Bearman wins Losail sprint race as Hadjar blows chance to take points lead · RaceFans

Oliver Bearman converted pole position into victory in the sprint race in Losail ahead of Jak Crawford and Richard Verschoor.

The Ferrari junior driver passed Isack Hadjar in the closing laps after a race-long strategic battle between the pair.

Hadjar then threw away an opportunity to take the championship lead by spinning, which cost him a podium finish.

Haas-bound Bearman took pole position on the partially-reversed grid after yesterday’s qualifying session and held onto the lead at the start ahead of championship contender Hadjar. However, Hadjar on his medium tyres had much more pace than Bearman on the hards and stuck with the Prema initially, before claiming the lead at turn 10.

Hadjar quickly built a lead over Bearman as the leading pair left Victor Martins behind in third. But after the race resumed on lap eight after a short Virtual Safety Car period when Oliver Goethe suffered a spectacular engine failure, Hadjar reported he was unhappy with the wear on his front-left tyre.

Bearman bided his time over several laps, closing to within DRS range of the Campos. At the start of lap 21, Bearman made a late decision to dive down the inside of the first corner but made it work to reclaim the lead. Hadjar tried to stay with the Prema but lost control of his car into turn four, spinning through the gravel strip and dropping two further places to fourth.

The race ended under the Safety Car after a multi-car clash at turn one between Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Kush Maini and Victor Martins led to the former two retiring. Bearman took the chequered flag first ahead of Jak Crawford, with Richard Verschoor claiming the final podium position thanks to Hadjar’s spin.

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Hadjar came home fourth ahead of Paul Aron and Gabriel Bortoleto with Miyata a provisional seventh and Zane Maloney claiming the final point in his final F2 sprint race. Hadjar’s spin means instead of leading the championship he lies two-and-a-half points off championship leader Bortoleto.

Four drivers made their F2 debuts in the race. Dino Beganovic was on course to finish the best of them in seventh until he was hit by Ritomo Miyata, causing him to spin and drop to 13th. However, he finished 11th to still take the honour of best debutant. John Bennett came 13th ahead of Max Esterson, with Cian Shields finishing last on the road in 18th.

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