Joshua Dürksen wins the FIA Formula 2 Feature Race in Abu Dhabi ahead of championship winner Gabriel Bortoleto in second.
Richard Verschoor in his 100th F2 start, joined them on the happiest podium of the 2024 season after making the alternative strategy work in his MP Motorsport machinery. He overtook Victor Martins with only four laps to go with storming pace on the softer tyre.
Bortoleto had a dream start from second place on the grid with pole-sitter Martins struggling to get off the line. Behind them was heartbreak for Isack Hadjar who stalled from third on the grid and had to be wheeled to the pits to get him back in to the race, albeit a lap down and everything to do.
Stalling on the grid would prove to be a disappointing end to his championship campaign since there was no Safety Car to help him make the time up. Hadjar was understandably devasted over the radio, believing he had the pace to take the fight to Bortoleto one last time.
Not only was it costly for Hadjar, but also Campos Racing who at the start of the weekend were looking to take the teams’ championship too, especially after a win from his team mate, Pepe Martí in Saturday’s Sprint Race.
Invicta’s Kush Maini fought hard with Martí in the opening lap and temporarily came out on top until an exceptionally slow pit stop put him on the back foot. After running second in the opening stages, he finished the race in 12th and out of the points.
However, the team’s hard work throughout the season earned them the top spot in the standings, something that Maini told insideF2 was one of his primary goals for his 2024 season ahead of the Silverstone round.
Although the celebrations were all for our F2 2024 champion today, AIX Racing’s Dürksen drove the perfect race after starting from eighth on the grid. He controlled the race perfectly as soon as he got ahead of Bortoleto who suffered with cold tyres on his outlap.
Despite the championship fight ending prematurely, the season still finishes with 18 winners in what has been the most competitive year in F2’s history where Bortoleto becomes the fourth Formula 2 champion to win F3 as a rookie, and then F2 in consecutive years. He joins Charles Leclerc, George Russell and Oscar Piastri in an elite club.
The end of the 2024 season also rounds out a decade of the highest quality of commentary from Alex Jacques, the voice of F2. From all of us at insideF2, thank you for sharing all of the celebrations, joy and holding the upmost professionalism and care in tragic times. We will miss you!
Image: Formula Motorsport Limited
