F2 Feature race: Kimi Antonelli victorious in Hungary, Victor Martins on the podium, Hadjar misses a golden opportunity

Paul Aron had taken pole position and had the opportunity to take a significant lead over Zane Maloney and Isack Hadjar at the start of this race. But nothing went as planned.

The Estonian completely missed his start, locking his tires and losing 5 positions at the beginning. He then, in a battle with Zane Maloney, missed his braking point and caused both men to retire, as well as a safety car. The first of this race.

A missed opportunity for Hadjar

Isack Hadjar could have taken advantage of this opportunity to increase his lead in the championship, arriving in Hungary as the leader. However, the French driver had an unlucky start to the race. He failed to leave the pit lane early enough and the red light prevented him from taking his place on the starting grid. Qualified 3rd, he had to start from the pit lane, risking losing the championship here. Fortunately for him, his two main competitors were knocked out of the race. A sign from destiny? The Frenchman eventually finished 18th.

The other French driver, Victor Martins, started in 4th position with the absence of Isack Hadjar on the grid and took advantage of Paul Aron’s poor start in front of him to take the lead of the race. He benefited from the first safety car period, which came at the right time, to keep his position as a leader but was unlucky with the second safety car period, which benefited Kimi Antonelli.

Amaury Cordeel completely destroyed his single-seater, just like Charles Leclerc had done earlier this weekend, by going a bit too much on the curb and losing control of his car. Unhurt, this accident caused the safety car to come out and benefit the drivers who had not yet changed their tires. This was the case for Kimi Antonelli who was able to take advantage of a much less costly pit stop and come out with very fresh soft tires compared to the 4 drivers ahead of him.

The Italian driver put on soft tires at the best moment, from the first position to the 5th place only during his pit stop, with a grouped pack and new tires. With Victor Martins in the lead, the Prema driver passed two drivers in three corners with these soft tires and eventually took the lead over Martins to lead at the end of the second restart lap. The Italian even increased the gap to 10 seconds in less than 6 laps, winning this race thanks to luck but also very beautiful overtakes.

And breathe 😮‍💨😅#F2 #HungarianGP pic.twitter.com/5fYlKTcjDd

— Formula 2 (@Formula2) July 21, 2024

Results of the F2 race in Hungary