The F2 season continued in Melbourne with two absorbing races in which Roman Staněk and Isack Hadjar took victories. Feeder Series analyses the five main storylines from the championship’s second trip to Australia’s Albert Park.

By Martin Lloyd

1. Campos’ pace is real

Isack Hadjar would have won both races in Australia had he not been penalised by the stewards for a collision in the opening metres of the sprint race.

In this collision, both Pepe Martí – Hadjar’s Campos teammate – and Gabriel Bortoleto were eliminated. A 10-second post-race penalty saw Hadjar fall to sixth after a dominant display in the race itself.

If anything, Saturday’s disappointment fuelled the Frenchman’s performance on Sunday, as he won the feature race by 4.454 seconds. He passed five drivers with a well-timed pit stop under the virtual safety car and was faultless after the restart.

This is not Campos’ first good showing of 2024; both Hadjar and Martí were strong in Bahrain. They were also strong last season at Sakhir before losing performance in subsequent rounds.

Campos scored 42 percent of their 2023 points total in Bahrain. There were questions over whether history would repeat itself, but the Spanish outfit have been formidable so far, with their drivers sitting fourth and seventh in the championship. Further success could have been possible without the sprint race collision and a 10-second penalty for Martí in the feature race after separate contact with Ollie Bearman.

If Campos can maintain their form as F2 moves to Europe, further race wins could be possible.

2. Antonelli’s first strong weekend

The first two rounds of the season were difficult for Prema.

Their pairing of Bearman and Andrea Kimi Antonelli scored just one point between them in Bahrain. At the next round in Jeddah, Bearman deputised for Carlos Sainz in F1, so the team only fielded one car in the races for Antonelli, who achieved a pair of sixth places.

The Mercedes junior made his first moves at the very front of the field in Melbourne when he started second in the feature race. An impressive move on polesitter Dennis Hauger on the first lap saw him move into the lead, although Hauger would reclaim the place the next time by.

Antonelli would eventually finish fourth after he was jumped by Hadjar in the pit stop cycle and overtaken by Paul Aron and Zane Maloney. However, the Melbourne weekend represents a step in the right direction for the Italian despite his race-ending spin in the sprint race. This is especially notable when comparing his results to those of his returning teammate, who only managed 14^th and ninth in the sprint and feature race respectively.

Many predicted that Antonelli could fight for the F2 title in this his rookie season. It is too early to tell whether a championship challenge will materialise for any driver, but Antonelli is now showing the F2 paddock why he is such an exciting talent.

3. Martins needs more for F1 progression

One driver who was certainly expected to be in the championship conversation was ART Grand Prix’s Victor Martins.

The 2022 F3 champion finished fifth as a rookie in F2 last year, but he has struggled so far in 2024. He failed to score in both Bahrain and Saudi Arabia because of a combination of mechanical failures and accidents, making him one of just four drivers to enter Melbourne without a point to his name.

The Alpine Academy driver’s form did not improve in Friday’s qualifying session, when he rode the notorious kerb at Turn 6 and spun out of contention. As a result, he had to start both races from the back row of the grid.

Better performances followed in both races. The 22-year-old was able to salvage minor points from both races, finishing seventh and eighth with impressive recovery drives. His talent is undoubted, as proven by the nine podiums scored in his rookie season, but Martins will require a dramatic upturn in fortunes to convince the decision-makers at Alpine he deserves an F1 drive in 2025.

At the start of the weekend, Martins told Feeder Series that he was now treating F2 as ‘a 12-round championship’. Having gained only six points this weekend, he has 11 chances remaining to prove that he deserves to step up.

4. Staněk’s defensive display

Roman Staněk endured a difficult first year in F2, finishing 18th with just five points-scoring finishes. He scored his first points of 2024 with a win in the Melbourne sprint race after Hadjar’s disqualification.

To achieve his victory, Staněk delivered an impressive drive in which he kept a strong chasing pack behind him. The Trident driver was aware that he may not have the pace to chase Hadjar and so consolidated his second place. Five cars finished within four seconds of the Czech driver, but he kept them all behind.

Staněk finished fifth in F3’s 2022 season, after which he earned a promotion within Trident’s setup. While his first year may have been challenging, the 20-year-old showed his best qualities for the first time in F2 at Melbourne and will look to produce more consistent results as the championship moves to Europe.

5. Maloney and Aron’s consistency

Two drivers are certainly consistent: Zane Maloney and Paul Aron. Rodin’s Maloney leads the championship after three rounds with 62 points, while Hitech’s Aron occupies second place on 47. They have two non-scores between them after the six races, and their consistently high finishing positions have given both a strong platform for the rest of the season.

Maloney has been unable to replicate the heroics of his double win in Bahrain, but third place in the feature race was a strong showing. After an off-track excursion left him without any points in the sprint race, the Barbadian rebounded by converting fifth place on the grid to a podium finish.

Meanwhile, Aron’s second place in the feature continues an impressive streak: he is the only driver to have scored a podium at each of the three rounds so far. The Estonian’s strong results may come as a surprise to some, but he has shown consistent pace for consecutive seasons. Prior to entering F2, he finished third in FRECA in both 2021 and 2022 before taking the same position in F3 last season. Despite having left the Mercedes junior stable at the end of last year, he appears unfazed, and he could be a dark horse in F2.

Header photo credit: Sebastiaan Rozendaal / Dutch Photo Agency