Isack Hadjar took the feature FIA F2 race win in Australia to bounce back post sprint penalty, as Dino Beganovic took the F3 victory.
F2:
Dennis Hauger got the perfect start to lead Andrea Kimi Antonelli into Turn 1. Contact further back in the pack between Zak O’Sullivan and Roman Stanek left the Sprint winner spinning and put him last in the order. The ART Grand Prix driver was handed a 10-second time penalty for the incident. Further around the first lap, Antonelli made a dive to the inside of the polesitter to secure P1 at Turn 11, but the MP driver responded on the following tour to retake the lead at Turn 9 with DRS.
A wide moment for Maloney out of Turn 12 allowed Kush Maini all the momentum he needed to take third and the Invicta Racing driver was up to second on Lap 6 after taking Antonelli before Turn 9 the following lap. There was a brief virtual Safety Car on Lap 7 to recover Joshua Duerksen’s PHM AIX Racing car following contact with O’Sullivan at Turn 13.
Racing resumed and Maini was on the move with his medium tyres in better shape than those on supersofts. He took the lead from Hauger on Lap 9 with DRS before the Norwegian led Antonelli and the first of the leaders in for mandatory stops, filtering back out just outside of the top 10. The polesitter’s day was over shortly afterwards though, as he crashed at Turn 6 to bring out the Virtual Safety Car on Lap 11.
Isack Hadjar made his mandatory stop before the VSC was deployed to come back out ahead of Antonelli on the road in 8th. The full Safety Car was then needed to recover Hauger’s car. The Safety Car was withdrawn on Lap 15 and Maini led five other drivers that were yet to pit for a mandatory stop. Hadjar, in seventh, the effective leader having completed his switch of compound, with Antonelli trailing the Campos driver just behind.
Hadjar cleared the yet-to-stop Taylor Barnard for sixth to put a car between himself and his closest rival. The Frenchman was on the move on the following lap, taking fifth from Enzo Fittipaldi at Turn 9. The Campos driver’s charge continued at the expense of Stanek on Lap 20, easing by the Trident driver with DRS on the back straight.
Antonelli finally cleared Barnard, but the pair lost out to Paul Aron, who forced his way through at Turn 12 to take seventh position on the road ahead of the Italian. Having cleared teammate Ritomo Miyata, Maloney was the next to pass Barnard to move himself up to ninth position and he set off in pursuit of the PREMA driver further up the road.
Lap 24 and with Stanek battling to stay ahead of Fittipaldi, the VAR driver ran out of room at Turn 4 to allow Aron, Antonelli and Maloney through for position. All three were able to pass the Trident before the end of the lap, though their battling had allowed Hadjar to escape up the road by five seconds.
The following lap, Maloney used DRS to clear Antonelli for position as his charge continued, effectively taking the final podium spot. Yet to pit himself, Jak Crawford had been setting fastest times and caught Maini with three laps remaining. The DAMS Lucas Oil racer claimed temporary ownership of the lead but was in for his stop at the end of the lap along with the Indian driver.
Their stops handed the race lead over to Hadjar, who kept Aron at bay to secure Feature Race victory for Campos Racing. P2 for the Hitech driver was his third trip to the rostrum of the season, while Championship leader Maloney rounded out the podium in third. Antonelli wound up fourth in the end in his PREMA, followed by Miyata, Richard Verschoor, Franco Colapinto, Rafael Villagómez, Victor Martins and Oliver Bearman, who completed the top 10.
Results: https://www.fiaformula2.com/Results?raceid=1066
UPDATE: Following the conclusion of the Feature Race in Melbourne, there have been three post-race penalties handed out. Firstly, MP Motorsport driver Franco Colapinto has been disqualified from the Feature Race for a technical infringement. At the start of the race, Car 12 was found to have not engaged the race start set-up procedure, a breach of Art 1.5.2 of the FIA Formula 2 Technical Regulations.
With Colapinto disqualified from the results, DAMS Lucas Oil’s Jak Crawford is promoted into P10 in the final standings, also earning the fastest lap point as a result. Moreover, Zak O’Sullivan has been assigned a 10-second time penalty that has been converted into a five-place grid drop.
After the race, the Stewards examined video evidence and determined that the ART Grand Prix driver had been wholly responsible for contact with Roman Stanek at Turn 3 on the opening lap of the Feature. With the ART driver not classified in the race results, O’Sullivan will serve the penalty at the next race in which he competes.
Finally, Joshua Duerksen has also received a five-second time penalty converted into a three-place grid drop. During the race, the Paraguayan driver collided with O’Sullivan at Turn 13. The Stewards examined video evidence and heard from both drivers involved, determining that the PHM AIX Racing driver had been predominantly at fault for a collision with the ART driver. With Duerksen not classified in the Feature Race, the Stewards elected to convert his penalty into a grid drop, one he will also serve at the next race in which he competes.
F3:
Fornaroli led away from pole, staying ahead of the PREMA pair of Minì and Beganovic. But there was plenty of action at the back of the pack as MP Motorsport’s Tim Tramnitz suffered a puncture after colliding with Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak. The PHM AIX Racing driver then hit Sophia Floersch’s Van Amersfoort Racing car, and despite both being able to continue to the pitlane, they were forced to retire with damage. Safety Car intervention was then required after Rodin Motorsport’s Joseph Loake and Van Amersfoort Racing’s home favourite Tommy Smith collided and went off into the gravel at Turn 11.
As we went back to green flag conditions on Lap 6, the top three remained the same, Luke Browning and Arvid Lindblad rounded out the top five with the pair pouncing on the PHM AIX’s Nikita Bedrin to move up the order. At the front, Fornaroli had pulled a gap of one second over his fellow Italian Minì. The Alpine Academy junior was coming under pressure from Beganovic, with the Swede having now set the fastest lap.
On Lap 11 there was more bad news for the Australian fans as Christian Mansell lost two places at Turn 11, with Jenzer Motorsport’s Charlie Wurz and Campos’ Sebastian Montoya overtaking the ART Grand Prix driver. Beganovic, after being given the all clear to overtake Minì for second, did just that on Lap 12, making his way past at Turn 9. The PREMA driver then quickly got within DRS range of Fornaroli.
Minì’s struggles continued as by the end of Lap 13, he lost another position at Turn 9 to the Hitech Pulse-Eight of Browning. A lap later, Beganovic took the lead from Fornaroli at the same corner. Elsewhere, Campos Racing teammates Mari Boya and Sebastián Montoya quickly got past Bedrin, moving them up to fifth and sixth respectively.
Montoya then made his move past Boya at Turn 1 on Lap 16, with Wurz following the Colombian driver through to take P6 at the exit of Turn 4. Later in the lap, the Austrian took Montoya for fifth. The top three were now covered by just a second and a half with Fornaroli well within DRS range of Beganovic as the drivers set off on Lap 18. Minì was however beginning to show strong pace and closed in on Browning for third.
The Italian bided his time before overtaking his former Hitech teammate round the outside at Turn 8, putting him back on the podium. As the drivers set off on the final lap, Beganovic was beginning to stretch his legs as his lead over Fornaroli was now a second and a half as he crossed the line to take victory.
Fornaroli finished second while Minì scored his first podium of the year in P3. Browning ended up fourth ahead of the impressive Wurz. Montoya also produced a stellar drive after lining up in P15 as he crossed the line in sixth. He was followed by Boya with Bedrin in eighth, while Goethe recovered positions late on to finish ninth. Home favourite Mansell produced a battling performance to take the final point in P10.
Results: https://x.com/MsportXtra/status/1771671171672551557?s=20
Here’s how sprint F2 and F3 race panned out
[Note: The story is as per press release]
