F2 News: Bearman wins in Qatar with late-race pass on Hadjar

Oliver Bearman left it late, but the PREMA Racing driver made his move count, taking the lead in the final stages of the Lusail Sprint Race for his third victory of 2024.

Championship contender Isack Hadjar had led the majority of the race but lost out to Bearman with a handful of laps to go before a spin dropped him to fourth. DAMS Lucas Oil’s Jak Crawford finished up second, and Richard Verschoor rounded out the podium in his first race since returning to MP Motorsport.

AS IT HAPPENED

Pole sitter Bearman covered off Hadjar at lights out as the Championship challenger settled into P2 ahead of compatriot Victor Martins, who launched his way into the top three from seventh on the grid.

With the Medium compound fitted, Hadjar was hustling Bearman around the opening two tours and he seized the lead at Turn 10 to take top spot on the second lap.

The Campos driver set off into the distance, leading by 3.5s over Bearman by Lap 5 while Martins followed a further two seconds adrift of the Briton and with a DRS train in his mirrors.

Gabriel Bortoleto moved himself up to seventh with a pass on Oliver Goethe just before the MP driver was forced into retirement with an issue. With his car stationary in the second sector, a Virtual Safety Car was called upon to recover the stricken MP.

That VSC was withdrawn on Lap 7, and the battle for third was incredibly close. With Martins also running the Medium tyres, he came under pressure from Crawford as the yellow-marked rubber began to fade.

Bearman took four tenths out of Hadjar on Lap 9 as the race leader also began to struggle with his tyres despite running in clear air. That gap fell again to 2.2s on the following tour as the PREMA driver began to reel the Campos back in.

Behind them, Martins and Crawford’s fight for third continued and the American looked to have the move done at Turn 7, but the ART driver defended hard and held onto the place. Their squabbling allowed Richard Verschoor, Paul Aron, Gabriel Bortoleto and Dino Beganovic to join their fight in the points positions.

Bearman continued to whittle away at Hadjar’s advantage and broke into DRS range on Lap 17 while Crawford finally got a move done on Martins at Turn 1 as the Hard compound became the quicker tyre.

Verschoor was through on the ART to take fourth place while behind them, Bortoleto attempted to round Aron at Turn 1, but he ran out of road and had to run through the gravel. The Brazilian was able to retain seventh, but Aron was quickly on the attack.

He passed Martins with a late dive to the inside of Turn 6 and Bortoleto followed him through to drop the Frenchman to seventh. Beganovic had been in the fight but contact from behind with Ritomo Miyata sent the F2 debutant spinning out of the points.

After getting to within half a second in the final sector, Bearman had the slipstream he needed to attempt a pass and he dived to the inside of Hadjar at Turn 1 to take the lead on Lap 21.

The Frenchman’s night was made worse immediately, as he dropped to fourth with a spin at Turn 4.

Contact between Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Kush Maini brought out a late race Safety Car as both were left stricken on the side of the track.

The Safety Car was withdrawn on the 23rd and final lap to leave Bearman to cruise to his third win of the season ahead of Crawford and Verschoor.

Hadjar was the best-placed finisher of the title contenders in fourth, directly ahead of Aron and Bortoleto. Rodin Motorsport teammates Miyata and Zane Maloney rounded out the points in seventh and eighth places respectively.

KEY QUOTE – Oliver Bearman, PREMA Racing

“Very happy. It was a tough one. I feel like I made a good move at the end of the race, but I lost a position at the start. Different tyre compounds and it was quite tough to stay with Isack. He did a great job but I’m very happy to take the win and I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”

THE CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

Gabriel Bortoleto retains the lead of the Drivers’ Championship, but his advantage is reduced to 2.5 points over Isack Hadjar, 172.5 to 170. Paul Aron moves himself up to third place and 137 points ahead of Zane Maloney in fourth on 136 points. Jak Crawford is fifth on 124 points.

Invicta Racing remain at the top of the Teams’ Standings and go onto 246.5 points while Campos Racing remain second with 213. MP Motorsport are third with 188.5 points ahead of PREMA Racing, are fourth with 179 points. Rodin Motorsport round out the top five on 167 points, one ahead of Hitech Pulse-Eight in sixth.

2024 Qatar F2 Sprint Race Results – 23 Laps