Dennis Hauger completed a dominant drive to win an exhilarating Formula 2 sprint race in Hungary, while Theo Pourchaire closed his championship deficit to leader Frederik Vesti.
Red Bull junior Hauger started second, but an excellent start saw him take the lead from Kush Maini and keep the position until the chequered flag.Hauger crossed the line 4.2 seconds ahead of fellow Red Bull junior Ayumu Iwasa, with Oliver Bearman joining them on the podium.
Maini had pole position on the partially-reversed grid as dry conditions greeted the driver. Although Maini got off the line well initially, the rest of his first lap went badly.
Hauger took the lead down the inside of turn one before Iwasa, who had a brilliant start from fifth, overtook Maini for second on the outside of turn four. Maini soon dropped another place as Bearman overtook him for third further around the lap.
However Maini regained third on lap three, overtaking Bearman down the inside of turn one. The two continued their wheel-to-wheel battle through the opening sector with Pourchaire close behind. This battle for third allowed Hauger and Iwasa to pull over three seconds clear of the field, before the race began to settle following a frantic start.
Most drivers kept it calm until lap 12. While running out of the points, Clement Novalak misjudged the braking zone of turn one and slid into the side of Ralph Boschung. This caused the Campos driver to go off at the exit, after which Arthur Leclerc ran into the back of Boschung. Novalak and Boschung retired as a result, and a Virtual Safety Car period began.
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The race restarted on lap 13 and Pourchaire’s sharp reactions paid dividends. He reacted quickly and overtook Bearman for fourth on the inside of turn two.
By lap 22 Hauger held a 1.4 second lead over Iwasa. Meanwhile, the battle for third was just building up. The next time around Pourchaire was just four tenths of a second behind Maini with several drivers behind the Sauber junior closing in.
On lap 24, Pourchaire completed his attack of Maini with a move on the inside of turn one. As on the opening lap it quickly got worse for the Campos driver who lost fourth to Bearman at the following corner.
Turn one continued to be a prime overtaking spot, as on lap 26 Pourchaire lost the third place he had gained from Maini. Bearman took the final podium place from him with just three laps remaining, and Pourchaire dropped back.
The final lap saw a three-way battle for fifth between Maini, Jehan Daruvala and Victor Martins. It concluded with Daruvala taking fifth from Maini at turn four.
Just moments later, Hauger crossed the line for his second victory of the season ahead of Iwasa and Bearman. Pourchaire came home in fourth ahead of Daruvala, with Maini, Martins and Isack Hadjar rounding up the point positions.
Pourchaire has now reduced his championship deficit to Vesti to just one point, with Iwasa 15 points behind the Mercedes junior in third with nine races remaining.
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Formula 2 Hungary race one results
| Position | Car | Driver | Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Dennis Hauger | MP |
| 2 | 11 | Ayumu Iwasa | DAMS |
| 3 | 8 | Ollie Bearman | Prema |
| 4 | 5 | Theo Pourchaire | ART |
| 5 | 2 | Jehan Daruvala | MP |
| 6 | 24 | Kush Maini | Campos |
| 7 | 6 | Victor Martins | ART |
| 8 | 10 | Isack Hadjar | Hitech |
| 9 | 7 | Frederik Vesti | Prema |
| 10 | 14 | Jack Doohan | Virtuosi |
| 11 | 4 | Enzo Fittipaldi | Rodin Carlin |
| 12 | 3 | Zane Maloney | Rodin Carlin |
| 13 | 22 | Richard Verschoor | Van Amersfoort |
| 14 | 9 | Jak Crawford | Hitech |
| 15 | 12 | Arthur Leclerc | DAMS |
| 16 | 20 | Roman Staněk | Trident |
| 17 | 16 | Roy Nissany | PHM Racing by Charouz |
| 18 | 17 | Brad Benavides | PHM Racing by Charouz |
| 19 | 15 | Amaury Cordeel | Virtuosi |
| 20 | 23 | Juan Manuel Correa | Van Amersfoort |
| DNF | 25 | Ralph Boschung | Campos |
| DNF | 21 | Clement Novalak | Trident |
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