The Yas Marina circuit will host thelast Stand, the decisive one, for the 2024 season of the propedeutic category. To Abu Dhabi they will take to the track three contenders ready to fight for the title, but only one of them will come out Sample di F2.
Three contenders for the F2 drivers' title
Like last year, it will be up to the track of Abu Dhabi the honor of crown the Champion of the preparatory category. The contenders in the running to acquire the F2 title, and become Champion, are three: Gabriel Bortoleto, Isack Hadjar and Paul AronThe future Audi driver will show up at the final appointment with a half a point advantage on Isack Hadjar. Aron, on the other hand, has collected 163 points – which means he is 25 points behind the leading duo.
Il weekend provides a maximum di 39 points, which can be achieved by obtaining pole position, winning both races and earning additional points for the fastest lap in each of them. Setting the fastest time in Friday's qualifying means getting your hands on the first two points of the weekend. victory of Sprint Race is worth 10 points while that of the Feature 25. Although the most substantial points are up for grabs on Sunday, it is good to keep an eye on the fastest laps because, in such a close fight, even the single point can make the difference.
Paul Aron: A great season has brought him here
In his debut season in Formula 2, Paul Aron finds himself fighting for the drivers' title. 2024 starts with a bang for the Hitech driver who, despite qualifying 12th, manages to climb onto the third step of the podium in the first Feature Race of the year. His presence on the podium becomes a constant: he returns in fact in the Sprint of Jeddah and subsequently on the occasion of the Sunday race in Australia. His first category victory fades away by a hair's breadth when, at Imola, Franco Colapinto overtook him on the last lap.
La streak of podiums of the Estonian however continues with Monaco – where he crosses the finish line in third position in race 2. A Barcelona he manages to take his home first pole position in Formula 2 and is promoted to third position in the Sprint after the penalty assigned to Correa for track limits. Also in the first race on the Austrian circuit he manages to reach the third step of the podium. The future third Alpine driver manages the feat of putting his single-seater on pole for two consecutive weekends – in Hungary and Belgium.
Aron finally manages to conquer his first victory in the Feature Race in Qatar, after dominating the free practice and qualifying sessions on the new track added to the F2 calendar. Driver number #17 arrives in Abu Dhabi with 163 points, 25 points less than Hadjar (second in the standings). The maximum points available are 39 and, in a season like this, everything is possible.
Hadjar is ready to fight to be crowned Champion
Isaac Hadjar, unlike the Hitech driver, had a slow start. In the first race of the year, the Frenchman crossed the finish line in fourth position. After this good result, however, Isack suffered three consecutive DNFs. In the Australian Sprint Hadjar gets his first win of the season, but due to a penalty he drops to sixth position. The following day however he redeems himself by managing to win the Feature Race.
MEN'S follow the Feature win at Imola, the second place on the Monaco track and the bronze medal in Austria. Hadjar gets his first pole position a Silverstone, a weekend in which he inherited the Feature victory and took the lead in the drivers' standings. In Budapest he took third place and returned to victory in race 2 at Spa-Francorchamps.
THElast podium achieved by the Red Bull Academy driver is the one on the circuit of lusail, where he managed to get himself at 0,5 points from the leader current Gabriel Bortoleto Championship. Isaac Hadjar flies to the United Arab Emirates with 188 points, ready to fight to enter the Formula 2 winners' list.
The advantage of Invicta pilot Gabriel Bortoleto
Gabriel Bortoleto He arrived in F2 with Invicta Racing after winning the Formula 3 Championship. In the first race of the season, the Brazilian was promoted to pole sitter after his teammate was disqualified. He finished his first race in this category in fifth position. He started again from the first position on the grid at Imola, weekend in which back to scoring points after a fast started in Sakhir. In the Feature Races on the Italian circuit he crossed the finish line in second position, thus conquering his first podium in the category.
Bortoleto also finished second in race 1 in Monaco while in Austria gets its first win in the Sunday race. In Belgium he managed to grab the second place cup once again, placing himself behind the Campos Hadjar driver. A disastrous qualifying at Monza forces him to start from the 22nd position on the grid in both races of the weekend. In the Sprint he reaches the points zone, but crosses the finish line in eighth place at the same time as Dennis Hauger.
The race stewards, faced with this curious event, decide to assign half a point to each of the pilots. On Sunday he succeeds in the feat of come back from last place and to cross the finish line first. In Baku, after a solid fourth and fifth place, grab the leadership of the drivers' standings. In Qatar Bortoleto returns to the podium in the company of the other two title contenders he will challenge in Abu Dhabi.
Which of the three contenders will win the title of F2 Champion?
In Abu Dhabi making mistakes is not allowed: a single point can turn the fortunes of the Championship around. Half a point gap between Bortoleto and Hadjar, a advantage, that of the Brazilian, practically nothing but which at the same time could prove to be fatal. Paul Aron is instead clinging to the mathematics, with a 25 point gap he is called to perfection. Three contenders for the F2 drivers' title arrive at Yas Marina, but only one of them will leave the circuit with the title of Champion. If there is one thing that this 2024 season has demonstrated, it is that the twists and turns are always there around the corner – or maybe it's better to say…behind the curve?
