Frederik Vesti recovered from slipping to fourth on the first lap to record a crucial victory in the Formula 2 Sprint race in Abu Dhabi to keep the title fight alive.
The Mercedes academy prospect overtook Enzo Fittipaldi in the closing laps to score his sixth win of the campaign and reduce Theo Pourchaire’s lead to 16 points.
From 14th, Pourchaire was already facing an uphill task to score and even before the race had begun he was under investigation for a practice start in the pit lane.
At the start, both of the front-row starters got away well but Vesti squeezed down the inside of polesitter Fittipaldi at Turn 1 to momentarily seize a critical lead.
However, Fittipaldi edged his way around the outside to nudge in front of the Prema driver through the sweep of Turn 2 and onto Turn 3 to snatch first place back again.
That intense battle through the opening sequence of corners placed Richard Verschoor and Isack Hadjar on their tail and the quartet ended up nearly four wide at Turn 6.
Although Verschoor appeared to have gained the high ground, Fittipaldi retained the lead while Hadjar demoted Vesti down to fourth and then moved into second at Turn 9.
The racing action would be halted when the Safety Car was deployed to recover the stricken Van Amersfoort Racing car of Juan Manuel Correa needed to be recovered.
Meanwhile, Arthur Leclerc had stalled his DAMS machine on the start-finish grid and was pushed back into the pitlane, then being noted for a Safety Car infringement.
Further down the field, Pourchaire, who needed to outscore Vesti by two points to secure the title ahead of Sunday, had made a solid start to gain five places up to ninth.
Fittipaldi led the neutralised race from fellow Red Bull-backed junior driver Hadjar. Behind them, Verschoor was third, ahead of Vesti, Dennis Hauger and Ayumu Iwasa.
The Safety Car returned to the pitlane at the end of Lap 5 to mark a return to racing conditions with Fittipaldi heading the field and immediately trying to pull out a gap.
Vesti was desperate to recover the ground he had lost and managed to displace Verschoor for third into Turn 6, while Jack Doohan almost made contact with Iwasa.
Doohan overtook Iwasa around the sweeping left-hander of Turn 9 on the next lap to progress up to sixth, with Kush Maini and Pourchaire circulating behind.
Pourchaire elevated his way into the top eight and the points places with a confident move on Maini’s Campos, as Vesti attached his way onto the rear of Hadjar.
Elsewhere, contact on the opening tour had forced Victor Martins to make an unscheduled pit stop, effectively ruling him out of contention as he dropped to the back.
The championship leader’s charge through the field continued on Lap 9 as he managed to frighten Iwasa off the road at Turn 9 to claim seventh place from the DAMS.
Hadjar had dropped 2s behind Fittipaldi and Vesti risked it around the outside of Turn 9 to overhaul the Frenchman before scampering off in pursuit of the race leader.
Verschoor had sized up Hadjar through Turns 6 and 7 and then utilised the DRS to ease his Van Amersfoort car into the podium places before the Turn 9 braking zone.
Despite having his fastest lap beaten by Martins at the rear, Vesti continued to reduce Fittipaldi’s deficit out front down to 1.5s as the race moved into its final 10 laps.
By the time Lap 17 arrived, Vesti had got within DRS range of Fittipaldi and carried that momentum through to overtake the Brazilian on the inside of Turn 6 three laps later.
Leclerc had endured a torrid outing at the Yas Marina Circuit and was hit with a 10-second time penalty for an infringement under the Safety Car in the early exchanges.
Hadjar’s lacklustre pace placed him into the clutches of Hauger, Doohan and Pourchaire, but none of that trio could fathom a way past the Hitech driver for fourth place.
Hauger finally mounted an overtaking attempt into Turn 6 on Lap 21 but the Norwegian ran too deep into the corner and Hadjar gratefully recovered the position.
However, Hauger finally completed the overtake on the final lap to take fourth away from Hadjar, as Vesti took the chequered flag and a vital victory in Abu Dhabi.
Fittipaldi and Verschoor rounded out the podium, ahead of Hauger, Hadjar and Doohan. Pourchaire recovered to seventh but the title battle will go to the wire.
The Sauber-affiliated driver will enter the Feature race with a comfortable margin, however, over Vesti, despite the Danish racer also securing a bonus point for fastest lap.
