Oliver Bearman finally has a FIA F2 win in 2024 after Austria sprint win, as Nikola Tsolov likewise passes pole-sitter to win in F3.
F2:
It was a superb start for Bearman as he took the lead from pole-sitter Kush Maini on the run up to Turn 1. The Invicta Racing driver then lost another place to Martí later in the lap. By end of Lap 3, Bearman was now over two seconds clear of Martí. The Spaniard was also out of DRS range of Maini in third, who was coming under attack from Taylor Barnard, Paul Aron, and his teammate Gabriel Bortoleto.
At the start of Lap 6, the gaps were closing, as Martí had moved to within a second and a half of Bearman, while Maini was now within DRS range of the Campos rookie. Barnard though was beginning to lose touch with Maini in the battle for P3, and the AIX Racing driver then dropped down to fifth after Aron dived down his inside at Turn 3.
Back at the front, Bearman’s margin had gone with Martí now within DRS range of the Briton, with Maini just behind as they started Lap 9. Barnard’s struggles continued as Bortoleto overtook him for fifth at Turn 2 and he lost another position to MP Motorsport’s Franco Colapinto a couple of laps later.
At the halfway stage of the race, Joshua Duerksen made his way past his AIX Racing teammate Barnard after diving down his inside on the entry to Turn 3. Maini was beginning to struggle on Lap 20 and fell out of DRS range of Martí up ahead. The Invicta driver then lost his place on the podium to Aron at the exit of Turn 3 on the next lap, with teammate Bortoleto following the Estonian through at the next corner.
But this allowed Bearman and Martí to escape on the road with Aron and Bortoleto now over a second away from the top two fighting for the final spot on the podium. The battles had also started further back as Duerksen lost P7 to Hauger on Lap 24. By end of Lap 26, Bearman had extended his lead to over one second to Martí, while Bortoleto was all over the back of Aron. Just behind them, Maini lost out to the two MP drivers Colapinto and Hauger and dropped to seventh.
Onto the final lap, and Bearman extended his lead to nearly two seconds before crossing the line to take victory ahead of Martí, while Aron held off Bortoleto to take his seventh podium of the year. Hauger emerged ahead of his teammate Colapinto to take sixth while the Argentine driver spun on the exit of Turn 3. This promoted Crawford to sixth with Maini in seventh as Duerksen took the final point in P8.
Result: https://x.com/MsportXtra/status/1807024163904766049
F3:
Pole sitter Stenshorne tried to cover off Mansell from lights out, but the Australian was able to get alongside him into Turn 1 to take the lead. The Hitech driver tried a re-pass into Turn 3 but was left running off the track, giving Tsolov momentum to take second position into Turn 4, making it an ART one-two.
Dino Beganovic was a spinner at Turn 1, falling from inside the top 10 down to 25th. Kacper Sztuka was an early retirement and was stranded on circuit, requiring the Safety Car to neutralise things. Racing resumed on Lap 5, and Mansell was able to retain the advantage in front. Luke Browning was on the move after his grid penalty left him starting from 15th, going three-wide into Turn 4 to pass Nikita Bedrin and Arvid Lindblad to move into 11th position.
With DRS, Tsolov was able to get alongside teammate Mansell into Turn 4 and rounded the Australian on the outside to take the lead on Lap 7. Browning moved himself into the points-paying positions at the expense of Tim Tramnitz, moving down the inside at Turn 3 on Lap 10 to secure 10th from the MP Motorsport driver.
Onto Lap 12 and Fornaroli put a brave move on Bedrin to move up to 14th, passing the AIX Racing driver around the outside of Turn 6. Having shadowed his teammate after being passed, Mansell re-took the lead of the race from Tsolov at Turn 3 on Lap 15, but the Bulgarian was immediately back on the attack to take first back at Turn 4.
Lap 16 was a busy one as Montoya looked to make a move on Alex Dunne at Turn 1, but the MP driver resisted the pressure to hold onto the position. Up ahead, Mansell got a move at Turn 4 to stick on Tsolov, able to take the lead from his ART teammate and remain ahead. Gabriele Minì got brave and rounded Oliver Goethe on the outside at Turn 6 to secure sixth position.
Contact with Trident’s Sami Meguetounif at the end of the lap for Lindblad left the PREMA Racing rookie with a puncture and dropped him out of the points fight. Onto Lap 17 and the fight for the lead continued, with Tsolov getting back through on Mansell at Turn 4, a slow corner exit for the Australian allowed Stenshorne a run through Turn 5, putting the Norwegian up to second.
The fight for the top five places continued just behind the trio but after a heated battle Montoya made contact with Dunne and was left spinning at Turn 4. The Colombian driver was out of his car and OK, but the crash required another Safety Car. The Safety Car was withdrawn with one lap to go, setting up a final lap sprint to the finish. Tsolov got the restart he needed to put some distance between himself and Stenshorne, and the Bulgarian earned his second Sprint Race victory of the year ahead of the Hitech driver.
Mansell rounded out the podium in third to ensure two ARTs made the rostrum, while Dunne ended fourth ahead of van Hoepen in P5. Minì took sixth ahead of Goethe, Tramnitz, Van Amersfoort Racing’s Noel León and Meguetounif, with the Frenchman rounding out the points in P10.
Result: https://x.com/MsportXtra/status/1806963047136669785
[Note: The story is as per press release]