F2: Isaac Hajjar takes his fourth win of the season at Spa

Isaac Hajjar won the Formula 2 race on Sunday and further consolidated his lead in the individual competition. Together with the Campos rider, Gabriel Bortoleto and Jack Crawford stood on the podium.

At the start of the Formula 2 race, the track had finally dried out under the blazing July sun. On the first lap, pole position holder Paul Aron retained the lead, with Hadjar ahead of Bortoleto for second place.

Even approaching the first corner Oliver Berman and Jose Maria Marti collided. The race ended for both and the safety car came out. Due to technical problems with the car Franco Colapinto also stopped fighting.

The restart took place on the fourth lap of twenty-five. The leaders passed the first sector without any problems and held their positions, but outside the top ten Rafael Villagomez lost control of the car on the kerb exiting turn six. He was spun and thrown into Victor Martin, who was passing – a crash, and the race was over for both. The safety car was brought out.

Roman Stanek went to the pits to change tyres while the safety car was on track. Dennis Hauger made his mandatory pit stop at the restart on lap seven.

This time the restart went without incident, with Kimi Antonelli overtaking Zach O’Sullivan on the straight before Turn 5 and moving up to sixth place.

On lap eight, Hadjar Aron attacked on the straight before turn 5 and took the lead in the race thanks to DRS. At the end of the lap, Aron went to the pits to get new tires.

On lap nine, Richard Ferschor repeated Hadjar’s manoeuvre and overtook Jack Crawford in the battle for third place. At the end of the lap, Hajjar, Crawford, O’Sullivan and Duerksen went to the pits. Isaac’s pit stop had a small problem with changing the front left and rear tyres, but he still returned to the track ahead of Aron.

At the end of lap ten, the leading Bortoleto, Maloney, Fittipaldi and Stanek entered the pits. Bortoleto rejoined the track just behind the Hadjar-Aron pair. At the end of the straight before turn 5, Aron attacked Hadjar and took the lead.

Fittipaldi had a botched pit stop. The car stopped and all attempts by the mechanics to ‘revive’ the engine were unsuccessful – Enzo joined the list of those who retired from the race.

On lap 12, Ferschor, Antonelli, Maini, Cordil and Barnard led the pack, but they had not yet made their mandatory pit stop.

On lap thirteen, the battle for virtual first place between Aron and Hadjar continued. Isaac launched an attack on the DRS straight and took the lead.

At the end of lap fourteen, Kush Maini, who had been passed earlier by Amaury Cordil, made his mandatory pit stop. Another lap later, Antonelli and Kordil entered the pits. A problem occurred during Antonelli’s pit stop and he returned to the track not only behind Hauger and the Miata, but also behind Cordil.

At the end of lap 16, Ferskhor, who was leading the race, went to the pits. Richard returned to the track in ninth place behind Zane Maloney. Further on in the battle for fourth place, but actually for second place, Bortoleto overtook Aron in turn five.

On the following lap, the leading Correa and Barnard pitted, allowing Hadjar, Bortoleto and Arona to move into the top three. At the back, Antonelli passed Hauger and Cordil to move up to tenth.

On lap 19, Bortoleto overtook Hadjar but did not attack. But Antonelli continued to break through to the top – Kimi overtook Durksen in the battle for ninth place. Kush Maini and Roman Stanek were given 5-second time penalties for the infringement.

On lap twenty-two, Ferschor passed Maloney for sixth place on the DRS straight entering Turn 5. Behind them, Kordil overtook Antonelli with the same manoeuvre to move up to ninth. Isaac Hajjar was one and a half seconds ahead of Bortoleto and both were over five seconds ahead of Aron.

On the last lap Paul Aron had problems – due to technical problems he first lost speed and then stopped completely in the second sector.

Championship leader Isaac Hajjar confidently took the race to his fourth win of the season. Gabriel Bortoleto’s second place moved him to second in the drivers’ standings, ahead of Paul Aron, who set the fastest lap of the race. Jack Crawford finished third.

The next round of the Formula 2 season will take place from August 30 to September 1 in Monza, Italy.

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