Ferrari junior Oliver Bearman took his first victory in Formula 2 in 2024 ahead of Red Bull junior Pepe Marti.
Bearman took the lead off the start line from Kush Maini and never looked back, winning by just under two seconds.Championship leader Paul Aron finished third to further extend his advantage at the top of the standings.
Bearman started alongside partial-reverse-grid pole winner Kush Maini. But the Ferrari junior leapt out into the lead of the race when the lights went out.
Maini then fell to third behind Pepe Marti after a three-way fight between the pair of them and Taylor Barnard, with Marti losing his left-hand front wing endplate following minor contact with Maini into turn three.
Despite his minor damage, Marti stuck within a second of the race leader, allowing him to continue to use DRS. The race entered a phase of tyre management, with Bearman keeping out of reach of his pursuer.
With eight laps remaining, championship leader Aron made a move on Maini for third, dropping his rival into the clutches of Invicta team mate Gabriel Bortoleto, who demoted him to fourth. In the final laps, Bortoleto began to pressure Aron for third, but the Hitech driver kept his nerve and managed to hold onto his position.
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Out front, Bearman did not offer Marti behind him any sniff of the lead and held him off over the line to secure his first race victory of 2024 and the first podium for Prema with F2’s new chassis for 2024. Marti finished just under two seconds behind in second place, with Aron taking yet another podium in third.
Bortoleto took fourth ahead of Dennis Hauger in fifth after he was involved in a collision with MP team mate Franco Colapinto at turn four on the final lap. As Colapinto spun out, Jak Crawford finished sixth ahead of Maini. Joshua Duerksen, Zak O’Sullivan and Victor Martins completed the top ten.
Formula 2 Austria race one results
| Position | Car | Driver | Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Ollie Bearman | Prema |
| 2 | 21 | Josep Maria Marti | Campos |
| 3 | 17 | Paul Aron | Hitech |
| 4 | 10 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Invicta |
| 5 | 11 | Dennis Hauger | MP Motorsport |
| 6 | 7 | Jak Crawford | DAMS |
| 7 | 9 | Kush Maini | Invicta |
| 8 | 24 | Joshua Duerksen | AIX |
| 9 | 2 | Zak O’Sullivan | ART |
| 10 | 1 | Victor Martins | ART |
| 11 | 12 | Franco Colapinto | MP Motorsport |
| 12 | 25 | Taylor Barnard | AIX |
| 13 | 20 | Isack Hadjar | Campos |
| 14 | 14 | Enzo Fittipaldi | Van Amersfoort |
| 15 | 4 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | Prema |
| 16 | 8 | Juan Manuel Correa | DAMS |
| 17 | 5 | Zane Maloney | Rodin |
| 18 | 16 | Amaury Cordeel | Hitech |
| 19 | 15 | Rafael Villagomez | Van Amersfoort |
| 20 | 22 | Richard Verschoor | Trident |
| 21 | 23 | Roman Stanek | Trident |
| 22 | 6 | Ritomo Miyata | Rodin |
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Dale
29th June 2024, 20:41
Good drive by Bearman … but what is all this Antonelli hype about?
Toto is out of his mind. Special dispensation for a guy who doesn’t look like he should be in F2, nevermind F1.
EffWunFan (@cairnsfella)
30th June 2024, 4:04
I was just thinking the same thing. (Well, maybe similar, as I don’t question his F2 credentials.)
I get his karting and single seater results to date, and even the fact that Merc have seen him testing F1 machinery. I even get that some may flourish more is F1 than F2 and vice versa. But surely it is too soon to waste/gamble a top seat on him at this stage.