Azerbaijan 2024, Feature Race: More party for Verschoor. 3rd Antonelli | FP

Endless Feature Race in Baku after what happened at the start, with a bad accident involving several drivers, all of whom fortunately came out unscathed from the violent collision. Celebrating at the end of a race that lasted more than an hour was Richard Verschoorwho took pole position on Friday and his first win of the season today. There is also reason to smile for Andrea Kimi Antonelli, 3rd behind the back of Victor Martinsbut also for Gabriel Bortoleto. Thanks to his 4th place and the placing outside the points zone of Isack Hadjar, the Brazilian from the Invicta team is the new leader of the general classification two rounds from the end of the championship.

Race report

The Azerbaijan Grand Prix started with a scare at the start due to an accident at the back: while Verschoor defended his lead from Antonelli, at the back of the group the single-seater of Mainshit full by Goethe. The Indian driver’s car was literally destroyed, while the collision also involved the car of Tuesdaywhich overturned. Fortunately, despite the violent impact, all the pilots remained unharmed, but the immediate exposure of the red flag.

After a long wait for debris to be removed from the track, the race resumed with a flying start procedure behind the Safety Car, and with a maximum of 35 minutes. At the second start, Verschoor once again maintained the lead, stretching out over Antonelli, who was struggling to keep up with the pace of the Trident driver. It is no coincidence that, two laps after the green flag, the future Mercedes driver lost second place to Martins, just before returning to the pits for the mandatory tire change. In this instance, which occurred about 18 minutes from the end, the Prema mechanics particularly stood out, allowing Antonelli to virtually return to second position ahead of Martins, with Verschoor still at the top of the standings. However, after Maloney’s return to the track (who had made his pit stop later than most of his competitors), the Barbadian driver came into contact with Antonelli due to a lockup due to cold tires, forcing the Bolognese driver to once again give up second place to Martins. The top three, in fact, remained unchanged until the checkered flag, with the drivers crossing the finish line practically under the Safety Car regime due to the impact with the barriers three minutes from the end of Gabriele Miniclose to finishing the race in the points zone in ninth position. Those who remained outside the top-10 were once again Isaac Hadjarwhich with the 14th final place has lost the championship lead to Bortoleto, 4th and now 4.5 points ahead of the Frenchman from Campos with two races to go in the season.

Stop until November

Now pay attention to the next appointments on the calendar: unlike Formula 1, which will be back on track next weekend in Singapore, Formula 2 is taking a long break that will last just over two months. The cadet category of the Circus will in fact make its debut in Lusakafor the Qatar Grand Prix, this weekend from November 29th to December 1stfor the penultimate event of the 2024 season.

F2 / Azerbaijan 2024, Feature Race: Finishing Order