Sauber-bound Brazilian Gabriel Bortoleto wins Formula 2 Drivers’ Championship

Abu Dhabi (The Uttam Hindu): Gabriel Bortoleto secured the Formula 2 Drivers’ Championship in the final race of the season at the Yas Marina circuit finishing second in the Feature Race to AIX Racing’s Joshua Duerksen on Sunday.

The Kick-Sauber bound Brazilian becomes the first driver since Oscar Piastri to win the Formula 3 and F2 Drivers’ titles in consecutive seasons as a rookie, joining the likes of Charles Leclerc and George Russell in the feat.

Title rival Isack Hadjar had lined up alongside the Brazilian in third and just 4.5 points adrift in the standings, but his hopes were wiped away immediately. The Campos Racing driver stalled at lights out, leaving him out of the reckoning.

From there, Bortoleto led the opening stint of the race comfortably but dropped behind Duerksen and ART Grand Prix driver Victor Martins, who both undercut the Brazilian driver in the pitstop phase.

In the closing stages, the Invicta Racing driver closed back in on Martins to take second place but couldn’t catch race-winner Duerksen before the end.

Martins slipped off the podium on the final lap as Richard Verschoor of MP Motorsport made the most of the alternative strategy. The Dutch driver started on the medium Pirelli tyres before making a late mandatory stop and switch to the supersofts. Having been several seconds quicker per lap, he caught Martins on the penultimate lap, with the ART driver running wide at the final corner.

Verschoor came through at Turn 1 to take the place and complete the final podium of the season in third. Along with Bortoleto’s Drivers’ title success, Invicta secured the Teams’ title with the result, completing the sweep in 2024.