F2: Red Bull junior Hadjar beats Alonso protege Bortoleto to win F2 Feature Race as Aron retires on last lap

F1 Grand Prix, GP Belgium, Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps

Red Bull junior driver Isack Hadjar took a crucial victory at the F2 Feature Race at Spa as his championship rival Paul Aron suffered a dramatic last-lap retirement. F1Technical's senior writer Balazs Szabo reports on the F2 Feature Race.

Pole-sitter Paul Aron makes a good start and keeps the lead while Hadjar has got ahead of Bortoleto down the Kemmel Straight

Ferrari junior Oliver Bearman collided with Josep Pepe Marti at La Source with both cars crashing into the barriers.

The safety car was deployed on the opening lap to clear the stricken cars of Marti and Bearman, but the field was released at the end of Lap 3.

However, just moments later, the race was interrupted again. Rafael Villagómez was squeezed wide at Les Combes by Taylor Barnard and dipped a wheel into the gravel. Spinning across the track, he collected Victor Martins, who came back on to the track after running wide at Turn 7.

The incident saw both drivers crash into the barrier, and the safety car was deployed again.

The field was released at the end of Lap 6, and with the mandatory pitstop window open, Dennis Hauger made the decision to pit from P9. On the Kemmel straight, Andrea Kimi Antonelli made the jump on yesterday's winner Zak O'Sullivan to take P6.

On Lap 8, Isack Hadjar used the DRS to great advantage to overtake Aron down the Kemmel Straight, taking over the lead. The Hitech driver was called in for his tyre change at the end of the lap.

The next lap saw Hadjar and Jak Crawford pit for new Pirellis, and the Frenchman was able to cover off Aron to maintain the net lead.

Just a lap later, Gabriel Bortoleto pitted with his Invicta outfit having performed a great pit stop. However, he needed to wait until the traffic went by in the fast lane.

On Lap 11, Aron closed the gap to Hajdar, and he managed to go by the Frenchman. However, the battle was not over as Hadjar stayed well withing DRS range.

In the meantime, Enzo Fittipaldi was called into the pits, but he was forced to retire with a technical issue.

Onto Lap 13, Hadjar used the DRS to great advantage and retook P7 from Aron as the pair was running on the long Kemmel straight.

A lap later, Kush Maini pitted for new tyres from P4 with the Indian racer having rejoined the track down in P15. With his stop, Maini became the first medium tyre runner to pit for softs.

The next lap saw Antonelli and Amaury Cordeel pit for fresh tyres. The Italian had a slow pit stop with Prema hesitating when the mechanics tried to lift Antonelli's car. The slow stop saw Antonelli lose a spot to Cordeel.

On Lap 17, Bortoleto got ahead of Aron and immediately started to chase down Hadjar, who was slightly hindered by Taylor Barnward.

In the meantime, Aron's pace evaporated and he fell into the clutches of Crawford as they battled for third.

Lap 22 saw Verschoor overtake Maloney for P6 on the Kemmel straight and just seconds later Cordeel got ahead of Antonelli on the same spot.

On the last tour, Aron slowed down coming out of Raidillon and was parked his car down on the Kemmel straight, enduring a huge blow to his championship aspirations.

Hadjar was in control of the race in the closing stages, and crossed the line to win the race with Bortoleto in second and Crawford now third

O'Sullivan finishes fourth, Verschoor fifth, Maloney sixth, Miyata seventh, Cordeel eighth, while Antonelli crosses the line in ninth ahead of Duerksen.

"Strategy was on point and the pace was really good and I’m so happy to extend the lead and go into the holidays in the best way possible. See you in Monza and have a good summer break!”

With another victory, Hadjar extends his lead in the Championship and is now on 165. Bortoleto moves up to P2 on 129, ahead of Aron who remains on 124 in third. Maloney is fourth on 111 while Crawford’s podium lifts him into the top five and into triple digits on 100.

In the Teams’ Standings, it’s level at the top but Campos Racing lead by virtue of more wins than Invicta Racing. Both outfits are on 203 ahead of MP Motorsport in third on 179. Hitech Pulse-Eight and Rodin Motorsport round out the top five places on 153 and 140 points respectively.