Australian F2 Grand Prix – Isack Hadjar finally wins his first victory in F2 this Sunday
He had been without it after stepping onto his first podium yesterday, but Isack Hadjar finally wins his first victory in Formula 2 this Sunday. He finishes the Australian Grand Prix ahead of Paul Aron and Zane Maloney.
It is a Sunday of redemption for Isack Hadjar, who won his first Formula 2 victory by winning the Feature Race in Melbourne for Campos Racing. He had come close to it yesterday already.
After losing the victory of the Sprint Race due to a post-race penalty, the Frenchman led a perfect race to the top step of the podium, beating Paul Aron on the Hitech Pulse-Eight and Zane Maloney on the Rodin Motorsport.
On aura bien entendu la Marseille de manière légitime cette fois avec la victoire de Isack Hadjar en course de F2 ce matin #AUSGP #f2 pic.twitter.com/Pbt9IMDvzA
— Motors Inside F1 (@MotorsInside) March 24, 2024
At the start, Dennis Hauger brilliantly took the lead, making his way ahead of Andrea Kimi Antonelli from the first corner. Further down the track, a collision between Zak O’Sullivan and Roman Stanek, who won thanks to the penalty received by Isack Hadjar yesterday, caused the loss of the first place, relegating him to the back of the pack. The ART Grand Prix driver was given a 10-second penalty by the stewards following this incident.
During the same lap, Antonelli attempted a bold maneuver on the leader, infiltrating on the inside at turn 11 to take the first position. However, the MP driver quickly counterattacked, regaining his lead at turn 9 with the help of DRS on the following lap.
Zane Maloney, having missed turn 12, gave Kush Maini the opportunity to move up to third place, then the Invicta Racing driver climbed one more step by overtaking Antonelli before turn 9 on the sixth lap.
In the 7th lap, Duerksen and O’Sullivan collided, causing a Virtual Safety Car. When the race resumed, Maini, on medium tires in better condition than his rivals on supersofts, took the lead over Hauger.
The safety car made its appearance in lap 11, allowing Isack Hadjar to gain an interesting advantage for the rest of the race, the French driver having already changed his tires. At the moment of the safety car’s withdrawal in the fifteenth lap, Maini was leading the group of drivers who had not yet made their pit stop. Hadjar, in seventh position and having already changed tires, was therefore well positioned, ahead of Antonelli, the driver closely followed by Mercedes.
Hadjar then made his way to sixth place by overtaking Taylor Barnard, putting some distance between him and Antonelli. He continued his momentum on the next lap, taking fifth place from Enzo Fittipaldi at turn 9.
Continuing on his momentum, Hadjar easily overtook Stanek on the twentieth lap thanks to the DRS, thus strengthening his position as the leader.
