F2 / Bahrain, Feature Race: Maloney repeats himself. 10th Antonelli, in the points | FP

Maloney unstoppable

First Feature Race of 2024 full of twists and emotions, but what didn't change from the Sprint Race was the name of the winner: Zane Maloney. After the success in yesterday's race, the Barbadian from Rodin repeated himself today too, scoring a double which takes him to the top of the general classification. A day that smiles also and above all for the rookies, as demonstrated by the 2nd place for Josep Maria Martì, back on the podium after third position in the Sprint. Finally, the Estonian closes the top-3 Paul Aronalso in his first weekend in Formula 2. More modest satisfaction for Andrea Kimi Antonellistarted from the rear but reached the 10th place after an applause performance. For the Bolognese it is thus the first point in the category.

Race report

Maloney stood out straight away with an excellent start, to the point of taking the lead on the finishing straight, overtaking Hadjar and poleman Bortoleto. Having reached the first corner, the latter came into contact with Hadjar, sending him into a spin and forcing him to retire after being hit by Fittipaldi. An accident which, in addition to having caused the entry of the Safety Car, pushed the Race Direction to inflict a 10 second penalty on Bortoleto himself. The episode favored O'Sullivan and Hauger, who moved up to second and third respectively. At the restart, which took place on lap 5, Martì took the lead and was able to climb back to 2nd place in the space of two laps, overtaking Bortoleto, Hauger and finally O'Sullivan thanks to the choice of soft tyres. Too far away Maloney, in the meantime more and more alone. The race then experienced another important chapter with the pit stops for tire changes, which occurred from the 13th lap. In the waltz of the pit stops, Crawford definitively lost any hope of a podium, fighting with O'Sullivan for third place, with the latter overtaken by Martì. No problem, however, for Maloney, despite the second Safety Car entered the 19th round due to Martins' withdrawal. In this circumstance all the gaps between the drivers were cancelled, also favoring Antonelli, protagonist of an excellent comeback up to the points zone. In fact, at the restart, the Bolognese managed to recover up to seventh place, also completing a splendid overtaking on teammate Bearman. Subsequently, with Prema's difficulties on the Sakhir circuit, the promising young Mercedes team was unable to defend its position, relegating itself to 10th place. Despite this, for Antonelli the first point in Formula 2 on debut weekend. Even wider smiles for Martì and Aron, able to exploit O'Sullivan's difficulties to finish in 2nd and 3rd place, obtaining their first podiums on their debut in this category.

F2 / Bahrain 2024, Feature Race: order of finish

Next appointment

Together with F1, the category will return to the track already next week, and once again in the Middle East. The weekend, which will maintain the same program as the current one (with the Feature Race scheduled for Saturday and not Sunday), will take place this time in Saudi Arabiaon the circuit of Jeddah. Among the cadet categories, F3 will be missing, which will return to Australia from 22 March.