Noel León benefitted from a virtual safety car during his pit stop to take his third Formula 2 victory of the year in the feature race at the Hungaroring. The Campos driver held off ART Grand Prix’s Kush Maini and Invicta Racing’s Rafael Câmara to win by eight tenths of a second. Feeder Series heard from the top three as well as fifth-placed Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak after the race.

By Cliona Sheerin

León was second when the pit stop sequence began, but a well-timed virtual safety car intervention slotted him into the net race lead. However, it was not all smooth sailing for the Mexican driver, with strategy playing a key factor in the race.

“Tyre management was key,” León told Feeder Series in the post-race press conference. “To control all the slides, all the lock-ups and all this stuff was quite important.… Being in clean air helps you a bit. That’s why we were a bit off-pace on the first laps to build a gap with Kush and maybe trying to recover that gap at the end of the stint, but [it] seems that he didn’t have deg. That was a bit of the hardest moment of the race because he [had] no deg, and as soon as you manage everything, people [go] longer on the tyres. I think the strategy as we see today was key.”

Maini maintained his lead off the line, with a poor getaway from Câmara dropping him behind León before the field came to Turn 1. León then pulled alongside the race leader around the first corner, but the ART driver held off his advances to stay in front. Behind the top three, Laurens van Hoepen got alongside Inthraphuvasak on the exit of the first corner before pulling ahead around the outside of Turn 2, which gave him the inside line and fourth place into Turn 3. 

Championship leader Nikola Tsolov had an eventful opening lap, starting further back in the pack in 12th owing to his five-place grid penalty for causing a collision with Sebastián Montoya in the sprint race. The Bulgarian was all out of shape on the exit of Turn 4 as he attempted to progress through the field, taking to the run-off area. On rejoining, he found himself with Martinius Stenshorne on the outside and John Bennett sandwiched between the two. Three into one did not go, and Bennett came away with front wing damage and Stenshorne suspension damage that forced him to pit. The stewards opted against investigating the incident further.

Tsolov, meanwhile, continued his charge through the field on the alternate strategy, moving up to ninth with successive moves on Nico Varrone and Montoya into Turn 1 on laps seven and eight. 

Out front, Maini extended his lead as the laps ticked by. The gap back to León was five seconds over the line on lap 12, with no signs of Maini’s soft tyres falling away. 

Inthraphuvasak, the leader of the alternate strategy runners, started making headway on lap 14, overtaking Joshua Dürksen at the first corner for fifth position. Dürksen was the first of the frontrunners to switch to the medium tyres at the end of lap 15, with a slide into the gravel on the exit of Turn 12 indicative of the low grip in his Pirellis. He emerged in 15th, ahead of Gabriele Minì, who had pitted on the previous tour. 

León pitted the next time around, and while he was in pit lane, a virtual safety car was called for a stricken Rafael Villagómez, who had stopped in the run-off area of Turn 12. León reaped the benefits with the field running at a slower pace out on track and rejoined in 11th.

The virtual safety car ended just before lap 18 began, albeit not in time for the drivers to change tyres that time around. Van Hoepen had to wait until the following lap to pit from third, and when he did so he found himself running 10 seconds behind León. Câmara too lost out to León when he came in at the end of lap 20, with Van Hoepen hot on his heels, his tyres now up to temperature.

Just how much León benefited from the virtual safety car became apparent at the end of lap 21, when Maini relinquished the lead he held from the very start of the race to make the switch to the medium tyres. After the blend, León had an advantage of five seconds over Maini with two cars in between the two. The Mexican driver was now in prime position to take over the lead of the race once the alternate-strategy runners made their mandatory stops.

With Câmara close behind, Maini got around Oliver Goethe ahead at Turn 2 on lap 24 before Emerson Fittipaldi Jr dived into the pits at the end of the lap, clearing the way for the polesitter to catch back up to León ahead. Maini set the fastest lap of the race on lap 25 as he closed in on the Campos in front, bringing Câmara with him as he did so. 

“That was a very scary moment of our race,” Maini told Feeder Series about being behind those on the alternate strategy. “When I came out the pits, I saw Noel already cleared the guys. And then I saw three or four cars and I was like, ‘Oh my god, here we go’. I got very close because I obviously have Rafa behind me as well, who did a great out lap. I wanted to keep one car between us and at the same time I wanted to catch Noel. I still thought it was possible. I went for a lunge and I nearly, nearly, nearly crashed, but it was all right. It was fun. Probably the [most fun] part of the race.”

“When you see the group in front, you think how [it] will be because it’s always going to be a mess,” Câmara said post-race. “But I think we managed well to get overtakes done. Like Kush said, he had a moment in T13 so I was thinking maybe I had a chance. But I didn’t want to risk it too much going [to] the inside and maybe he didn’t see me. After that, it was just trying to stay with him, catch Noel. I was hoping for Kush to try something, but nothing really happened, and I was just staying there, trying to get closer. But not today.”

Meanwhile, the top two in the championship – Minì and Tsolov – battled on laps 28 and 29 for ninth in the race, Tsolov attempting to use his fresh soft rubber to continue his recovery drive and steal some valuable championship points from his rival. Minì defended through Turns 2 and 3 on lap 28 before getting a better exit out of the final corner to keep Tsolov at bay for a little longer. But a wide moment from the Italian through the exit of the penultimate corner on the next lap enabled Tsolov to complete an overtake before the final turn.

Dürksen and Inthraphuvasak had a battle of their own for fifth, which raged on as the laps ticked down. The Thai driver attempted lap on lap to use his soft tyres to overtake the Invicta down at Turn 1, finally pulling off the move on the 34th tour after four laps of back and forth. Fellow soft-shod runners Beganovic and Tsolov followed through on Dürksen a lap later.

Alex Dunne was the last of the drivers starting on mediums to pit, coming in from the lead at the end of lap 31. That made way for León to take the lead of the race, though by lap 32 Maini and Câmara were caught up to the back of the Campos. 

The top three were now running nose to tail, with Câmara looking the most likely to make a move on Maini in front. Maini fell out of León’s DRS range on the final lap, but he held on for second place. Out front, León crossed the line 0.8 seconds ahead of the ART to secure his first feature race win and third of the season. 

Behind the podium finishers, Van Hoepen was fourth in what was a solid weekend for the Dutch driver following his podium in the sprint. Inthraphuvasak came home as the first of the drivers who opted for the alternate strategy in fifth. 

“Starting P5, ending P5, not a bad race overall,” the ART Grand Prix driver told Feeder Series after the race. “On the driving side of things, I think I maximised everything today. I was in a really good rhythm. Even on the prime tyres on the first stint, I was able to keep up with the option, so I was really happy with how the race was going.

“The luck just didn’t really come on our side today without any safety cars or anything. I think as a team we had a really good weekend with points in both races and also Kush on the podium today. I’m really happy with how we’re working. On my side, a bit disappointed to finish P5 considering how well we drove today, but to be disappointed with P5 is a good sign.”

For Inthraphuvasak, the result was a sixth points finish in the last seven races. From Spielberg onwards, only the top three in the championship and teammate Maini have bested his 46 points scored.

“The key to all the performance we’ve been having is my qualifying result,” Inthraphuvasak continued. “I was in a really bad rhythm after the crash in Montréal. It took me a few rounds to recover, and I think I’m back on form and on the level that I should be.

“We’re still improving. Every lap I do in this car I feel more confident. I’m improving every lap I’m doing in this car.”

Fellow alternate-strategy runners Dino Beganovic and Tsolov finished sixth and seventh respectively, the latter of whom delivered an important recovery drive for his championship prospects having started 12th.

Dürksen fell down to eighth from a starting position of fourth, while Minì scored the two points for ninth. Having survived the opening-lap incident, Bennett recovered to the final points-paying position in 10th, putting in a mammoth 20-lap stint on supersofts.

Tsolov’s lead atop the drivers’ standings has been reduced to 20 points thanks to Minì’s victory in the sprint race. Meanwhile, Câmara third place in the feature has brought him back into contention as he sits only two points further back from Minì in second. Alex Dunne stays fourth after his first non-scoring round of the season – missing out by just one place in the feature race – while León’s feature race win moves him up to fifth on 94 points.

Campos maintained their stronghold on the teams’ championship on 261 points, with León’s victory extending the gap back to Invicta now in second to 74 points. MP Motorsport are third, 11 points off Invicta, while Rodin Motorsport go from second to fourth having picked up just a singular point across the weekend.

Additional reporting by Michael McClure

Header photo credit: Dutch Photo Agency