F2 Australia: Hauger endures mixed conditions for sprint win

The MP Motorsport driver led from lights-to-flag to secure his third series victory but his first since moving to the reigning championship-winning team for 2023.

Despite a mid-race safety car and further rainfall, Hauger was able to hold off Jak Crawford and Kush Maini, with the two rookies completing the podium for Hitech and Campos Racing respectively.

A wet-to-dry track and intermittent showers ended several drivers’ races prematurely, with Enzo Fittipaldi and Ralph Boschung both out on the reconnaissance lap having been caught out by wet patches.

Fittipaldi spun at Turn 9, crashing into the barrier, before Boschung had a similar fate, albeit stalling rather than making contact, with both drivers unable to start the race.

Maini also spun on the way to the grid, but was able to keep going and line up third behind poleman Hauger and Crawford as the start was delayed by five minutes to retrieve Fittipaldi’s stricken Rodin Carlin car.

Hauger held firm off the line, with movement further back as Prema rookie Ollie Bearman passed former team-mate Arthur Leclerc (DAMS) for fourth.

Turn 9 saw several tussles, with Crawford attempting to take the lead before backing out while Leclerc made it back past Bearman and Martins took advantage to sweep into fifth.

The following lap, Ayumu Iwasa had a huge lock up into Turn 1 in his DAMS-run car, suffering a puncture and forcing him into the pits.

Rodin Carlin driver Zane Maloney made it past Formula 3 rival Bearman for sixth at Turn 11 on lap four, with Leclerc looking to make a move on Maini for third on lap five before holding his place.

The Monegasque driver took his chance three laps later, making it past the Campos driver at Turn 10, but Maini got back past the following corner to hold his podium position.

A fierce four-car fight came on lap 13, with Maloney, Martins and Hadjar fighting over fifth while the Prema pair scrapped over the final points-paying position. Maloney emerged ahead in fifth, with Martins, Hadjar, Vesti and Bearman close behind.

The safety car was deployed on lap 14 after Juan Manuel Correa tagged home favourite Jack Doohan from behind at Turn 1, sending the Virtuosi driver into a spin from which he was unable to recover.

The Van Amersfoort Racing driver, who returned to F2 this season, was handed a 10-second penalty for the incident.

Several drivers gambled on pitting for wet tyres under the safety car as rainfall was reported in some areas of the circuit, Martins and Theo Pourchaire among them.

The intermission wasn’t without action, with Correa spinning in a similar incident to that he caused with Doohan, and as the safety car was about to end, Brad Benavides headed into the wall at Turn 13 in his PHM Racing by Charouz car, extending it for another lap.

The safety car ended on the penultimate lap, with Correa making it past 2022 runner-up Pourchaire for 12th on the restart.

The pre-season favourite struggled to adapt to his wet tyres on a drying track, sweeping across the gravel at Turn 1 and dropping down the order before retiring.

Bearman passed Vesti for seventh at Turn 9 on the final tour, with Martins claiming 15th from Stanek.

Leclerc finished in fourth, with Maloney and Hadjar in fifth and sixth ahead of the Prema pair of Bearman and Vesti, who rounded off the points.

F2 Australia - Sprint race results:

Cla	#	Driver	Team	Time
1	1	Dennis Hauger	MP Motorsport	-
2	9	Jak Crawford	Hitech Pulse-Eight	1.1
3	24	Kush Maini	Campos Racing	1.7
4	12	Arthur Leclerc	DAMS	2.0
5	3	Zane Maloney	Rodin Carlin	2.4
6	10	Isack Hadjar	Hitech Pulse-Eight	2.8
7	8	Oliver Bearman	Prema Powerteam	4.8
8	7	Frederik Vesti	Prema Powerteam	5.2
9	16	Roy Nissany	PHM Racing by Charouz	5.5
10	22	Richard Verschoor	Van Amersfoort Racing	5.7
11	21	Clement Novalak	Trident	6.4
12	15	Amaury Cordeel	Invicta Virtuosi Racing	11.8
13	11	Ayumu Iwasa	DAMS	12.3
14	23	Juan Manuel Correa	Van Amersfoort Racing	16.8
15	6	Victor Martins	ART Grand Prix	36.6
16	20	Roman Staněk	Trident	37.2
17	2	Jehan Daruvala	MP Motorsport	41.0
	5	Theo Pourchaire	ART Grand Prix	2 laps
	17	Brad Benavides	PHM Racing by Charouz	6 laps
	14	Jack Doohan	Invicta Virtuosi Racing	9 laps
	25	Ralph Boschung	Campos Racing
	4	Enzo Fittipaldi	Rodin Carlin
View full results