It all comes down to this. After 13 rounds of racing, just half a point separates Campos’ Isack Hadjar from Invicta’s Gabriel Bortoleto at the top of the Formula 2 drivers’ standings. On the eve of the final round in Abu Dhabi, the pair spoke to Feeder Series alongside selected media at a virtual roundtable. 

By Martin Lloyd

Having fought all season – and even clashed in Melbourne – the pair have taken different paths to their title-fighting positions in Abu Dhabi.

Hadjar has won more races, while Bortoleto’s remarkable mid-season form has propelled him to the possibility of a second title in two years after his F3 success in 2023. 

“Last year was very different,” Bortoleto told Feeder Series during the media session. “We had a lot of margin on points compared to P2 coming into the last round. This year is a little bit different. We lost some points in the last round [in Qatar].

“It’s my first time ever fighting for a title this closely because in F3 it wasn’t like this. It was more about managing points. Here, it’s all about performing, winning races when we can and giving everything we have.”

In 2023, Bortoleto entered the final F3 event at Monza with a lead of 38 points over Paul Aron, with 39 on the table. This weekend, there are again 39 points on offer, but Bortoleto has a lead of just half a point over Hadjar. The Frenchman, in contrast to his Brazilian rival, has never won a junior single-seater title. 

“I can’t remember the last time I won a championship,” Hadjar told Feeder Series. “I think it was probably my first go-kart season ever, a decade ago. I think my only target is to win an F1 title. That’s the main one. 

“Winning the [F2] title isn’t going to change too much for me. I’m going to do it for my guys that work so hard to give me the car to deliver. I’m just going to enjoy it. Just being in the fight is a privileged position to be in.”

The two have been intertwined since the first corner of the season-opener at Sakhir, where Bortoleto tagged Hadjar, with the former having lost the lead. Another incident in Melbourne saw Hadjar’s teammate, Pepe Martí, also involved with the pair in a crash just metres beyond the startline. 

Since then, Hadjar has scored four race wins to Bortoleto’s two, but the latter’s supreme consistency saw him take the championship lead at Baku.

Bortoleto scored points in 18 of the last 20 races, while Hadjar endured a torrid late-summer run before closing the gap by four points in Qatar. Speaking to the assembled press, he said this was the weekend he was going to enjoy the most.

I’ve done all the hard work already. Now I know the process and how it works,” he said. 

“I feel much less pressure than at the start of the season. I really want to enjoy myself and bring the title to Campos.”

In the teams’ standings, Invicta lead Campos by 31.5 points, with 65 on offer.

Header photo credit: Dutch Photo Agency