2023 F2 Roundup: Round Nine – Hungary

Roundup of round nine as the 2023 F2 season headed to Budapest, Hungary with the title fight firmly in the balance.

Six points separated Frederik Vesti and Theo Pourchaire coming into Hungary but the weekend threw plenty of surprises as the gap further narrowed then widened, whilst one driver ended their difficult start to the season with a dominant display in a round where tyre management proved a key factor in the races.

Now, here is a full roundup of all the action across the ninth round of 2023 F2 season.

 

Practice

Red Bull juniors, Ayumu Iwasa and Jak Crawford were first out onto the track but it was championship leader, Vesti who set the benchmark time of 1m 30.600 in the ninth minute although his time was quickly deleted after he exceeded track limits.

Victor Martins consequently went top from Roman Stanek on 1m 30.839 less than one minute later but Iwasa went fastest by 0.698 seconds in the 12th minute, only for Vesti to displace him seconds later with 1m 29.031 which went unbeaten for much of the session.

Iwasa though was the only driver to beat Vesti’s lap time with a 1m 28.882 in the 33rd minute to top the session, ahead of Vesti, Martins and Kush Maini as the top four were split by only 0.339s at the checkered flag.

Position	Driver	Team	Time
1	Ayumu Iwasa	DAMS	1m 28.882
2	Frederik Vesti	PREMA	+ 0.149
3	Victor Martins	ART GP	+ 0.324
4	Kush Maini	Campos	+ 0.339
5	Theo Pourchaire	ART GP	+ 0.524
6	Roman Stanek	Trident	+ 0.534
7	Jehan Daruvala	MP Motorsport	+ 0.605
8	Enzo Fittipaldi	Carlin	+ 0.611
9	Isack Hadjar	Hitech GP	+ 0.629
10	Richard Verschoor	VAR	+ 0.664
11	Dennis Hauger	MP Motorsport	+ 0.715
12	Jak Crawford	Hitech GP	+ 0.720
13	Jack Doohan	Virtuosi	+ 0.745
14	Oliver Bearman	PREMA	+ 0.774
15	Clement Novalak	Trident	+ 0.877
16	Roy Nissany	PHM Racing	+ 1.007
17	Juan Manuel Correa	VAR	+ 1.070
18	Ralph Boschung	Campos	+ 1.072
19	Zane Maloney	Carlin	+ 1.157
20	Arthur Leclerc	DAMS	+ 1.160
21	Amaury Cordeel	Virtuosi	+ 1.637
22	Brad Benavides	PHM Racing	+ 1.855

 

Qualifying

DAMS’ Iwasa and Leclerc were first out on track as everyone switched to the soft tyres, but it was Hadjar who set the initial benchmark time of 1m 29.641 in the sixth minute only to be immediately displaced as Vesti posted 1m 28.334 to go fastest.

Vesti clung onto his provisional pole time once opening flying laps were completed as Doohan and Martins slotted into second and third, although Iwasa went second fastest in the 10th minute but was displaced quickly by Pourchaire then Martins.

The red flag came out barely a minute later after Stanek spun out at Turn 11 although Qualifying resumed just six minutes later following his quick recovery, with just seven drivers venturing back out which saw some improve unlike others – including Doohan who improved to third ahead of the final runs.

Pourchaire was the first driver to displace Vesti as he posted 1m 27.930 in the 23rd minute to go onto provisional pole but Vesti responded barely a minute later with 1m 27.767.

Martins and Doohan however waited until the 27th minute to make their moves as Martins found 0.039s to go fastest and looked set for a fourth F2 pole in his rookie season, only for his fellow Alpine junior – Doohan to find a further 0.052s to post 1m 27.676 and claim his first F2 pole since Italy last season.

Position	Driver	Team	Time
1	Jack Doohan	Virtuosi	1m 27.676
2	Victor Martins	ART GP	+ 0.052
3	Frederik Vesti	PREMA	+ 0.091
4	Theo Pourchaire	ART GP	+ 0.254
5	Isack Hadjar	Hitech GP	+ 0.311
6	Ayumu Iwasa	DAMS	+ 0.414
7	Oliver Bearman	PREMA	+ 0.425
8	Jehan Daruvala	MP Motorsport	+ 0.477
9	Dennis Hauger	MP Motorsport	+ 0.479
10	Kush Maini	Campos	+ 0.488
11	Enzo Fittipaldi	Carlin	+ 0.591
12	Richard Verschoor	VAR	+ 0.610
13	Ralph Boschung	Campos	+ 0.640
14	Zane Maloney	Carlin	+ 0.645
15	Clement Novalak	Trident	+ 0.866
16	Juan Manuel Correa	VAR	+ 1.088
17	Arthur Leclerc	DAMS	+ 1.124
18	Jak Crawford	Hitech GP	+ 1.154
19	Roy Nissany	PHM Racing	+ 1.324
20	Amaury Cordeel	Virtuosi	+ 1.357
21	Brad Benavides	PHM Racing	+ 1.652
22	Roman Stanek	Trident	+ 2.234

 

Sprint Race

At lights out, Maini made a clean start but Hauger got the inside line into Turn 1 to take the lead as Iwasa leapt from fifth to second as Maini blocked Bearman’s path on the exit of Turn 1, whilst Pourchaire improved to fifth with a quick start ahead of Daruvala who lost three positions and slipped to sixth.

Bearman however forced his way past Maini with a bold inside move into the Turn 7 chicane to put himself third.

Doohan meanwhile made an outside move on Vesti into Turn 2 on Lap 2 to take ninth before Maini launched a successful late-braking move on Bearman into Turn 1 on the third lap to reclaim third as the order settled into a holding pattern.

Up front, Hauger kept Iwasa at bay of around one-and-a-half second gap until a Virtual Safety Car (VSC) was thrown on Lap 12, after Novalak spun Boschung out at Turn 1, albeit with the help of a helpless Leclerc rear-ending Boschung’s Campos into the barriers as he attempted to re-join via the runoff area.

Post-race, Novalak was handed a five-place grid penalty for his collision with Boschung which dropped him to 20th on the grid for the Feature Race.

Nissany meanwhile had gambled on the soft tyre and used the VSC to make a cheaper pit stop to switch to the medium tyres, whilst Hauger extended his gap to over two seconds upon the restart on Lap 13.

The VSC restart however caught Bearman out slightly on the exit of Turn 2 which allowed Pourchaire to pass him despite his protests, as he believed that the Frenchman had made his overtake before the track went green and therefore was not deemed a legal overtake in the Brit’s eyes.

Everyone eventually began to up the ante with ten laps left and Vesti in particular took advantage as he cleared Doohan on Lap 20 for ninth with a late lunge into Turn 1.

Up front, Hauger fended off Iwasa for a comfortable first win since the Australian Sprint but Maini’s tyres hit the cliff and he lost third to Pourchaire on Lap 24, despite clipping Pourchaire’s rear but both escaped unharmed as Bearman further demoted the Campos driver round the outside of Turn 2 to fifth.

Pourchaire though wasn’t able to move level on points with Vesti after he lost third to Bearman on Lap 26 as the Brit launched a late lunge into Turn 1 to take third and boost his own title dreams.

Pourchaire settled for fourth ahead of Daruvala who passed Maini on the final lap to take fifth as Martins and Hadjar rounded out the top eight.

In the drivers’ standings, Vesti continued to lead the title race but by just a single point from Pourchaire after he failed to score a points-paying finish.

Iwasa sat a further 15 points back in third place with Bearman now 41 points behind his teammate as Martins rounded out the top five in the standings.

Position	Driver	Team	Laps	Time
1	Dennis Hauger	MP Motorsport	28	44m 43.144
2	Ayumu Iwasa	DAMS	28	+ 4.2
3	Oliver Bearman	PREMA	28	+ 14.1
4	Theo Pourchaire	ART GP	28	+ 16.5
5	Jehan Daruvala	MP Motorsport	28	+ 20.7
6	Kush Maini	Campos	28	+ 24.0
7	Victor Martins	ART GP	28	+ 24.3
8	Isack Hadjar	Hitech GP	28	+ 24.6
9	Frederik Vesti	PREMA	28	+ 25.3
10	Jack Doohan	Virtuosi	28	+ 25.7
11	Enzo Fittipaldi	Carlin	28	+ 26.0
12	Zane Maloney	Carlin	28	+ 26.5
13	Richard Verschoor	VAR	28	+ 26.8
14	Jak Crawford	Hitech GP	28	+ 27.1
15	Arthur Leclerc	DAMS	28	+ 27.4
16	Roman Stanek	Trident	28	+ 28.0
17	Roy Nissany	PHM Racing	28	+ 32.9
18	Brad Benavides	PHM Racing	28	+ 37.3
19	Amaury Cordeel	Virtuosi	28	+ 38.0
20	Juan Manuel Correa	VAR	27	+ 1 Lap
RET	Clement Novalak	Trident	12	Collision
RET	Ralph Boschung	Campos	11	Collision

 

Feature Race

At lights out, Doohan made a clean start to lead Martins who got passed by Vesti on the outside of Turn 1 for second as Pourchaire, Hadjar and Iwasa held position, whilst Bearman on medium tyres – like Iwasa – lost two positions to Hauger and Fittipaldi to slip to ninth respectively.

Everyone soon settled into a holding pattern until Maloney pitted on Lap 8 for medium tyres from 14th position which triggered a flurry of stops from those outside of the top ten who had started on the soft tyres.

Hadjar was the first soft-tyre runner in the top five to pit on Lap 13 which saw Pourchaire respond a lap later and re-joined ahead of his French compatriot, although the pair were both held up by Cordeel which played into the hands of Doohan, Vesti and Martins who were able to extend their soft tyre stint.

Fittipaldi pitted on Lap 19 but lost out to Hauger on his outlap and couldn’t make a pass to the checkered flag, as the pair finished seventh and eighth respectively.

Up front, Vesti was the first of the frontrunners to pit on Lap 23 and fought off Pourchaire plus passed Martins who pitted a lap later, before Martins and Pourchaire clashed on the run to Turn 4 with Martins winning out as Pourchaire ran wide and lost fourth to Hadjar.

Iwasa meanwhile had pitted on Lap 20 for the soft tyre despite having started on medium tyres before the top three even made their stops for the harder compound, which helped the DAMS’ driver who was able to get the switchback out of Turn 1 on Lap 26 to pass Pourchaire into Turn 2 for fifth.

Doohan meanwhile cruised to a lights-to-flag victory with the fastest lap from Vesti and Martins whilst Iwasa made a late lunge on Hadjar on Lap 35 to snatch a fourth-placed finish ahead of the Frenchman, as Pourchaire finished sixth.

Hauger, Fittipaldi, Manuel Correa and Verschoor rounded out the top ten ahead of Daruvala and Bearman.

In the drivers’ standings, Vesti extended his title lead over Pourchaire to 11 points with Iwasa a further 10 points behind, whilst Martins and Doohan leapfrogged Bearman to fourth and fifth in the standings which dented the Brit’s fading title ambitions but the top six are split by just 59 points with four rounds left in the season.

F2 is now heading for Spa Francorchamps, Belgium next weekend in the second part of this double-header before the summer break.

Position	Driver	Team	Laps	Time
1	Jack Doohan	Virtuosi	37	57m 52.434
2	Frederik Vesti	PREMA	37	+ 9.110
3	Victor Martins	ART GP	37	+ 9.850
4	Ayumu Iwasa	DAMS	37	+ 26.167
5	Isack Hadjar	Hitech GP	37	+ 27.407
6	Theo Pourchaire	ART GP	37	+ 29.529
7	Dennis Hauger	MP Motorsport	37	+ 30.512
8	Enzo Fittipaldi	Carlin	37	+ 30.937
9	Juan Manuel Correa	VAR	37	+ 39.401
10	Richard Verschoor	VAR	37	+ 39.979
11	Jehan Daruvala	MP Motorsport	37	+ 41.025
12	Oliver Bearman	PREMA	37	+ 41.607
13	Arthur Leclerc	DAMS	37	+ 42.064
14	Roman Stanek	Trident	37	+ 42.944
15	Roy Nissany	PHM Racing	37	+ 56.569
16	Zane Maloney	Carlin	37	+ 60.999
17	Jak Crawford	Hitech GP	37	+ 62.846
18	Brad Benavides	PHM Racing	37	+ 68.612
19	Ralph Boschung	Campos	37	+ 74.010
20	Kush Maini	Campos	37	+ 76.994
21	Amaury Cordeel	Virtuosi	36	+ 1 Lap
RET	Clement Novalak	Trident	2	Mechanical