Rodin Motorsport’s Zane Maloney dominated the Formula 2 season opener in Bahrain, confidently storming to victory in both the sprint and feature races. But beyond his impressive results, the next best performances all came from rookies. So which ones were the best?

By Steven Walton

When the chequered flag fell on Formula 2’s first feature race of 2024, points were handed out to a surprising crop of drivers, one that not many would have predicted before the weekend began.

Zane Maloney was the unchallenged feature race winner after he confidently grabbed the lead at the start. Behind him, covering second to sixth, were Pepe Martí, Paul Aron, Zak O’Sullivan, Gabriel Bortoleto and Franco Colapinto – five rookie drivers who have all stepped up to F2 this year after fighting for last year’s F3 championship.

This weekend, those F3 graduates looked settled as they delivered mightily impressive results. Martí stunned with back-to-back podiums, Aron stormed into the points in both races despite starting outside the top ten, O’Sullivan was comfortably the quicker of the ART drivers, Bortoleto nabbed pole position and Colapinto beat his teammate in the feature race. As a result, all five rookies depart Bahrain with more points than their respective teammates. 

Some drivers with more F2 experience, who were widely expected to be championship challengers, will want to forget Bahrain altogether. Victor Martins and Ollie Bearman, the two highest-placed rookies from F2 last year, leave Bahrain with zero points. Bearman’s Prema team lacked pace the whole weekend, while Martins struggled with tyres in the sprint and then retired with a technical problem in the feature.

Bortoleto bags pole

The rookies made an impact as soon as the Bahrain weekend began.

Thursday’s qualifying session ended with Invicta Racing’s Kush Maini on top, though he was later disqualified for a technical infringement, thus handing pole position to his rookie teammate and the reigning F3 champion, Bortoleto.

Rookie Taylor Barnard also starred in qualifying, posting a stunning lap right at the end to go tenth, which then became ninth when Maini was disqualified. This result was groundbreaking for PHM Racing, as it was the first time one of their cars qualified inside the top ten since the team took over the Charouz entry in 2023.

At ART, rookie O’Sullivan qualified sixth, enough to be ahead of his teammate Martins, who was down in eighth. At Rodin, Maloney was quicker than rookie teammate and reigning Super Formula champion Ritomo Miyata, but the gap was just 0.021 seconds.

Split strategies in the sprint race

Tyre choices made Friday’s sprint race an interesting affair. Some drivers had the softs, while others opted for the hards. Either way, degradation was high, making tyre management critical. This appeared to catch Martins off guard. He ran the softs and was running in the top three for most of the race, but his pace dropped away dramatically in the closing laps, falling from third to 11th.

Campos had great pace this whole weekend, continuing their Bahrain form from 12 months ago when Ralph Boschung gave Campos their only victory of 2023 in the sprint race. In Friday’s sprint, the team’s new Red Bull Junior Team drivers – Isack Hadjar and Pepe Martí – started from ninth and 11th respectively, yet they immediately moved forward and threatened the podium.

Hadjar was the better of the Campos pair for most of the race and was poised to finish third. But, on lap 18 of 23, Hadjar reported over the team radio that his front tyres were destroyed. The momentum swung towards Martí and two laps later, the Spanish rookie passed Hadjar for the final spot on the podium.

For Bortoleto, his pole on Thursday meant he started the sprint race from tenth, and he struggled to make early progress as he went for the durable hard tyres. The compound paid off in the closing laps when he was able to overtake three soft tyre runners who were struggling for pace: Miyata, Hauger and Martins. Another late move on hard tyre-clad O’Sullivan meant Bortoleto rose from tenth to sixth in the final few laps.

Hitech rookie Paul Aron also drove beautifully in the sprint. He only qualified 12th, but quietly rose through the order to finish fifth.

Feature race podiums for Martí and Aron

The drivers who starred in the sprint continued their fine form in Saturday’s feature race. Maloney started from third and jumped into the lead at the start. He never looked back on his way to victory.

Behind him, Martí produced another stellar drive. He started from 11th again, yet was already up to fifth when the safety car was deployed on lap one for his stricken Campos teammate Isack Hadjar. At the restart, Martí swiftly passed Bortoleto, Hauger and O’Sullivan, moving into second on lap seven – a position he would hold until the end.

Aron started 12th and made his mark late in the race. After the second safety car restart, he made critical moves on Hauger and O’Sullivan, allowing him to grab third and his first-ever F2 podium. 

Bortoleto had a difficult start to the feature race. Leading away from pole position, he tapped Isack Hadjar into a spin at the first corner, earning himself front-wing damage and a 10-second penalty. But as the race drew to a close, Bortoleto was again on fire. He snuck past his teammate Kush Maini when the Indian driver made a mistake, and in the final laps, he put bold moves on the two MP cars of Hauger and Colapinto, ultimately securing a fifth-place finish.

Throughout the entire weekend, one of the enduring storylines was the overall lack of pace from typical frontrunners Prema. Both Kimi Antonelli and Ollie Bearman languished outside of the top ten, though interestingly, Antonelli – a rookie who has bypassed F3 and gone straight from FRECA to F2 – had a slight edge over Bearman. In qualifying, Antonelli was 0.017s quicker than his teammate and in the feature race, Antonelli passed Bearman on track on his way to tenth, picking up the final point.

Off to Jeddah

Conclusions about the championship are impossible after just one round, but the rookies have undoubtedly made a strong start. Still, it is Zane Maloney who unsurprisingly tops the standings with 36 points. Behind him are the four rookies of Martí, Aron, Bortoleto and O’Sullivan.

The standings may not stay that way for long as Formula 2 heads to the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in Saudi Arabia this weekend. The track is markedly different to Bahrain. The walls are closer and there are a lot more high-speed corners. Some drivers are expecting very different results from Bahrain.

Jeddah is an unfamiliar track for rookies given it is not part of the F3 calendar, and unlike Bahrain, drivers won’t have the benefit of a three-day test at the track before the weekend. The only preparation drivers get before qualifying is Thursday’s official 45-minute practice session.

While many rookies may have fought and beaten their more experienced teammates in Bahrain, it will be a much tougher ask this weekend.

Header photo credit: Dutch Photo Agency / Red Bull Content Pool