Trident driver Richard Verschoor secured his first 2024 win in a chaotic Hungarian Formula 2 Sprint race after initially losing the lead to Kimi Antonelli.
Verschoor started the sprint on the reverse-grid pole position ahead of Invicta Racing’s Kush Maini but lost the position to Antonelli on the soft tyres.
He eventually regained the lead after the hard tyres prevailed, holding off Maini to secure his first victory of the season in Hungary.
With track temperatures of 39 degrees for the 28-lap sprint race, the grid saw much cooler conditions than their qualifying session.
The race began on a tough note with Zane Maloney losing the engine off the line during the formation lap.
Seeing his Championship fight fall down the drain, the Rodin Motorsport driver dropped from the second row to a pitlane start.
Pole-sitter Verschoor got a great start, launching off the line to block Maini who lost second place to Antonelli on Turn 4.
The Prema Racing driver started the sprint on soft tyres, speeding ahead of Maini on the hards to place the race leader under immense pressure.
By Lap 2, the Silverstone Sprint winner Antonelli found himself within 0.2s of Verschoor heading into Turn 1.
Blocking Antonelli heading into Turn 2 throughout Turn 3, Verschoor retained his lead but began to struggle through Turn 10.
Victor Martins climbed two places on the opening lap, passing Invicta Racing driver Gabriel Bortoleto and Dennis Hauger for fourth place.
Antonelli dived around the inside of Verschoor heading into Turn 2 of Lap 4 to snatch the lead from Verschoor struggling on the hard tyres.
Maini then looked to overtake Verschoor for the second potential slot on the podium but also struggled with warming up his hard tyres.
The young driver began to pull away from the rest of the pack, breaking 2.5s away from Verschoor on Lap 7 searching for back-to-back sprint wins.
Vans Amersfoort driver Enzo Fittipaldi found himself in sixth place after pulling off an easy overtake on race-winner Bortoleto around Turn 10 on Lap 7.
Juan Manuel Correa also struggled on the hard tyres during the race’s early stages, as the track temperatures were cooler than expected.
Meanwhile, an unfortunate start for Maloney saw him remain at the back of the grid on Lap 9, failing to make up any places.
The previous Championship leader Paul Aron lost four places from his starting position of 10th, overtaken by faster drivers on the soft tyres.
Ritomo Miyata made an excellent double overtake on Amaury Cordeel and Correa, launching around the outside of Turn 4 on Lap 10.
At the front of the pack, Antonelli retained his 1.4s gap to Verschoor while managing his soft tyres and setting the race’s fastest lap.
The battle for fourth ensued behind as Hauger attempted a bold move around Martins coming out of Turn 1 on Lap 13.
By Lap 14 Verschoor cut down the gap to the Mercedes Junior Driver to less than a second, hoping to regain his lead as the soft tyres started to suffer.
Antonelli struggled with the left rear tyre on his leading Prema car, locking up while heading into Turn 14.
Now in the striking zone, Verschoor tailed the Prema going into Turn 1 of Lap 15 on the hunt for crucial points in the Championship.
A three-way battle for the win continued as Maini crept into the fight, sticking within a second of Verschoor struggling to overtake the Prema.
Lap 17 saw the tides turn for the 17-year-old Mercedes prospect, diving too deep into Turn 1 and losing two positions to Verschoor and Maini.
More places were lost for the rookie on Lap18 as the drivers on the hards capitalised on his soft-tyre struggles.
Eventually, Antonelli headed into the pits after leading the first half of the sprint race while Verschoor fell under pressure from Maini.
His teammate Oliver Bearman found himself in tenth place, climbing four positions from his race start while Antonelli left the pit at the back of the grid.
Franco Colapinto snatched the seventh position from Bortoleto around Turn 1 of Lap 20 before Bearman entered the battle.
Bearman climbed to eighth after overtaking Rafael Villagomez and Bortoleto, with his eyes now set on Colapinto.
A three-way battle for fourth saw Hauger lock up going into Turn 1 after falling under immense pressure from Fittipaldi.
The intense battle saw Fittipaldi pick up a puncture, tumbling him down the grid on Lap 25 and gifting the place to Colapinto.
Aron climbed back up to seventh, overtaking Bearman but the two DAMS drivers sandwiched the Prema Racing driver heading into Lap 26.
A nerve-wracking battle saw all three drivers run off track but magically keep all cars alive as the DAMS pulled off an excellent overtake to secure the ninth and tenth positions.
The Prema Racing drivers experienced highs and lows in Hungary, as both drivers finished the race far outside of the points.
Verschoor cruised to his fourth victory in Formula 2 after overtaking Antonelli at the crucial halfway point of the race.
He held off the Invicta Racing driver Maini who finished in second ahead of Martins in third, beating out Hadjar in fourth.
The battle for fifth saw Hauger take the place ahead of Colapinto and Aron, with Taylor Barnard securing the final points-scoring position.
Update: Verschoor was disqualified from the F2 Sprint Race after a technical infringement on his Trident car related to the rear plank thickness.
“The Stewards received a report from the Technical Delegate (Document 40). They summoned and heard the Team Representative.
“Having considered the matter extensively, the Stewards determined that the rear plank of Car 22 was below the minimum thickness required and is therefore in breach of Article 3.4.3 of the Technical Regulations.”
Therefore, Maini takes the win for the Sprint race, with the entire field moving up one place in the final classification.
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