Bearman excels in Austria, clinching vital points and dominating the F2 sprint race for PREMA.
Friday’s qualifying session saw Hadjar’s engine go up in smoke while he was in a provisional pole position. Despite this and his absence from the end of the session, the Frenchman still managed to qualify in the top 10.
Pole position for Sunday was claimed by Hauger, ahead of the surprising Dürksen and Bortoleto. For today’s sprint race, Maini leads from pole with Bearman just behind, having set the tenth and ninth fastest times respectively.
Bearman made the strongest start, seizing the lead at the first turn, while Marti moved into second by the fourth corner. Meanwhile, Hadjar dropped back in the standings and found himself out of the points.
Bortoleto showed form, overtaking Colapinto on the outside before making a move on Aron, narrowly avoiding a collision with Barnard and thus tucking in behind the Estonian.
As Bearman extended his lead in the early laps, Aron held off Bortoleto’s pressure and eventually overtook Barnard. The young Briton was subsequently passed by several competitors over the laps, starting with Bortoleto and Colapinto.
Marti closed the gap to Bearman and was soon within the DRS zone of the PREMA driver, where he remained for almost the entire race without making an overtaking attempt.
Barnard was overtaken successively by his teammate Dürksen, then Hauger, O’Sullivan, and Crawford.
With less than ten laps to go, Paul Aron made a move on Maini for the final podium spot at turn 3, which also allowed Bortoleto to pass the Indian driver.
Bortoleto continued to pressure Aron, but the Estonian held firm. Maini, however, could not withstand the pressure from behind, getting passed by Hauger and Crawford in the closing laps.
Oliver Bearman, far behind in the championship standings, clinched his first victory of the season and collected significant points, although he remains far from the leader, Paul Aron, who finished third today.
Pepe Marti finished second, splitting the two on the podium. Bortoleto crossed the line in fourth place, with Hauger fifth, ahead of Crawford and Maini. The final point of the day went to Dürksen, in eighth.
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ollie Bearman | Prema | 37m |
| 2 | Pepe Marti | Campos Racing | +1.751s |
| 3 | Paul Aron | Hitech GP | +3.003s |
| 4 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Virtuosi Racing | +3.655s |
| 5 | Dennis Hauger | MP Motorsport | +11.030s |
| 6 | Jak Crawford | DAMS | +11.677s |
| 7 | Kush Maini | Virtuosi Racing | +13.703s |
| 8 | Joshua Duerksen | AIX Racing | +13.887s |
| 9 | Zak O’Sullivan | ART Grand Prix | +15.866s |
| 10 | Victor Martins | ART Grand Prix | +19.852s |
| 11 | Franco Colapinto | MP Motorsport | +21.546s |
| 12 | Taylor Barnard | AIX Racing | +22.305s |
| 13 | Isack Hadjar | Campos Racing | +22.857s |
| 14 | Enzo Fittipaldi | Van Amersfoort Racing | +23.629s |
| 15 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | Prema | +23.728s |
| 16 | Juan Manuel Correa | DAMS | +26.445s |
| 17 | Zane Maloney | Rodin Motorsport | +27.184s |
| 18 | Amaury Cordeel | Hitech GP | +27.597s |
| 19 | Rafael Villagomez | Van Amersfoort Racing | +28.250s |
| 20 | Richard Verschoor | Trident | +29.804s |
| 21 | Roman Stanek | Trident | +29.884s |
| 22 | Ritomo Miyata | Rodin Motorsport | +46.914s |
PREMA’s Bearman Scores Big in Austria Sprint. PREMA’s Bearman Scores Big in Austria Sprint
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The championship standings
| Position | Driver | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aron | 107 |
| 2 | Hadjar | 91 |
| 3 | Maloney | 75 |
| 4 | Crawford | 65 |
| 5 | Hauger | 62 |
| 6 | Bortoleto | 60 |
| 7 | Colapinto | 56 |
| 8 | Maini | 52 |
| 9 | Antonelli | 48 |
| 10 | O’Sullivan | 40 |
