Theo Pourchaire won the 2023 Formula 2 championship in the final race of the season despite a spirited fight from Frederik Vesti.
The ART driver could not hold off his rival after a thrilling wheel-to-wheel battle between the pair but fifth place was enough to confirm Pourchaire as champion. Jack Doohan won the final feature race from pole position with Victor Martins second, as Vesti snatched the final podium position on the last lap in dramatic fashion.
Doohan held the lead at the start with Kush Maini settling into second place and Victor Martins third. Vesti sat in eighth at the end of the first lap on medium compound tyres, fourth places ahead of Pourchaire who started on softs. But the championship leader passed Juan Manuel Correa on the second lap to move up to 11th place.
By the end of lap five Doohan was almost two seconds ahead of Maini. Further back, Vesti was informed it was “very important” for him to overtake Dennis Hauger for seventh on lap six, but he could not get close enough to challenge the MP driver.
Pourchaire was one of the first drivers to pit at the end of lap six, taking a set of mediums. Vesti remained out on his old rubber much longer as Pourchaire used his warm new tyres to pass Oliver Bearman and Hauger on consecutive laps.
Race leader Doohan pitted at the end of lap nine, handing the lead to Maini. That lasted only a lap before the Campos driver made his stop, cycling Martins into the lead. Now second, Vesti was directed to treat the next 10 laps “like one big qualifying lap”.
Martins continued to lead a train of drivers who started on medium tyres. Bearman suffered an apparent engine problem and pulled into the pit lane but came to a stop just before the entrance. Race control closed the pit entry for a handful of laps, which threatened to cause problems for those running long like Vesti, but the marshals were able to clear his team mate’s car before he made his stop for soft tyres at the end of lap 22.
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Vesti emerged in ninth place, directly behind his championship rival. His championship chances looked remote: He needed at least third place plus fastest lap with Pourchaire not scoring. Nonetheless, with fresher tyres than his rivals Vesti went on the attack over the final 11 laps.
Martins pitted the following lap, with Arthur Leclerc the final driver to pit, allowing Doohan back into the lead. Martins gained second from his long first stint, with Ayumu Iwasa…
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