F2 News: Verschoor wins in Baku after early Red Flag stoppage

AS IT HAPPENED

Pole-sitter Verschoor retained the lead into Turn 1 but there was contact further back which led to an immediate Red Flag. Josep María Martí, Oliver Goethe and Kush Maini were the drivers involved after the Invicta Racing car didn’t pull away at lights out. It left Goethe and Martí unsighted and with nowhere to go in avoidance. Thankfully, all three were able to climb out of their cars unscathed.

After the clear up was completed, racing resumed with a rolling start and with the Feature condensed and running to a timed-finish versus the original full 29-lap distance.

Verschoor got a great launch to keep the lead ahead of Antonelli and Martins in the top three and was 0.7s clear heading back onto the main straight for the second lap of racing. Martins meanwhile was in the perfect position to slipstream his way by Antonelli to take second into Turn 1.

One lap later and the ART driver was onto the back of the race leader and looking to make a move for P1. With 21 minutes to go, Martins had the DRS and ducked to the inside into Turn 1 to take the lead of the race.

Trident teammate Christian Mansell moved himself up to sixth with a DRS pass on Sprint Race winner Joshua Duerksen at Turn 3.

The AIX Racing driver was the first in for a mandatory pit stop and he was joined by Jak Crawford and Luke Browning with 19 minutes left to run.

Race leader Martins responded on the next lap along with Verschoor and Antonelli while Zane Maloney and Bortoleto continued on track from the top five. A slow stop for Martins left him third in the queue leaving however, as the PREMA of Antonelli got the jump on the French driver as Verschoor exited in front of them.

Maloney and Bortoleto were in for their mandatory stops on the following lap to switch to the Soft compound tires and rejoined in the same order. Maloney though was able to come out ahead of Antonelli.

However, on the run to Turn 3, there was contact between the two after a lock-up for the Rodin Motorsport driver that left Maloney in the runoff area. Martins took advantage to slip past the PREMA driver to move up to fifth on the road.

With 12 minutes left of the Feature Race, the gap between Verschoor and Martins stood at 2.3s as the ART driver chased down his rival once again.

Nine minutes remaining and Martins had that down to 1.7s as he made incremental gains, particularly in the second sector of the lap. Across the line next time around and the gap stood at 1.3s.

With five minutes left of the race, Martins was on the cusp of DRS range, 1.1s back but unable to break into the window. The battle was over though when Gabriele Minì hit the wall at Turn 15, bringing out the Safety Car with two minutes to go.

It meant the Feature Race was neutralized and Verschoor claimed his first race victory of the 2024 season. Martins and Antonelli rounded out the podium in second and third respectively.

Bortoleto earned the fastest lap point on the final racing lap in P4, enough for the Invicta driver to take the lead of the Drivers’ Championship, while Duerksen was P5 for AIX.

Paul Aron was sixth for Hitech Pulse-Eight with Browning, Crawford, Hauger and Mansell in the points-paying positions.

KEY QUOTE – Richard Verschoor, Trident

“Super happy, this one is finally mine. It was a super good race, Victor to be honest was the quickest car on track but I’m really happy I did some quali laps in the end which kept me in the lead. So very happy, and onto the next.”

THE CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

With the race distance reduced, Column 3 points were handed out but with fourth place and the fastest lap point, Gabriel Bortoleto took over the lead in the Drivers’ Championship, now on 169.5 points. Isack Hadjar keeps hold of second but went scoreless in Baku, still on 165 points. Zane Maloney also missed out on points but stays third on 135, while Paul Aron closes up in fourth, now on 133. Jak Crawford stays fifth on 116 points as Andrea Kimi Antonelli also gets closer to the pack ahead, now on 113.

Invicta Racing lead the way in the Teams’ Standings, now on 243.5 points. Campos Racing remain second on 208, with MP Motorsport in third on 181.5. PREMA Racing are fourth on 169 points, five ahead of Rodin Motorsport, who round out the top five spots.

Race Results – 17 Laps