Jack Doohan takes his first victory of the season as the ART’s battle loses them valuable points.
Doohan held the lead of the Feature Race from pole position thanks to a good start. Behind him, Frederik Vesti and Victor Martins swapped positions, the Danish driver finding himself in second. There was contact between the pair going into Turn 1 but neither car sustained damage.
? FEATURE RACE- RESULTS ?
? Here’s how the Top 10 finished after the Feature Race in Budapest. #F2 #Formula2 #RoadToF1 #HungarianGP ?? pic.twitter.com/fxR1qtE0Xx
— ?????? F2.COM (@F2Inside) July 23, 2023
The first car to retire from the race was Trident’s Clément Novalak. He pulled over to the marshals’ post in Sector 1 and the car was recovered under double-waved yellow flags.
The first driver to take their mandatory pit stop on Lap 8 of 37 was Zane Maloney, who swapped his soft tyres for a new set of mediums.
A couple of laps later, Maloney was pushed onto the grass by fellow Red Bull academy driver, Jak Crawford. Both drivers had pitted and were battling over 19th on the main straight. The stewards noted the incident but no penalty came during the race.
Amaury Cordeel held up Théo Pourchaire and Isack Hadjar on differing strategies. The pair were in net fourth and fifth while Cordeel was yet to pit. Hadjar lost a massive 2.4 seconds overall in his fight against the alternative strategy runner.
Ayumu Iwasa was the next driver to pit out in front. He managed to stretch his stint to Lap 20 on the alternative strategy, six laps longer than Pourchaire.
Vesti was the next driver to pit a few laps later but dropped down to fourth, only fractions ahead of Pourchaire, his championship rival. Victor Martins came out of the pits and in between the two, one lap later. Martins ran his teammate wide and off the track, dropping him behind Hadjar.
Iwasa made his case for ‘Overtake of the Race’ with his move to finally get passed Hadjar. He caught his rival off guard to take fourth position at Turn 1. The gap was just under 5 tenths of a second at the final corner but Iwasa made up an unbelievable amount of time under braking.
Doohan took his first win of the season with, a lights to flag victory. His change in form became clear in Spain, following a crash in Monaco which lost him a podium.
The Alpine Reserve Driver was many people’s championship favourite ahead of the season and with this, he puts himself up to fifth in the standings following the 25 points credited for a Feature Race win.
In terms of the current championship fight, Vesti’s second place finish extends his gap to Pourchaire behind, who finished sixth. Only 11 points separate them but the incident with Martins could prove costly once we arrive in Abu Dhabi.
2023 FIA FORMULA 2 DRIVER STANDINGS
| Pos | Driver | Team | Points | Var Pos | Var Lead |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | POURCHAIRE | ART GP | 191 | ||
| 2 | VESTI | PREMA | 166 | -25 | |
| 3 | IWASA | DAMS | 152 | -14 | -39 |
| 4 | DOOHAN | VIRTUOSI | 138 | -14 | -53 |
| 5 | MARTINS | ART GP | 131 | -7 | -60 |
| 6 | BEARMAN | PREMA | 130 | -1 | -61 |
| 7 | FITTIPALDI | RODIN CARLIN | 116 | -14 | -75 |
| 8 | VERSCHOOR | VAR | 102 | -14 | -89 |
| 9 | HAUGER | MP MOTORSPORT | 102 | 0 | -89 |
| 10 | MALONEY | RODIN CARLIN | 96 | -6 | -95 |
| 11 | MAINI | CAMPOS | 60 | -36 | -131 |
| 12 | DARUVALA | MP MOTORSPORT | 59 | -1 | -132 |
| 13 | CRAWFORD | HITECH GP | 56 | -3 | -135 |
| 14 | HADJAR | HITECH GP | 47 | -9 | -144 |
| 15 | LECLERC | DAMS | 41 | -6 | -150 |
| 16 | BOSCHUNG | CAMPOS | 37 | -4 | -154 |
| 17 | NOVALAK | TRIDENT | 28 | -9 | -163 |
| 18 | STANEK | TRIDENT | 15 | -13 | -176 |
| 19 | CORREA | VAR | 13 | -2 | -178 |
| 20 | CORDEEL | VIRTUOSI | 8 | -5 | -183 |
| 21 | NISSANY | PHM RACING | 0 | -8 | -191 |
| 22 | MASON | PHM RACING | 0 | 0 | -191 |
Who was your Driver of Round 10 in Budapest
? Who was your Driver of Round 10 in Budapest?
?? Vote in the Poll OR ? Let us know your nominations in the comments! #F2 #Formula2 #RoadToF1 #HungarianGP ??
— ?????? F2.COM (@F2Inside) July 23, 2023
Image: Formula Motorsport Ltd
