Frederik Vesti fought his way back to win FIA F2 sprint race in Abu Dhabi ahead of Enzo Fittipaldi with Richard Verschoor in third.
Getting a better launch off the line, Vesti stole the inside line into Turn 1 and went side-by-side with Fittipaldi, though the Rodin Carlin driver emerged out of Turn 3 ahead. Into Turn 5, Fittipaldi went deep under braking, allowing the Dane to attempt a late lunge for the lead.
Capitalising on their duel, Hadjar and Verschoor made it four-wide down the back straight. Both managed to slip past either side of Vesti and demote the title contender to fourth. In contrast, Championship leader Pourchaire was already on the cusp of points, climbing up from 14th to ninth.
The Safety Car was deployed at the end of the opening lap after Juan Manuel Correa spun at Turn 3. Victor Martins found himself caught up in it, leaving him with nosecone damage and forcing him to pit for repairs. Back to racing conditions on Lap 6, Fittipaldi aced his restart, immediately pulling half a second clear of Hadjar. Vesti wasted no time making up for lost ground, squeezing up alongside Verschoor down to Turn 6 to snatch third.
On the fringes of the points, Jack Doohan steadily made his way up from P10, swooping ahead of Ayumu Iwasa after the DAMS driver went wide out of Turn 9. Meanwhile, Pourchaire was trying to put together a charge of his own, going late on the brakes to wrestle eighth from Kush Maini and nosing his own way past Iwasa for P7.
Told to push for the fastest lap, Vesti began hunting down Hadjar and was on the Hitech Pulse-Eight driver’s tail by the time they reached Lap 10. Hadjar opted to go early on the defence but couldn’t stop the Mercedes junior’s charge, as Vesti took third around the outside of Turn 9.
Now with leader Fittipaldi in his sights, the PREMA driver quickly set about slicing down the 2.3s gap. Clocking two consecutive fastest laps on Laps 12 and 13, Vesti continued to find more pace on the medium tyres, going almost two tenths quicker each lap.
On Lap 13, Hadjar’s defence of third sent him deep into Turn 5, compromising his exit. This handed Verschoor an opportunity, getting a better run out of the corner to move up into third by the time they reached Turn 9.
Four laps later, Vesti loomed large in Fittipaldi’s mirrors and was eyeing up moves for the lead. A lock-up by the #4 Rodin Carlin handed Vesti a chance, but he too locked up through the Turn 5 hairpin. Fittipaldi tried to break the tow, but another mistake at the same corner three laps later was the moment for Vesti.
Benefitting from better grip, he dived up the inside of the Brazilian into Turn 6 to snatch the lead. Instantly breaking free of Fittipaldi behind, Vesti pulled out of the DRS window and reached the chequered flag a comfortable 3.8 seconds clear of the Red Bull junior.
Richard Verschoor finished third, whilst Hadjar’s valiant defence of fourth ended on the final lap. Relentlessly putting the pressure on the Frenchman, MP Motorsport’s Dennis Hauger managed to get the job done to take the five points on offer. Doohan secured sixth ahead of Pourchaire and Iwasa rounded out the final points-paying position in eighth.
Results: https://www.fiaformula2.com/Results?raceid=1063
UPDATE: Following the conclusion of the Yas Marina Sprint Race, Campos Racing’s Kush Maini has been handed a five-second time penalty. On the opening lap of the race, the Campos made contact with the Van Amersfoort Racing #23 car of Juan Manuel Correa at Turn 3. The incident led to damage for the #6 ART Grand Prix car of Victor Martins and a spin and retirement from the race for Correa.
Following the examination of evidence and after hearing from the drivers involved, Stewards determined that Maini was wholly responsible for the collision. The Stewards also noted that due to the mitigating circumstances associated with an incident on the opening lap of the race, and with it being a small error, they elected to assign a five-second penalty rather than the normal 10-seconds.
The penalty drops Maini from 11th in the provisional classification to 13th position. It also promotes Trident’s Roman Stanek and Hitech Pulse-Eight driver Jak Crawford up one position each to 11th and 12th respectively.
Pourchaire was cleared of practice start infringement too. Here: https://www.fia.com/sites/default/files/decision-document/2023%20Yas%20Marina%20Event%20-%20DECISION%20-%20Car%205%20-%20alleged%20practice%20start%20violation.pdf
[Note: The story is as per press release]