The high-level single-seater season of 2024 began today. Formula 3 starts its first of ten weekends, with scoring rounds of 20 points, while Formula 2 begins its 2024 season with the first of 14 race weekends, consisting of scoring rounds of 28 points.
Here are the reports from Thursday’s action in Sakhir:
Formula 2, the last frontier before aspiring drivers enter the world of Formula 1, started its 2024 season on Friday. The race took place at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir, featuring the new car designed by Dallara.
In the 23-lap sprint race, American Jak Crawford of DAMS Lucas Oil team secured pole position after a partial reversal of the qualifying order (top ten).
Crawford had a clean start and led the first lap, followed by Frenchman Victor Martins of ART Grand Prix. On the sixth lap, Zane Maloney of Rodin Motorsport overtook Martins and took second position. Crawford maintained the lead with a one-second advantage.
Determined to seize the opportunity, Maloney closed in on Crawford and took the lead on the eighth lap, starting from eighth position on the grid.
By the tenth lap of the 23, the top five positions were occupied by Maloney, Crawford, Martins, Isack Hadjar of Campos Racing, and Enzo Fittipaldi of Van Amersfoort. However, Fittipaldi was subsequently demoted to sixth place by Paul Aron of HITECH GP.
On lap 25, Maloney had a 2.7s advantage over Crawford, who maintained a similar advantage over Martins. Hadjar, starting from ninth position on the grid, secured third position by overtaking Martins on the 16th lap.