Vesti extends F2 championship to final day after Abu Dhabi Sprint win
25th November 2023Prema’s Frederik Vesti extends the championship to the final day as the Dane wins the final Formula 2 sprint of the season as ART’s Theo Pourchaire finishes seventh.
It was an even start from Fittipaldi and Vesit when the lights went out but by the end of the lap, Vesti had found himself down in fourth as the safety car was deployed.
The safety car was deployed in the opening lap after Van Amersfoort Racing’s Juan Manuel Correa spun out in the third corner, unable to restart the car.
Dam’s Arthur Leclerc was the only driver to be given a time penalty across the final sprint of the season as the Monegasque was slapped with a 10-second time penalty for a safety car infringement, on lap 16.
Vesti’s win in the sprint cuts the points deficit to Theo Pourchaire, who finished seventh, to 16 points and forces the championship to go onto the final day of the season.
How the race unfolded…
It was an even start from the pole sitter, Enzo Fittipaldi and the championship contender, Frederik Vesti and the two were glued together through the opening corners before Vesti yielded position. Further back, there was a collision in the midfield which sent VAR’s Juan Manuel Correa into a spin and out of the race.
On the run to the turn five hairpin, Fittipaldi went in too deep and allowed Vesti through. However, the Danish driver fell back down the order as he was overtaken by Fittipaldi, Isack Hadjar (Hitech) and Richard Verschoor (VAR) down the back straight. Vesti stabilised his fall to fourth as the safety car came out due to Correa’s stranded car.
At the penultimate corner, on lap five, Fittipaldi put the hammer down and got the pack back up to racing speed after the Safety Car returned to the pit lane. The order of the top four remained unchanged until turn six where Vesti outbroke Verschoor, third was secured – one down, two more to go.
On lap eight, the championship leader ART’s Theo Pourchaire found himself inside the points, down in eighth. A lap later, Pourchaire moved up to seventh as he slipped by, championship contender, Ayumu Iwasa into turn nine.
With the championship under threat for Vesti, due to Pourchaire’s potential championship-winning position, the Dane Prema driver managed to slip by Hadjar down the second back straight into turn nine on lap 10. Two down, one to go: Fittipaldi remains two seconds ahead.
As Vesit continued on his charge to Fittipaldi, still seconds behind, Verschoor moved up to third place as he overtook Hadjar on the run down to turn nine, on lap 13.
On lap 17, under the setting sun, Fittipaldi was put under immense Vesti who had swallowed up the two-second gap. By the end of the back straight, aided by DRS, the Prema was on the gearbox of the Carlin but Vesti was not able to find a way by. This repeated once more a lap later, as Fittipaldi managed to repel Vesti’s charge.
Exiting turn five, Vesti was much closer as Fittipaldi locked up mid-corner and with DRS the Dane was able to dive down the inside line and this allowed the Prema to take the lead, on lap 20. Despite Fittipaldi’s best efforts, the Brazilian couldn’t fight back.
Podium:
- Frederik Vesit, Prema
- Enzo Fittipaldi, Carlin
- Richard Verschoor, VAR
That’s it for the article: Vesti extends F2 championship to final day after Abu Dhabi Sprint win!
Read more Formula Two here:
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Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.
I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
Kamron Kent
Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
