonian Paul Aron, who led the championship early in the season and took pole position for the Qatar Feature race, was announced as the reserve driver for the Alpine F1 team for next season. When you are in the powerful and resourceful hands of Flavio Briatore, things can and usually do happen.

And let’s not forget F1’s new discovery, Franco Colapinto.

The 23-lap sprint race on Saturday night saw Bearman start from (top ten reverse grid) pole position, sharing the front row with championship challenger from the Campos team, Isack Hadjar. At the start, Bearman on hard tires led the race from Hadjar, who started on mediums. His fellow Frenchman and Alpine junior Victor Martins made a lightning-quick start and shot into third place.

Hadjar had the pace on mediums and was all over Bearman and grabbed the lead on the second lap of the race. The top five at the end of Lap 2 were Hadjar, 1.4s ahead of Bearman in second, followed by Martins, American DAMS driver Jak Crawford, and Dutchman and F2 veteran Richard Verschoor, reunited with MP Motorsports. Championship leader Bortoleto was eighth, and Toto’s next big hit Antonelli was thirteenth.

On Lap 5 there was a brief yellow, then VSC on the following lap after the Dallara F2 car of German Red Bull junior Oliver Goethe turned into a steam locomotive. Racing action resumed on Lap 7. There was no change in the top five positions, but a spirited battle for third developed between Martins and Crawford. Poleman for the feature race, Aron had moved up to sixth, followed by Bortoleto and F2 debutant, Bosnian Swede and Ferrari junior Beganovic in eighth.

Just a lap later, the race leader, Hadjar, complained on the team radio, “The left front is dead.”

The battle for third raged on between Martins and Crawford, causing a “Trulli” train behind them involving Verschoor, Aron, Bortoleto, and Beganovic. The relentless pursuit of Martins by Crawford turned into argy-bargy, and the American driver on Lap 11 demanded on team radio, “Mate, he ran me off the track. Position back!”

Up front, Hadjar was feeling the heat from Bearman as the Brit was within striking distance of deploying the DRS and retaking the lead. Meanwhile, the stewards had noted Martins forcing Crawford off track. The English driver started to chip away at Hadjar’s lead as both French drivers, he and Martins, started to experience loss of grip on their medium compound tires.

On Lap 16 Bearman got in the DRS zone of Hadjar. A lap later, Crawford finally passed Martins for the third step of the podium. Bearman grabbed the lead back going into Turn 1 of Lap 21. His teammate Antonelli was spun out of the race by Kush Maini. And moments later Hadjar spun while trying to retake the lead.

The appearance of the safety car with only two laps remaining left fans wondering if there will be an Abu Dhabi 2021 restart. Fortunately for Bearman, the answer was no. He took his third win of the season after a very impressive four-race win rookie season last year.

Crawford and Verschoor, the Dutchman who set the fastest lap, were promoted to second and third, respectively. Thanks to Hadjar spinning, he was able to continue and finished fourth. Aron was fifth, and Bortoleto did damage limitation by finishing sixth. His lead reduced to 2.5 points over Hadjar.

Bearman. “Very happy. It was a tough one. I feel like I made a good move at the end of the race, but I lost a position at the start. Different tire compounds, and it was quite tough to stay with Isack. He did a great job, but I’m very happy to take the win, and I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”

Beautiful start from Bortoleto gives him the lead at the start from pole sitter Aron. All cars completed the opening lap without any collateral damage. Top five at the end of Lap 1: Bortoleto, Aron, and Beganovic making up one place in third, Martins and Verschoor.

Bortoleto set the fastest time on lap 2 of the scheduled 32 but still had Aron in the DRS zone. Lap 4: Antonelli passes Maini to move up to eighth, behind his teammate and sprint race winner Bearman.

The top six were on medium compound. Crawford is the first to pit for a change of rubber on Lap 7. Up front, Aron was still within the DRS zone of Bortoleto but unable to attack the Brazilian.

Aron was called in the pits on Lap 8, so was Antonelli. Before he could complete a lap on fresh rubber, he was in the kitty litter.

His steering arm was damaged by an unsafe release of Verschoor. The Dutch driver was later given a 10s penalty. VSC was deployed.

Bortoleto, at the last second, aborted entry into the pit lane and then crossed the pit entry line to get back on the track. This would prove costly. Pit stops in F2 are not allowed under VSC.

The various pit stops promoted Bearman to second and championship challenger Hadjar into the top five. Bortoleto came in for his pit stop on Lap 10 when the safety car was deployed. He came out in seventh, two places ahead of Hadjar. Bearman assumed the lead but still had to stop.

The Safety Car came in at the end of Lap 12, and Bortoleto was handed a five-second penalty for his earlier mistake.

Lap 13 Bortoleto was under intense pressure from Aron as the safety car was deployed again after Mexican Rafael Villagomez was stranded on the track after coming together with Crawford. The top six—Bearman, Dürksen, Maini, Esterson, Browning, and Josep Marti—all had to make their mandatory stop.

Green means go on Lap 17. Dürksen passed Bearman to grab the lead before they got to the start-finish line but sensibly gave up the position before the lap was over. He fell back to fourth, just ahead of Bortoleto, Aron, and Hadjar.

Bortoleto requested the team to swap positions with his teammate Maini. This was achieved when the Indian was called in for his pit stop. This moved the Brazilian into the top three, behind Bearman and Dürksen, both yet to pit. Bortoleto still had a five-second penalty to make up with less than ten minutes to go.

He passed the Paraguayan Dürksen with five minutes to go and set out to build a gap of five seconds over Hadjar.

Aron also slipped by Dürksen to move into second; the Estonian led the championship early in the season and has been very impressive but is still searching for his maiden victory in the series.

With just two minutes to go, Bearman comes in for his mandatory stop, and so does Dürksen; the top three now are Borteleto, Aron, and Hadjar. Borteleto hustles as much as he can to get a five-second gap between him and his championship challenger. It was going to go down to the wire. The gap was 4.2s at the start of the penultimate lap.

It was close but no cigar. Bortoleto took the chequered flag first but had to step on the third step of the podium. His five-second penalty gave Aron his much-deserved maiden win and promoted Hadjar to second. Only the final round remains in Abu Dhabi.

First-time race Formula 2 winner Aron. “Finally, a first win in Formula 2. You don't need to say it, but it's been a long time coming, and I am very happy to finally get it. There was some extra pressure because we've been in this position already three times. I think I could not thank them enough on Friday; the car has been very good from the beginning of the weekend, and I'm very happy to finally leave Sunday with a smile on my face.”

The difference in the championship is a slim half a point. Standings going into the final round at Yas Marina this weekend. Bortoleto 188.5 points, Hadjar 188, Aron 163, Maloney 140, Crawford 124, Antonelli 113. Franco Colapinto, now in F1, is seventh in the championship with 96 points.

The top three in the Formula 2 teams’ championship. Invicta (Drivers Bortoleto/Maini) on top with 262.5 points. Campos (Hadjar/Marti) is second, 231 points. Dutch MP Motorsport (Verschoor/Goethe) is third with 200.5 points.