Isack Hadjar cruised to his maiden Formula 2 victory in the Melbourne sprint race Saturday afternoon, only to lose it a couple of hours later when he was penalised for a crash at the start with his teammate and Gabriel Bortoleto.

By Steven Walton

As the cars launched off the line, Hadjar was involved in a collision with Campos teammate Pepe Martí and Invicta Racing’s Bortoleto.

The stewards’ report on the crash found that Hadjar had moved to the right at the start towards Martí, which forced Martí to take avoiding action. In taking that avoiding action, Martí struck Bortoleto and then Hadjar.

Martí and Bortoleto immediately lost control of their cars and hit the barriers, but Hadjar was unscathed and kept going.

The Frenchman took the lead of the race at turn one and after that went unchallenged for the win. He took the chequered flag with a six-second gap back to second-placed Roman Staněk.

During the race, it was announced the crash would be investigated after the session. More than two hours after the race had finished, the stewards found Hadjar predominantly to blame for the collision. He was given a 10-second penalty and two penalty points on his license.

The penalty dropped Hadjar down to sixth place. Staněk inherited the win.

‘I couldn’t see what was going on’

According to the stewards’ decision, Martí said he had a good launch and went for a gap he saw between Hadjar and Bortoleto. He said his front axle was alongside Hadjar when he felt “a big hit”.

Hadjar told the stewards he “barely moved” from the left-hand side of the track before contact was made. He said he did not see Martí alongside him.

Before the penalty was awarded, Hadjar told selected media, including Feeder Series, that the start was “very stressful”.

“I had a good launch and then I tried to go for the move on Roman [Staněk]. I couldn’t see what was going on at my right-hand side so I had a contact. That was it, really,” he said.

Hadjar said he was not thinking about a penalty during the race. “I just drove my race,” he said. “I didn’t see what happened, really. I was just focusing on taking the lead.”

‘Loads of unlucky moments’

Before the penalty was awarded, Hadjar said the last year and a half had been frustrating, with “loads of unlucky moments”.

In just the past two rounds, Hadjar has shown pace without translating it into results.

In Bahrain, he started the feature race from the front row but was hit at the first corner by Bortoleto, which ended his race.

In Saudi Arabia, Hadjar qualified eighth but retired from both races because of a technical issue whereby his car unexpectedly went into safe mode.

Hadjar said he felt comfortable in the car during the Melbourne sprint race.

“Since Bahrain, we’ve had a really competitive car. [We are] just super unlucky … we lost a lot of points, but the car’s been super quick and really consistent,” he said.

Staněk: ‘A lot of potential in the team’

With Hadjar’s penalty, Trident’s Roman Staněk inherited the win. He spent most of the race defending and successfully held off Kush Maini and later Dennis Hauger for second on the road.

Not only is this Staněk’s first win, but it is also his first podium in F2 since he joined the grid at the start of 2023. Last year, his best result was fifth in the Spielberg sprint race.

The win for Staněk is another sign of encouragement for Trident.

In Saudi Arabia, Richard Verschoor was quick enough to win the sprint race on the road, though he later lost the win for having a non-compliant throttle map.

This weekend in Australia, both Trident drivers qualified inside the top 10, meaning Staněk starts tomorrow’s feature race from 10th while Verschoor will go from third.

Staněk said last year the team struggled, but this year, with a new car, he “saw a lot of potential in the team”.

“I know all of the people that they’re working hard, they’re good people and they’re also very smart, but it’s just the beginning of the season, so let’s see mid-season how is it,” he said.

Staněk said that he trusted the team and if he did not trust them, he would not have stayed with them for his second year in F2.

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