Théo Pourchaire achieved the Formula 2 title this Sunday, bidding farewell to the category after three seasons with the “cherry on top”. Also leaving is Jack Doohan, who closed his last campaign with a victory in the Abu Dhabi Feature race.
Doohan (Invicta Virtuosi) started in pole position and maintained the lead ahead of Victor Martins (ART Grand Prix). Frederik Vesti (Prema) started ninth and, needing to recover 16 points from Pourchaire (ART Grand Prix), opted for an alternative strategy by starting with medium tires. However, it wouldn’t help him much, as the Frenchman also made no significant progress from 14th place on the grid – not even with a tire change at the end of the sixth lap.
The leader pitted after the ninth lap and returned to the track in 12th place. The tire changes were suspended for a while, as Oliver Bearman (Prema) was stuck with problems at the entrance to the pit lane and had to be recovered.
Vesti’s pit stop came at the end of the 22nd lap, and when he returned to the track, he was in ninth place behind Pourchaire. On the 24th lap, Arthur Leclerc (DAMS) was the last to change tires, and thus, Doohan returned to the real lead and never let it go.
Meanwhile, Vesti – equipped with soft tires – embarked on an impressive recovery, which began with an overtaking maneuver on Pourchaire. The Danish driver continued to advance in the field and, before a virtual safety car, overtook Aymu Iwasa (DAMS) to move into second place. Subsequently, he attacked Zane Maoloney (Rodin Carlin). The two collided on the final lap, but Vesti gained the position and the Barbadian driver spun, losing the chance to end the year with a good result.
At the front, no one had the arguments to challenge Doohan, who won with almost four seconds of margin ahead of Martins – who set the fastest lap. Vesti completed the podium over 18 seconds behind, with Iwasa in fourth. Fifth place was enough for Pourchaire to become the new F2 champion.
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