FEATURE RACE: Antonelli charges through to take second victory of the season in Budapest

Andrea Kimi Antonelli put in a stunning late charge through the field to take his first Feature Race victory of the season in an exciting Budapest Feature Race.

The PREMA Racing rookie took advantage of a late Safety Car that allowed him to put on the Softs and fight through from fifth to take the victory, leading ART Grand Prix driver Victor Martins in second across the line with Trident’s Richard Verschoor in P3.

AS IT HAPPENED

It was a slow start for pole-sitter Paul Aron, made worse by his lock up that forced him to go deep at Turn 1, dropping him to seventh. But it was an outstanding getaway from Martins, who was in the lead before approaching the opening corner after starting in fifth.

The Hitech Pulse-Eight rookie’s hopes of eating into Isack Hadjar’s 20-points Championship lead took an early dent despite the Campos Racing driver being forced to start from the pit lane after leaving for the grid late.

Martins was under pressure from front row starter Enzo Fittipaldi with Invicta Racing’s Gabriel Bortoleto just behind them, with Hard tyre runners Zane Maloney and Antonelli in fourth and fifth, respectively.

PREMA then came on the radio to tell Antonelli to get past Maloney as soon as possible, and he obliged by diving down the inside at Turn 9.

However, a Safety Car was required moments later when Aron, looking to dive down the inside of Hauger, carried too much speed into Turn 2 and went into the back of Maloney, causing both drivers to spin into a stop.

This allowed several of the Soft tyre runners, such as Martins, Bortoleto, Fittipaldi, Hauger, Zak O’Sullivan, Oliver Bearman, and Hadjar to pit for Hards and complete their mandatory stop.

The action resumed on Lap 8 with Antonelli leading the way ahead of Verschoor and Kush Maini, the trio yet to pit.

The Italian was in good form though, building up a lead of over three seconds to Verschoor by Lap 13. Just behind, Martins, now on the better tyre in P4 and putting pressure on Maini.

The ART driver was up to third on Lap 15, going down the inside of the Invicta driver at Turn 1, with Bortoleto doing the same moments later on Amaury Cordeel for P6, Fittipaldi following him through shortly afterwards.

Martins’ next target was Verschoor, and he was within DRS range of the Trident by Lap 18 and dived down his inside at Turn 1 to move up to P2 on the next tour.

But as he looked to close the six and a half second gap to Antonelli, the Safety Car was called upon with Cordeel having crashed into the barrier at Turn 4.

The Hitech driver reported that he was okay, but this gave Antonelli the chance to pit for the Softs and he came back out in fifth behind Hauger. But, with 14 laps to go, the Italian was now in prime position to challenge for the race win.

Racing resumed on Lap 27 of 37 with Martins leading away Bortoleto, but they were quickly under pressure from Antonelli, who got past both Hauger and Fittipaldi before reaching Turn 3.

Antonelli’s charge continued on the next lap as he dived down the inside of Bortoleto into Turn 1.

Following the Safety Cars, the race became one against the clock and with under nine minutes to go, Antonelli used the DRS to his advantage and passed Martins on the main straight to take the lead.

Further behind, Verschoor was also on the charge and went round the outside of Hauger at Turn 2 to take P5 before getting past Fittipaldi on the next lap at Turn 1.

Onto the final lap, Antonelli had built up a lead of 12s before crossing the line to take his first Feature Race victory of the season, with Martins in second place.

Verschoor made a last lap overtake on Bortoleto to take P3 with Fittipaldi following his fellow Brazilian across the line in fifth, and ahead of Hauger, who ended up in P6.

Maini was another making a comeback through the field on the Softs, and he ended up seventh ahead of Miyata and AIX Racing’s Taylor Barnard, with VAR’s Rafael Villagómez rounding out the points in P10.

KEY QUOTE – Andrea Kimi Antonelli, PREMA Racing

“Just finished the Feature Race here, I’m really happy. It was great race, really tough but at the end we were a bit lucky with the Safety Car, but we managed everything very well. The pace was really strong, so I think we really deserved it today. The pace was really strong so really happy to get the second win home and hopefully we can carry on this momentum.”

THE CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

Isack Hadjar still leads the Drivers’ Championship but having not scored in the Feature Race, stays on 140 points. His lead is down to 18 over Paul Aron in P2 with the Estonian scoring two points for starting on Pole, while Gabriel Bortoleto moves up to third on 110 points. Zane Maloney drops to fourth and stays on 101 points, ahead of Franco Colapinto on 96, with Andrea Kimi Antonelli now up to sixth with 85 points.

In the Teams’ Championship we have a new leader with Invicta Racing’s big weekend moving them up to 184 points, six clear of Campos Racing who are now second. MP Motorsport also drop to third and are on 175 points with Hitech Pulse-Eight fourth on 147. Rodin Motorsport stay fifth with 124 points, with PREMA Racing now just five points behind in sixth.

UP NEXT

The drivers will not have to wait too long before jumping back into the car again as they will be back in action for Round 10 at Spa-Francorchamps from July 26-28.