F2 | Monza: Bortoleto wins in comeback and closes the gap in the standings

Formula 3 saw its final act in Monza, while Formula 2 still has 3 events, including the grand finale in Abu Dhabi. However, the Italian stage was quite significant, especially in terms of the world championship standings.

The winners were Oliver Bearman in the sprint race and, above all, Gabriel Bortoleto in Sunday’s Feature Race, which allowed him to significantly reduce the gap to Isack Hadjar. The Brazilian, second before arriving in Monza, has in fact reduced the gap to just 10.5 points from the Red Bull Academy driver, who this weekend was outside the top ten in both races.

It was also an unlucky weekend for Paul Aron, who was involved in a contact in the sprint and was knocked out of the race in the Feature Race by a collision after he had taken the lead at the start. Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s fourth place in the long race on Sunday is noteworthy.

Sprint Race: Bearman Triumphs

One of the drivers of the weekend was undoubtedly Oliver Bearman, who managed to win the sprint race, repeating the success obtained in the Austrian race and stepping onto the podium for the second time this year.

The race got off to a frenetic start, with the Safety Car coming out before the end of the first lap. On the start-finish straight, Zak O’Sullivan (ART) came into contact with the rear tyre of rookie Oliver Goethe (MP Motorsport), who is replacing new Williams F1 driver Franco Colapinto this weekend. Goethe then crossed the entire track, crashing into the barriers, although fortunately he was not injured. Andrea Kimi Antonelli also paid the price, starting from the back of the grid due to a 10-place penalty resulting from a curious episode: both at Silverstone and Spa, dry ice had come out of his car and, after an initial suspended penalty, the fact that this episode also occurred in Belgium then led to a double setback.

Starting from eighth on the grid, following a five-place grid penalty for causing a collision in the final race before the summer break at Spa-Francorchamps, Bearman quickly moved up the order, taking the lead on lap seven when Pepe Marti, in an attempt to defend himself, ran wide at the first braking point, having to hand over the position to the Briton.

For the rest of the race, the Prema driver calmly managed the gap to the drivers behind him, with Victor Martins, starting in the front rows, who then took second place over Marti, while the latter then slipped to fourth place. Third place was in fact earned by Joshua Durksen, who took his second podium of the season after the one obtained in Imola.

Oliver Bearman, Prema Racing, celebrates victory with champagne

Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images

Fifth place for Zane Maloney ahead of Crawford and Enzo Fittipaldi, while Dennis Hauger and Gabriel Bortoleto closed out the points zone: the Norwegian and the Brazilian passed together at the photo finish with the exact same time, for which the FIA ​​awarded half a point to each driver. For Bortoleto, however, the satisfaction of having closed in the points zone remains after the accident in qualifying that forced him to start from the last row, in a sort of appetizer for what would later happen in the Feature Race.

It was not an easy race for one of the championship protagonists, Paul Aron, who finished in 13th position: the Hitech driver had actually started quite well and was in seventh place, but a perhaps over-ambitious move on Maloney led him to damage his front wing and fall to the back of the group just two laps from the checkered flag.

Feature Race: Bortoleto comes back from the back

If Saturday’s comeback in the sprint race was just the appetizer, the one in Sunday’s Feature Race was the main course for Gabriel Bortoleto, who took victory starting from last place, despite being helped by the entrance of the Safety Car at the right moment.

The race got off to a hectic start: after taking the lead, Paul Aron was hit at the first braking point by Pepe Marti who had locked his front tires, unable to avoid the Hitech driver, who thus spun. Although Marti continued, albeit with a 10-second penalty, Aron was instead forced to retire.

Kush Maini, Invicta Racing and Rafael Villagomez, Van Amersfoort Racing

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

Championship leader Isack Hadjar was forced onto the run-off area in the same incident after a poor start, but the turning point of the race came on lap eight when Dennis Hauger (MP Motorsport) made contact with Ritomo Miyata (Rodin) and spun under the first braking point.

This moment changed the situation completely, with Bortoleto jumping to fifth, behind only those running the reverse strategy. The Brazilian stayed out for one lap longer than most of those running the ‘base’ strategy starting on the supersoft tyres, and the Safety Car came at just the right time.

Losing less time in the pits, he returned to the track in the lead and, driving in clean air with impressive pace, eventually took the win by over 8.5 seconds. While the podium places remained largely unchallenged from then on, only waiting for some of the drivers who had started on the reverse strategy to make their pit stops, there was an intense battle between Prema teammates Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Oliver Bearman, both of whom have been confirmed in F1 for 2025.

The battle reached its climax on lap 24 of 30 when Antonelli, having already flagged his teammate for moving under braking, attempted an attack on the outside of turn one, only to have the line in his favor as the chicane called. Bearman ended up on the kerb and in the gravel, later losing the position to Joshua Durksen.

Behind Bortoleto, Maloney and Verschoor finished, while Antonelli achieved a nice fourth place ahead of Durksen, Martins, Bearman, Villagomex, Crawford and Fittipaldi to close the points zone. However, this success means above all that the Brazilian has recovered important points on Hadjar, outside the points zone.