Joshua Duerksen passed newcomers Christian Mansell and Gabriele Mini to secure his first Formula 2 victory in the Baku sprint race.
The AIX driver ended a three-year win drought, his last victory coming in Italian Formula 4 in 2021.Duerksen won by three seconds from Jak Crawford. Mini secured third place and a podium having led on his debut from Prema in place of Oliver Bearman, who is driving in Formula 1 this weekend.
Mansell secured reverse-grid pole position for his first race start in the series by qualifying 10th yesterday. When the lights went out, Mansell successfully defended his lead, with fellow debutant Gabriele Mini taking second place with Joshua Duerksen in third.
Mansell kept his nerve out front despite pressure from Mini behind. However, on lap six, an error at turn 15 allowed Mini a chance to challenge him into turn one and take the lead. A lap later, Duerksen picked off Mansell at the same corner to take second place.
Duerksen stuck with Mini until just after half distance. At the start of lap 13, the AIX driver used DRS to take the lead from Mini into turn one as, behind, Mansell began to slip backwards, passed by Crawford and Victor Martins.
The Safety Car was deployed on lap 15 when Ritomo Miyata hit the barrier at turn four, ending his race. A frantic restart on lap 17 saw Duerksen hold the lead, while Crawford took advantage of a mistake by Mini at the first corner to take second.
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Championship contender Gabriel Bortoleto was fortunate to continue the race after he was knocked into the wall at turn four by Mansell as they battled at the restart. Andrea Kimi Antonelli eventually picked off Mansell to move up to seventh.
Duerksen kept his calm out front and became the 15th different driver to win a race in Formula 2 this year. Crawford claimed second place, while Mini held off Martins by less than a tenth of a second at the finish to take an impressive podium on his F2 debut.
Bortoleto took fifth ahead of Paul Aron, with Antonelli in seventh and Mansell securing the final point in eighth. Kush Maini and Zane Maloney completed the top ten.
The result means that Bortoleto has closed to within six-and-a-half points of championship leader Isack Hadjar, who will again start in 20th place for Sunday’s feature race.
Formula 2 Azerbaijan race one results
| Position | Car | Driver | Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 24 | Joshua Duerksen | AIX |
| 2 | 7 | Jak Crawford | DAMS |
| 3 | 3 | Gabriele Mini | Prema |
| 4 | 1 | Victor Martins | ART |
| 5 | 10 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Invicta |
| 6 | 17 | Paul Aron | Hitech |
| 7 | 4 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | Prema |
| 8 | 23 | Christian Mansell | Trident |
| 9 | 9 | Kush Maini | Invicta |
| 10 | 5 | Zane Maloney | Rodin |
| 11 | 2 | Luke Browning | ART |
| 12 | 20 | Isack Hadjar | Campos |
| 13 | 14 | Enzo Fittipaldi | Van Amersfoort |
| 14 | 11 | Dennis Hauger | MP Motorsport |
| 15 | 8 | Juan Manuel Correa | DAMS |
| 16 | 15 | Rafael Villagomez | Van Amersfoort |
| 17 | 22 | Richard Verschoor | Trident |
| 18 | 16 | Amaury Cordeel | Hitech |
| 19 | 21 | Josep Maria Marti | Campos |
| 20 | 25 | Niels Koolen | AIX |
| 21 | 12 | Oliver Goethe | MP Motorsport |
| DNF | 6 | Ritomo Miyata | Rodin |
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Formula 2
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- Bortoleto clinches F2 title as Hadjar stalls and Duerksen wins finale
- Aron hit with double penalty for team’s illegal DRS modification, Hadjar gains a point
Asd
14th September 2024, 12:48
Wait, Gabrielle Mini in his F2 debut destroyed Antonelli who has what used to be a 1.5 season’s worth of races under his belt being in his 23rd F2 race. Interesting!
It was Mansell’s F2 debut as well. Food for thought.
The race was pretty cool. Baku is the best street circuit on the F1/F2 calendar.
wsrgo (@wsrgo)
14th September 2024, 12:53
Destroyed is tough to say, Mini started from 3rd while Antonelli started 9th because of the reverse grid. But still, good showing from the Alpine junior.
Asd
14th September 2024, 13:46
Oh, I didn’t know about the reverse grids. What a pathetic gimmick ;/
thegamer23
14th September 2024, 17:08
Still, podium at the first occasion is super impressive.
Anontelli hasn’t been that impressive in F2 straight away.
Dale
14th September 2024, 15:19
Toto really needs to evaluate his ‘protégé’s’ actual ability. Once again showing he’s out of touch with reality.
Antonelli’s not setting F2 alight at all, can’t beat drivers in less experienced / resourced teams than his, and now gets spanked by a rookie teammate.
There are guys in this years (& past years) F2 championships who have earned an F1 seat on ability and results way before Antonelli, and even Bearman.
Asd
14th September 2024, 20:20
Well, Bearman‘s F2 career looks very odd for someone who got an F1 contract:
2023 – 6th place with 130pts to champion’s 203pts – and this is actually a very impressive rookie season
BUT
2024 – 13th* place with 48pts* to leaders’ 165pts* – very bad for a driver in his 2nd F2 season
The seeming regression is due to the fact that Bearman is getting beaten by a bunch of rookies in 2024 and other 2nd year drivers who have made a larger improvement from their rookie season.
* – I have excluded the full Jedda round and Baku sprint race, which Bearman didn’t participate in due to F1 starts
Meanwhile, Antonelli this season is getting beaten by as many as 3 other rookies (!):
2. Gabriel Bortoleto – 158.5 pts
3. Zane Maloney – 135 pts
4. Paul Aron – 127 pts
6. Andrea Kimi Antonelli – 101 pts
Asd
14th September 2024, 20:27
Meanwhile, he’s soon-to-be team mate, George Russel, won the 2018 F2 chamionship in his rookie season, destroying Lando Norris and Alex Albon, who both were in their 2nd F2 seasons!
1. George Russell – 287 pts
2. Lando Norris – 219 pts
3. Alexander Albon – 212 pts
scronx
14th September 2024, 17:08
F2 has reverse grid Mini started from 3rd and kimi started from 9th fair race on this track