Red Bull junior Hadjar ends luckless run with sprint race win · RaceFans

Isack Hadjar ended a torrid run of bad luck at the start of the Formula 2 season with a commanding victory in the sprint race at Albert Park.

However the Red Bull junior driver is under investigation for his role in a first-lap crash which put Pepe Marti and Gabriel Bortoleto out of the race.

Hadjar controlled the 23-lap race from the start, claiming the lead from third on the grid and pulling away from Roman Stanek after three Safety Car restarts to win by almost seven seconds.

It is Hadjar’s second win in F2 and only his second finish this year after three consecutive retirements in the last three races, all due to problems with his car.

Feature race pole winner Dennis Hauger rose from 10th on the grid to take the final podium place in third. He secured the place with a bold pass on Kush Maini around the outside into the fast chicane of turns nine and ten and was pressuring Stanek for second as the chequered flag fell.

Maini took fourth ahead of Williams junior Franco Colapinto and Ritomo Miyata in sixth. Alpine junior Victor Martins rose from 21st on the grid to score his first points of the year in seventh place, while Ferrari driver Oliver Bearman took the final point from 16th on the grid after holding off Zak O’Sullivan.

Championship leader Zane Maloney missed out on points in 11th after being passed by Jak Crawford on the final lap of the race. He lost several places earlier in the race when he ran wide at turn six following the first Safety Car period, taking a trip through the gravel. He still leads the championship on 47 points, 10 ahead of Hauger.

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Marti and Bortoleto were the first retirements from the race after making contact around 100 metres from the start, sending the pair skidding right into the wall at pit exit. The pair are under investigation along with Hadjar, who was in the process of passing them at the moment contact was made.

Mercedes junior Andrea Kimi Antonelli spun out of the race at turn 12 on the 10th lap while battling with several cars for third place including Maini, Richard Verschoor and Paul Aron. The spinning Prema driver caught out two drivers behind him: Verschoor, who spun into retirement, and Aron, who hit the Trident car but continued with damage.

Formula 2 Australia race one results