Mercedes Junior Driver Kimi Antonelli found a sweet spot in between safety cars to claim the Formula 2 Feature win around the Hungaroring.
The Prema Racing driver capitalised on a perfectly timed pit stop on the alternative strategy to cruise to a 12-second lead in glorious fashion.
ART Grand Prix driver Victor Martins lost the race lead to the Italian rookie, settling for second ahead of Richard Verschoor.
Martins got off to an excellent start, jumping from P5 to the race leader heading into Turn 1 as the polesitter Paul Aron suffered an awfully slow start.
Polesitter Aron tumbled down the field after a slow start and multiple lockups throughout the opening lap, falling from glory to P7 by Lap 2.
Invicta Racing’s Gabriel Bortoleto also had a brilliant start after inheriting the third position from Isack Hadjar who started in the pitlane.
A scrap for the lead began for those on the soft tyres, as the Van Amersfoort Racing driver Enzo Fittipaldi attempted a bold move on Martins heading into Turn 3 on Lap 3.
The top three drivers of Martins, Fittipaldi, and Bortoleto ran the soft tyres, pulling away from Zane Maloney and Antonelli on the hards tailing behind.
By Lap 5, Martins clocked in the fastest lap of the race as he began to pull away from Fittipaldi searching for a win.
In the opening stint of the race, Mercedes Junior Driver Antonelli climbed two places to set himself up in P5 for the 37-lap race on the hard tyres.
The Prema Racing driver made a late lunge down the inside of Turn 11 on Lap 5, scrapping with Rodin Motorsport driver Maloney for fourth place in a bold move at the apex.
They briefly re-swapped positions but it was the young Italian racer who came out victorious heading into Lap 6.
A yellow flag was called at Turn 2 as the polesitter suffered another awful race after making contact with Maloney on the corner.
Aron attempted to dive around the inside of Turn 14 to overtake MP Motorsport driver Dennis Hauger but instead caught Maloney on a slow exit, taking them both out of the race.
This brought out a full safety car on Lap 6 as both drivers were parked in the middle sector of the track, retiring from the race immediately.
The leading three drivers capitalised on the perfectly timed safety car to enter the pitlane and replace their soft tyres for the hard.
Antonelli gained the race lead under the safety car as Martins, Fittipaldi, and Bortoleto found themselves further down the pack.
The Mercedes Junior Driver led a portion of the Sprint Race yesterday but struggled with managing his soft tyres despite a blistering pace and bold racecraft.
Martins re-entered the pack in fourth place behind Verschoor and Kush Maini but crucially ahead of Fittipaldi and Bortoleto.
The safety car ended on Lap 11 and the race-leading rookie got off to a great start, launching his Prema Racing car almost a second away from the rest of the pack.
His teammate Oliver Bearman continued an unlucky streak in Formula 2, remaining in his qualifying position of 14th place.
While Antonelli began to pull away, the former race leader Martins clocked in the fastest lap while trying to regain the winning position.
After inheriting his maiden win from Verschoor yesterday, Invicta Racing driver Maini ran in third place behind Verschoor on Lap 13.
The Feature Race requires a mandatory pit stop, so drivers who started the race on hards have their work cut out for them as those starting on softs already pitted.
Antonelli pulled three seconds away from Verschoor by Lap 13, hoping to create a gap and protect himself during his mandatory pit stop.
Bortoleto crept behind Amaury Cordeel, pulling off the overtake around the outside of Turn 1 heading into Lap 15 for sixth place.
Meanwhile, Martins made his way up to third place after snatching the position from Maini on the final straight.
By Lap 17, Antonelli put 5.8s on the head of Verschoor as he cruised around the Hungaroring searching for his second win in the series.
Only three drivers still ran on the soft tyres, including Ritomo Miyata under pressure from Bortoleto on fresher hards.
Alpine Junior Martins made a crucial overtake on Verschoor to snatch second place on Lap 19 and begin the hunt for the Italian rookie leading the race.
After gaining second place, Martins began to cut down the nearly seven-second gap created by Antonelli by Lap 22.
A huge shunt saw Cordeel find the wall at Turn 4 on Lap 22, calling a full safety car that saw half the grid flood into the pits.
Cordeel lost the car after a wide dive around the bumpy curb, shattering the rear of his Hitech Pulse Eight in the wall.
Both Hitech drivers struggled in Hungary, retiring from the Feature Race after crashes on track marred their strong drives.
The race leader Antonelli stormed into the pits opting for soft tyres, reentering the safety car line in fifth place.
Martins regained the lead with Bortoleto and Fittipaldi right behind, but the talk of the town Antonelli found himself in the optimum position.
The safety car pulled in at the end of Lap 26, gifting 10 laps of racing for those on the fresh tyres to make their mark.
Martins got a nice restart, pulling away from Bortoleto but chaos ensued behind as Antonelli cleared Hauger at Turn 1 on Lap 27.
In less than a minute, Antonelli snatched another position and made his way up to third place after stealing the position from Fittipaldi.
Charging past Bortoleto, the Mercedes Junior took yet another position from the McLaren Junior to find himself in second place.
The rookie found himself in a timed race, ten minutes to go and the red car snatched the race lead on the apex of Turn 1.
Martins was done and dusted by the Prema driver as he pulled 1.5s away immediately from the Alpine Junior.
After a disastrous Sprint Race which saw Antonelli lose the race lead due to a poor strategy, it all fell into place for the rookie.
With five minutes to go, the Mercedes prospect pulled 4.8s away from Martins who was left under pressure from Bortoleto.
From skipping Formula 3 to talks of a Formula 1 seat, the young Italian driver claimed another glorious victory by leading the pack with a 12-second gap.
Martins finished the race after losing the race lead, ahead of Verschoor who snatched third place from Bortoleto on the final lap.
Fittipaldi settled for fifth place ahead of Hauger, Maini and Miyata, with Taylor Barnard and Rafael Villagomez rounding off the points-scoring position.
Discussion about this post