Are Victor Martins and Isack Hadjar in danger in the title race?

No one will say the opposite, this start of the season is not that of our Frenchies in Formula 2. However, Victor Martins (ART Grand Prix) and Isack Hadjar (Campos) are among the names that often came up when having to make a choice for the favorites of the year. Repeaters and experienced, the French have always displayed this common ambition for the 2024 campaign: to fight for the title. Logical when you aspire to a place in F1 in 2025.

But the first two rounds in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia gave them a host of surprises and their hopes took a major blow. If he hoped to continue the momentum of his excellent rookie year in 2023, Victor Martins was taken by surprise in the Bahraini desert. Still struggling with the settings of the new car, the protégéAlpine suffered a lot in race pace finishing out of the points during the Sprint before retiring in the Main due to a technical problem. First setback.

Martins, like a sense of deja vu

The situation hardly improved a week later in Jeddah where, despite a good qualification (4^e) nothing went wrong. After a collision at the start of the Sprint (abandonment), Victor Martins was unable to do anything during the long race, still struggling with the pace. Concentrated on his mirrors rather than on the group in front of him, he appeared helpless holding on as best he could to the 10^e place before losing it (5-second penalty for collision with Paul Aron).

New abandonment for Victor Martins… ❌

Chaotic start in this sprint race #F2 : the Frenchman is caught in a collision.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli struggled to take off and crashed into Crawford.
Colapinto & O'Sullivan remained glued to the grid. #SaudiArabianGP pic.twitter.com/nxNaHkx91h

— CANAL+ F1® (@CanalplusF1) March 8, 2024

This is not a crisis time for the ART Grand Prix driver but he is aware that time is passing, and perhaps quickly. After two rounds, he still hasn't opened his score while at the front, Zane Maloney (Rodin Motorsport) has already created a cushion of 47 points. Enough to worry?

For Victor, this start to the season is difficult but we could compare it to that of his rookie campaign. As a reminder, he had 17 points after 4 rounds before adjusting his sights to finish 5^e in the championship with 150 units, signing a series of 15 consecutive races in rewarding positions (1 victory, 7 additional podiums and a pole position). Proof that in F2 everything can change overnight. However, he will quickly have to rectify the situation at the risk of his dreams of coronation taking a turn for the worse. Australia (March 22-24) then appears to be the ideal place to get back on track... or to lose big again.

Hadjar does not admit defeat

As for Isack Hadjar, it is difficult to point the finger at his performances given the bad luck he suffered. If his time with Campos did him the greatest good, the track was not kind to him. This despite a good impression in qualifying (3^e time in Bahrain before passing 2^e thanks to the disqualification of Kush Maini, and 8^e in Saudi Arabia).

When it came to racing, the member of the Red Bull Junior Team has not been varnished. Good 4^e Sprint in Bahrain for his first with the Spanish team, the Ile-de-France native then had three retirements. He was never responsible for it. During the Main Race in Sakhir, Gabriel Bortoleto (Invicta Racing) missed his braking at the first corner and sent him into a spin before Enzo Fittipaldi (VAR) hit him to leave him behind for good . Hadjar could then potentially claim victory.

In Jeddah, it was his fuel pump that gave him headaches throughout the weekend. First in free practice, compromising the preparation for his qualification, then during the two races forcing him to systematically return to his stand along the way. Hard to take when bad luck hits you and you know you have nothing to do with it. But despite these setbacks, there is no question of being discouraged for the future. The season is still long with 12 rounds remaining and 468 points still at stake.

THIS IS NOT POSSIBLE 🥶🥶🥶

New abandonment for Isack Hadjar! After the free practice session and the sprint race, he experienced a new engine problem during the main race… ❌#SaudiArabianGP #F2 pic.twitter.com/FZjAeEy3yR

— CANAL+ F1® (@CanalplusF1) March 9, 2024

« Yes, he answers us with confidence when we ask him if the title or final podium are still in the back of his mind (interview which will appear in issue No. 2454 of March 20). I tell myself that statistically, things won't happen to me every weekend (Laughs). Look at Oliver Bearman last year. He had almost no points before Baku (3 then he scored 38 in Azerbaijan), then he had a stratospheric weekend and it completely put him back in the saddle. There are twelve rounds left, and I hope to be able to take 50 points over the next two weekends. That would start my season. I believe in the law of series. When I unblock the meter, the rest will come! » Like Victor Martins in 2023, one click will undoubtedly be enough for Isack Hadjar to take off. Hoping that he intervenes as quickly as possible to finally get rid of this black cat who has been following him for a long time because otherwise, 2024 will be a very long year.

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