Verschoor wins strategic F2 sprint race at Hungaroring

Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

Richard Verschoor came from behind to take his first Formula 2 win of 2024 in a sprint race dominated by tyre strategy at the Hungaroring.

The Trident driver lined up on reversed-grid pole ahead of Virtuosi Racing’s Kush Maini, while Rodin Motorsport’s Zane Maloney stalled from third on the formation lap and was forced to start from the pitlane.

Prema’s Andrea Kimi Antonelli was one of 12 drivers to choose Pirelli’s soft compound tyres, and he used the extra grip to attack right from the off.

Verschoor led fellow hard tyre runner Maini in turn one. Antonelli locked up and ran wide behind them, but maintained enough momentum to sweep around the outside of Maini into the next corner and then immediately closed onto the tail of Verschoor.

The Dutchman made a late defence of the lead into turn one on lap three, but Antonelli got a much better run down the pit straight next time by to squeeze up the inside and move ahead.

Antonelli built more than a two-second advantage over the next three laps but his tyres soon started to fade, and by the halfway stage of the 28-lap race Verschoor and Maini had caught back up.

Despite locking up twice into turn two, Antonelli remained ahead until his resistance was finally broken when Verschoor snatched the lead into turn one. Antonelli ran wide, slipped to third and continued to lose places before pitting for fresh rubber.

Verschoor led the remainding laps and won by 1.5s from Maini, while ART Grand Prix’s Victor Martins finished a further 9.5s behind and was the highest-placed finisher on the soft tyre.

Points leader Isack Hadjar ran eighth in the early stages on the hard tyre before making up ground and finishing fourth.

Rodin’s Enzo Fittipaldi had climbed to fourth at one stage ahead of fellow soft-shod runner Dennis Hauger but the Brazilian was forced to pit when a badly flatspotted front tyre disintegrated.

Hauger came home fifth ahead of MP Motorsport team-mate Franco Colapinto, while Hitech GP’s title contender Paul Aron slipped to 14th early on before using his hard tyres to recover to seventh. 

AIX Racing’s Taylor Barnard snatched the final point in eighth after passing Prema’s Ollie Bearman who faded on soft rubber late on and lost out in a thrilling three-wide battle into turn three with Juan Manuel Correa and Jack Crawford, the DAMS duo coming home ninth and 10th.

Antonelli finished 15th, two places ahead of Virtuosi’s Gabriel Bortoleto who also faded with tyre issues late on.

Race results (28 laps)