Baku – Sprint Race: Dürksen defeats newcomers, Mini on the podium

• A big first for Joshua Dürksen and Paraguay in Formula 2 ! The AIX Racing driver took his first victory in the championship this Saturday, during the Sprint Race. Fourth on the starting grid, he used his experience in the category against the newcomers Christian Mansell and Gabriele Mini, who started ahead of him and had more difficulty with their tires, to take the lead at the halfway point and win in the Azeri capital.

Dürksen wins F2, Martins misses 0.020 from the podium! 🤏

Mini's first podium for its first race in #F2.

Bortoleto is 5th and is 6,5 points behind Hadjar. 🇦🇿 #AzerbaijanGP pic.twitter.com/8HiO72hAYo

— CANAL+ F1® (@CanalplusF1) September 14, 2024

• The race was rocked by a late Safety Car: with six laps to go, Ritomo Miyata brought out the safety car, car destroyed in the TecPro after a failed attempt to overtake Dennis Hauger at turn 3. On the restart, Jak Crawford was able to take advantage to climb to 2nd place and thus secure a fifth podium this season.
• After an excellent start, and after leading part of the race for his first participation in Formula 2, Gabriele Mini managed to snatch the podium, narrowly ahead of Victor Martins by only 20 thousandths of a second! The Italian, temporarily replacing Oliver Bearman at PREMA, had trouble with his tires… and even finished the race with a damaged single-seater, which was driving "crab-like" after contact with the wall!
• Although Victor Martins missed out on the podium by just a few centimetres, the Frenchman can be pleased with his race. The ART Grand Prix driver built his race perfectly with big names like Gabriel Bortoleto, Zane Maloney and Kush Maini, and seemed comfortable with his tyres throughout the 21 laps of the race.
• Gabriel Bortoleto, in fact, picked up four additional points by finishing in 5th place despite a huge scare at the end of the race. The Brazilian, hit by poleman and rookie Christian Mansell, hit the TecPro barrier at turn 3 but was able to continue his race without damage. His deficit behind Isack Hadjar drops to 6,5 points in the championship on the eve of the Main Race…
• Brave and fast in the second half of the table, Isack Hadjar – who started 20th after losing his best time in qualifying, for causing a red flag in spite of himself – was unable to climb higher than 12th place. However, his interesting pace could give him a little optimism for the Main Race where he will have nothing to lose.

Formula 2 – Baku
Sprint Race – Ranking

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