Williams junior Franco Colapinto took a stunning victory in the Imola sprint race by passing Paul Aron on the final lap.
The Hitech driver led every lap of the race except for the final one as Colapinto stormed around the outside of the Tamburello to snatch the lead.Championship leader Zane Maloney completed the podium in third after overtaking Amaury Cordeel in the closing laps, also around the outside at Tamburello.
Aron jumped team mate Cordeel at the start of the race and led after the end of an early Safety Car period. Just after the mid point of the race, Aron was caught by Colapinto who managed to get within DRS range.
Aron held his nerve up until the end of the penultimate lap, when a slight error through the second Rivazza allowed Colapinto to slipstream along the pit straight and sweep around the outside of the Tamburello chicane. Race control took note of the move, as Colapinto came close to straying beyond the white line, but quickly announced that no further action would be taken after reviewing it.
Maloney finished almost five seconds behind Aron in third. Cordeel, who started from pole position, took his best ever F2 finish in fourth. Ferrari junior Oliver Bearman finished fifth, his best result of the year so far, with feature race pole winner Gabriel Bortoleto in sixth.
Taylor Barnard claimed his first points in seventh ahead of Richard Verschoor in eighth. Kush Maini and Zak O’Sullivan completed the top ten, while Mercedes junior Andrea Kimi Antonelli could only manage 11th after making poor getaways on both the formation lap and the race start, the latter dropping him many places down the order.
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The start of the race was marred by a multi-car crash on the run to Tamburello when Roman Stanek made contact with Isack Hadjar, sending the Red Bull junior spinning in front of the majority of the field. Both were out of the race, with Dennis Hauger, Joshua Durksen and Enzo Fittipaldi also forced to retire after being caught up in the chaos.
The stewards announced that the start crash will be investigated after the race.
Formula 2 Italy race one results
| Position | Car | Driver | Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12 | Franco Colapinto | MP Motorsport |
| 2 | 17 | Paul Aron | Hitech |
| 3 | 5 | Zane Maloney | Rodin |
| 4 | 16 | Amaury Cordeel | Hitech |
| 5 | 3 | Ollie Bearman | Prema |
| 6 | 10 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Invicta |
| 7 | 25 | Taylor Barnard | PHM |
| 8 | 22 | Richard Verschoor | Trident |
| 9 | 9 | Kush Maini | Invicta |
| 10 | 2 | Zak O’Sullivan | ART |
| 11 | 4 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | Prema |
| 12 | 15 | Rafael Villagomez | Van Amersfoort |
| 13 | 1 | Victor Martins | ART |
| 14 | 6 | Ritomo Miyata | Rodin |
| 15 | 7 | Jak Crawford | DAMS |
| 16 | 8 | Juan Manuel Correa | DAMS |
| 17 | 21 | Josep Maria Marti | Campos |
| 18 | 11 | Dennis Hauger | MP Motorsport |
| DNF | 23 | Roman Stanek | Trident |
| DNF | 20 | Isack Hadjar | Campos |
| DNF | 24 | Joshua Duerksen | PHM |
| DNF | 14 | Enzo Fittipaldi | Van Amersfoort |
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Formula 2
- Bortoleto clinches F2 title as Hadjar stalls and Duerksen wins finale
- Aron hit with double penalty for team’s illegal DRS modification, Hadjar gains a point
- Marti wins sprint race as Bortoleto extends points lead ahead of finale
- Martins beats title rivals Bortoleto, Aron and Hadjar to Yas Marina pole
- Bortoleto’s lead down to half a point as penalty hands win to Aron in Losail
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
18th May 2024, 14:30
Yes Franco! Well done!
RBAlonso (@rbalonso)
18th May 2024, 21:22
Hey Fer, I’ve been on this website for about 15 years – you’re from/based in Argentina, right? If so very cool to see a new winner, particularly with a last lap pass. Happy for you.
Mariano (@mariano)
18th May 2024, 21:47
Excellent move to win the sprint race. A friend of mine is supporting him financially since last week so it was worth the investment. Franco has a brilliant future ahead. Hope to see him competing in F1 soon!
Daniel Martinez (@danielito)
19th May 2024, 2:05
Great move!