Formula 2’s championship battle heated up in Imola, with several drivers gaining ground on Zane Maloney, who has been the points leader since the first round. Feeder Series analyses the five big takeaways from F2’s first round on European soil.

By Steven Walton

1. Hadjar and Aron close in on Maloney

Campos driver Isack Hadjar ate into Zane Maloney’s championship advantage with his flawless run to victory in the Imola feature race. With 25 points for the win, Hadjar now sits third in the championship standings, four points behind Paul Aron and nine points behind Maloney.

Maloney had a race to forget on Sunday in Imola. The Rodin Motorsport driver started sixth and held that position until he lost track position during his pit stop. In the second stint, Maloney was stuck behind Trident’s Roman Staněk for some time, which thwarted any hopes of recovery. Maloney finished outside the points in 11th place.

A feature race with no points for Maloney allowed Aron and Hadjar to close in.

Aron’s consistency this year in F2 is unmatched. He finished second in the Imola sprint and sixth in the feature race, scoring 16 points across the weekend. He remains the only driver who has been on the podium in all four rounds.

Hadjar has also been a top performer all season, but he made a slow start with his points tally due to horrendous luck in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. Since then, Hadjar’s fortunes have changed, and his feature race wins in Australia and Imola have put him firmly back in the hunt for the 2024 title.

2. Bortoleto finally gets a good result on the board

Invicta Racing’s Gabriel Bortoleto cut a disappointed figure on the team radio after finishing second in the Imola feature race. It was his first podium in Formula 2, but the Brazilian driver clearly felt more was possible after pressuring race winner Hadjar in the final laps.

Still, the second-place finish was important for Bortoleto. He has shown pace in flashes this season, but this was the first time he was able to avoid problems and bring home a strong result.

Ending the round with a pole position, sixth in the sprint race, and second in the feature race will undoubtedly be a big confidence boost for the McLaren development driver as he looks to reengage in the championship fight.

Bortoleto’s points haul in Imola elevated him to fifth in the championship. He is now just a few points ahead of Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Franco Colapinto, and Kush Maini. Bortoleto currently sits 30 points behind championship leader Maloney.

If Bortoleto wants to be included in the 2024 championship fight, his Imola form must continue.

3. Gremlins hold back Bearman and Crawford

For Ollie Bearman and Jak Crawford, Imola was a classic case of ‘what if?’

Prema driver Bearman sensationally qualified second for the feature race, and when it got underway, he immediately jumped into the lead as polesitter Bortoleto got a poor getaway.  

But any chance of a fairytale Bearman victory to kickstart his 2024 campaign disappeared when he pitted from the lead at the end of lap seven. Bearman’s car stalled several times as he tried to pull out of his pit box, costing him precious time. 

He eventually rejoined the race, albeit down in 21st place. “After that, nothing really to do,” Bearman said. “The car felt fast, but you cannot really overtake on this track.” He finished outside the points in 19th.

Meanwhile, Jak Crawford’s Imola weekend was compromised during Friday qualifying when a technical gremlin limited him to just one lap in qualifying. It was only good enough for 21st. 

The pace Crawford showed during the rest of the weekend suggested he would’ve been competitive if he had a clean run in qualifying. Crawford was one of the stars of the feature race, storming from the back of the field to seventh.

4. A corner turned for AIX Racing?

One of the big surprises of the Imola weekend was the uptick in form from AIX Racing. The team, which failed to score a single point last season, finally broke their drought with a sublime and almost unthinkable podium.

Their two drivers, Joshua Dürksen and Taylor Barnard, were brilliant throughout the whole weekend. 

Dürksen kicked things off by qualifying fifth, and then in the sprint race, Barnard crossed the line in seventh but later lost that result due to a technical infringement.

AIX Racing’s crowning moment came during Sunday’s feature race, where Dürksen delivered a faultless drive, moving forward from fifth to finish third on pure merit behind Hadjar and Bortoleto. 

This marked the first points finish for AIX Racing in any guise since Enzo Fittipaldi’s podium in Monza in 2022.

A big question moving forward is whether AIX Racing can maintain the Imola form. Was the competitiveness a stroke of luck, or is this the new normal?

5. No podiums for F2’s behemoths

ART Grand Prix and Prema have long been the dominant forces in F2, but Imola was further proof that in 2024, they have been overthrown. 

With four rounds now completed, ART and Prema are the only two F2 teams that haven’t finished on the podium.

Prema sits sixth in the F2 teams’ standings while reigning teams’ champions ART Grand Prix are even further back in tenth.

This season’s championship has been far wackier than anyone expected, and it wouldn’t be a stretch to suggest that Dallara’s new car, the first one for six seasons, has played a role in shaking up the establishment.

With Hadjar’s triumph in the Imola feature race, Campos has nicked the teams’ championship lead from Rodin Motorsport. The two teams are separated by just a single point as the championship heads to Monaco this weekend.

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