Kush Maini takes a creditable second at Budapest: F2

Budapest, 20 July 2024: Top Indian star Kush Maini of Bengaluru notched up a creditable podium, taking the second place behind Trident’s Richard Verschoor, who claimed a victory at the Budapest Sprint Race the in Formula 2 world Championship here on Saturday.

The Dutchman was able to pull away from Kush Maini at the end on his way to the top step, with the Invicta Racing driver crossing the line in second ahead of ART Grands Prix’s Victor Martins in third.

AS IT HAPPENED

Temperatures were much cooler for the Sprint compared to Friday’s Qualifying and there was a mix of tyres on the grid, with 12 cars fitted with the Softs, while the rest chose the Hards.

Two of those drivers on the Hards were pole-sitter Verschoor and his fellow front row starter Maini, and while they made good starts, Andrea Kimi Antonelli had fired up his Soft tyres from P4 and went round the outside of the Invicta car at Turn 2, to take second.

His fellow drivers on the red-walled compounds were also flying as Gabriel Bortoleto and Enzo Fittipaldi moved up to P6 and P7 respectively by overtaking Hard tyre runner Isack Hadjar.

The PREMA Racing rookie would not have to wait long to take the lead as he overcame Verschoor’s staunch defence to dive down his inside at Turn 1 at the start of Lap 4.

By the end of Lap 5, Antonelli was over two seconds clear out front, while Maini was beginning to close in on Verschoor for P2, with Martins just behind on his Softs.

On to Lap 7, and Fittipaldi was showing strong pace in his Van Amersfoort Racing car and overtook his fellow Option tyre runner Bortoleto for P6, going round his compatriot’s outside at Turn 1.

But as the drivers set of on Lap 11, what had been a lead of over two seconds for Antonelli had now been closed to 1.6s, as the Hard tyre runners began to come into their own.

Further back, Maini had also created a gap of over two seconds to Martins, who was now defending from Dennis Hauger in the battle for P4.

On Lap 13 of 28, Hadjar used DRS to get ahead of Bortoleto for P7, while Hauger had dropped back from Martins and had fallen to P6 behind Fittipaldi.

Verschoor was now right on the back of Antonelli as they started Lap 16, but the PREMA driver was resisting each attack. However, he could not hold on much longer, running wide at the final corner before locking up into Turn 1, allowing both Verschoor and Maini through.

Unfortunately for Antonelli, his lock up had proven costly as he was falling through the field with Martins, Fittipaldi, Hauger and Hadjar all making their way past before PREMA made the call to pit him for a set of Hards.

Bortoleto was also struggling on his Softs with Franco Colapinto and Oliver Bearman overtaking him and dropping him to P9 before Invicta also decided to pit him for the Hard tyres.

Back in the midfield, Paul Aron was looking to make up the positions he lost at the start as one of the Prime tyre runners and went round the outside of Jak Crawford at Turn 2 for P12, despite the American’s attempts to take back the position at T4.

But as the Hitech Pulse-Eight driver was battling to get back into the points, his Championship rival Hadjar was up to fourth after overtaking Fittipaldi and Hauger on Lap 21.

Fittipaldi was also struggling on his Softs and after losing out to Hauger and Colapinto, he suffered a puncture on the left front tyre forcing him to pit.

Bearman then lost places to Aron and Taylor Barnard to drop out of the points. He then went three-wide with the DAMS Lucas Oil cars of Crawford and Juan Manuel Correa at Turn 3, with the former emerging ahead in P9.

By the final lap, Verschoor had built a two-second gap out front and crossed the line to take his fourth Formula 2 victory ahead of Maini, with Martins taking the final spot on the podium.

Hadjar ended up in P4 ahead of Hauger and Colapinto, with Aron making his way through to P7 as Barnard rounded out the points in P8.

KEY QUOTE – Richard Verschoor, Trident

“Super happy with today, we made the right choice going on the Prime tyres. I’m very happy with the win but I have the feeling it should have been my third and not my first, so let’s enjoy the moment, the team did a good job and let’s move on to tomorrow.”

THE CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

After finishing fourth, Championship leader Isack Hadjar moves to 138 points and extends his lead to second place Paul Aron to 119. Third and fourth-placed Zane Maloney and Gabriel Bortoleto failed to score in the Sprint Race but maintain their positions in the Standings although Franco Colapinto has moved to 95 points with his deficit to the Invicta Racing driver now just three.

In the Teams’ Standings, Campos Racing maintain their lead and move to 176 points, however, MP Motorsport scored two more points than them in the Sprint Race and the gap with between the two stands at 11. Invicta Racing are just one point behind in third on 164, while Hitech Pulse-Eight sits fourth on 144 ahead of Rodin Motorsport on 120.

UP NEXT

Next on the schedule is the Budapest Feature Race which is set to take place on Sunday morning at 10:05 local time.