Bortoleto wins from last on grid thanks to Safety Car

McLaren junior driver Gabriel Bortoleto struck gold with the timing of a Safety Car deployment to win the Monza feature race despite starting at the back of the field.

Bortoleto completed his mandatory pit stop under the early Safety Car period, resumed behind a queue of yet-to-stop cars, then passed his team mate Kush Maini to take the lead of the race. From there he was never troubled.

He took victory – and jumped into championship contention – ahead of Zane Maloney and Richard Verschoor.

Maloney started the race from pole but came under pressure on the run to Rettifilo from Paul Aron who took the outside line. Then Aron was hit from behind by Pepe Marti, who launched well from seventh on the grid, putting the Hitech driver out of the race.

The Safety Car was deployed before the end of the first lap to recover Aron’s stricken car. Maloney held the lead of the neutralised race ahead of the two Premas of Oliver Bearman and Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who profited from the turn one melee. Championship leader Isack Hadjar was among those who slipped back when he was forced to take the escape road.

The race quickly resumed at the start of lap three with Bearman immediately challenging for the lead. Maloney defended his position into both the Rettifilo and Roggia chicanes before managing to break out of DRS range of Bearman over the next few laps.

Antonelli was passed by Joshua Duerksen, falling to fourth. Prema brought Bearman in early to pit for medium tyres. That triggered a rush into the pit lane on the next lap, with several cars, including leaders Maloney, Duerksen and Antonelli, all making their mandatory stops.

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As they did, Dennis Hauger was tapped by Ritomo Miyata at the Rettifilo chicane and sent spinning onto the grass and out of the race. That brought out the second Safety Car of the day, offering a golden opportunity for those who were yet to pit to do so and gain significant time.

Bortoleto was the major beneficiary as he pitted and emerged ahead of former leader Maloney. The race restarted with Oliver Goethe leading Kush Maini, Juan Manuel Correa, Roman Stanek and Niels Koolen – all yet to stop – with Bortoleto in the net lead of the race in sixth.

Maini passed Goethe for the lead while Bortoleto moved up through the cars ahead of him to eventually sit behind his team mate in second. Bortoleto then passed his fellow Invicta driver into the Roggia chicane to take the lead of the race.

Bortoleto pulled away out front while Maloney, in a net second place, climbed up to sit in third behind Maini who was yet to stop. Further back, the Premas of Bearman and Antonelli battled together for several laps. Eventually Antonelli had a run on his team mate down the pit straight on lap 24 and swept around the outside of the Rettifilo chicane. Bearman ran off onto the gravel at the exit as Antonelli took his sixth place, dropping behind Duerksen as he did.

Maini remained second until he eventually came in for his stop at the end of lap 28. This moved Maloney into second place, but was more than eight seconds off Bortoleto with two laps remaining. The Invicta driver completed the final lap to take an unlikely victory, his second of the season.

Maloney finished almost 10 seconds behind in second with Richard Verschoor completing the podium in third. Antonelli claimed fourth, less than half a second ahead of Duerksen, with Victor Martins in sixth ahead of Bearman. Rafael Villagomez took eighth, with Jak Crawford and Enzo Fittipaldi taking the final point in tenth.

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The race transforms the complexion of the championship. Bortoleto is now just 10.5 points away from leader Hadjar in the championship, while Maloney moves back up to third in the standings, 30 points away with six races remaining.

Formula 2 Italy race two results

Position	Car	Driver	Team
1	10	Gabriel Bortoleto	Invicta
2	5	Zane Maloney	Rodin
3	22	Richard Verschoor	Trident
4	4	Andrea Kimi Antonelli	Prema
5	24	Joshua Duerksen	AIX
6	1	Victor Martins	ART
7	3	Ollie Bearman	Prema
8	15	Rafael Villagomez	Van Amersfoort
9	7	Jak Crawford	DAMS
10	14	Enzo Fittipaldi	Van Amersfoort
11	20	Isack Hadjar	Campos
12	21	Josep Maria Marti	Campos
13	2	Zak O’Sullivan	ART
14	6	Ritomo Miyata	Rodin
15	9	Kush Maini	Invicta
16	12	Oliver Goethe	MP Motorsport
17	23	Roman Stanek	Trident
18	16	Amaury Cordeel	Hitech
19	25	Niels Koolen	AIX
DNF	8	Juan Manuel Correa	DAMS
DNF	11	Dennis Hauger	MP Motorsport
DNF	17	Paul Aron	Hitech

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Formula 2

• Duerksen passes Mini to claim maiden F2 win in Baku sprint race
• Hadjar is first Formula 2 driver to be penalised for causing a red flag in qualifying
• Verschoor pips Antonelli to pole as bizarre brake problem halts Hadjar
• Antonelli and Bearman’s F1 graduations show the limitations of its feeder series
• Bearman charges to Monza sprint race win from eighth on grid

Browse all Formula 2 articles