Richard Verschoor overtook pole winner Paul Aron and pulled out of DRS range to win the Formula 2 sprint race at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit.
The Trident driver pulled off a pass on Aron at the start of lap seven. He held on to win by less than a second from Dennis Hauger, who overtook Aron for second in the later laps.Enzo Fittipaldi finished fourth while Isack Hadjar’s late demise promoted a series of drivers behind him. Zane Maloney moved up to fifth wen the Campos driver slowed in the final laps.
Jak Crawford finished sixth ahead of Andrea Kimi Antonelli, the stewards taking no action over a first-lap collision between the pair. Kush Maini lost his grip on the last point when he ran wide at the race’s final turn. Pepe Marti took advantage to claim eight while behind them Roman Stanek completed the top ten.
Victor Martins was the earliest retirement from the race, pulling off on the exit of turn three with suspension damage following contact at the start with Dennis Hauger. Juan Manuel Correa also failed to finish after hitting the inside kerb at turn 22, damaging his car. Amaury Cordeel stopped on track at the mid-point of the race, causing one of two Safety Car interruptions, the other following the first-lap collisions.
The drama began when Williams juniors Zak O’Sullivan and Franco Colapinto stalled on the grid at the start. The first Safety Car period allowed them to be restarted in the pits and continue, however O’Sullivan pulled into retirement on the penultimate lap.
The race ran with a reduced, 21-car field after Oliver Bearman was called up by Ferrari replace the unwell Carlos Sainz Jnr in this weekend’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Bearman qualified 10th for today and took pole position for tomorrow’s feature race. In his absence, Maini will start from pole.
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Formula 2 Saudi Arabia race one results
| Position | Car | Driver | Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 22 | Richard Verschoor | Trident |
| 2 | 11 | Dennis Hauger | MP Motorsport |
| 3 | 17 | Paul Aron | Hitech |
| 4 | 14 | Enzo Fittipaldi | Van Amersfoort |
| 5 | 5 | Zane Maloney | Rodin |
| 6 | 7 | Jak Crawford | DAMS |
| 7 | 4 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | Prema |
| 8 | 21 | Josep Maria Marti | Campos |
| 9 | 9 | Kush Maini | Invicta |
| 10 | 23 | Roman Stanek | Trident |
| 11 | 24 | Joshua Duerksen | PHM |
| 12 | 10 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Invicta |
| 13 | 12 | Franco Colapinto | MP Motorsport |
| 14 | 6 | Ritomo Miyata | Rodin |
| 15 | 25 | Taylor Barnard | PHM |
| 16 | 15 | Rafael Villagomez | Van Amersfoort |
| DNF | 20 | Isack Hadjar | Campos |
| DNF | 2 | Zak O’Sullivan | ART |
| DNF | 8 | Juan Manuel Correa | DAMS |
| DNF | 16 | Amaury Cordeel | Hitech |
| DNF | 1 | Victor Martins | ART |
Brell-9W
8th March 2024, 17:02
Another frenetic Formula 2 race. F2 has done a great job with its Ground Effects car. Excellent job by Richard Verschoor, a truly overlooked driver. However Maloney and Aron stole the show. Jeddah is such a difficult circuit, so to see a rookie hold onto a podium is noteworthy, while going from 15th to 5th continues the strong start to the year of Maloney.
Joshua Durksen is a much better driver than he appeared to be in Formula Regional, which makes you wonder how much of it is the car in the lower formulae. Another learning session for Antonelli, who scored points despite a tough race!