2024 F2 Highlights Part 1: Early season thrills

As the end of the epic 2024 season closes in, it’s a great time to look back at the key moments that got us to where we are.
In this multi-part series, we’ll look back at the best bits of the 2024 Formula 2 season right from the beginning, starting out with Round 1 in Sakhir.
The 2024 campaign kicked off around the Bahrain International Circuit and the Class of 2024 wasted no time in making a big impression.
Josep María Martí and Paul Aron however weren’t the happiest rookies after Qualifying left them staring down a comeback charge in the Feature having missed out on the top 10 positions.
However, the pair were in top form come Sunday, and despite their relative lack of experience against rivals around them, they were irresistible in their charge to a podium result on their first F2 weekend.
Martí was a rocket off the line and sliced to the inside of Victor Martins on the run to the first corner, and he was followed through by Aron under braking for Turn 1.
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Out of Turn 2, Ritomo Miyata baulked Jak Crawford after having to avoid the stationary Isack Hadjar, and that allowed Martí to sneak through for fifth up the hill to Turn 4.
Martí was through on Bortoleto at the Safety Car restart on Lap 5 and dispatched Dennis Hauger at Turn 7 to take third. He was then through for second with a pass on Zak O’Sullivan on Lap 7.
Aron had to fight his way back through the field and with a move on Hauger, claimed P4 on Lap 25 after the pit stop phase. O’Sullivan had moved back up to second, but late-race passes on the Briton moved Martí and Aron back onto the podium behind race winner Zane Maloney.
It was arguably one of Enzo Fittipaldi’s finest drives of his F2 career; the Jeddah Feature Race victory was a special performance from the ‘Little Shark’.
Starting from fourth on the grid, the Van Amersfoort Racing driver got a fair start, and settled into third position after fending off Andrea Kimi Antonelli in the opening corners.
Jak Crawford was the first of the front runners to pit for their mandatory stop on Lap 7, releasing Fittipaldi to chase down leader Kush Maini, though the Invicta Racing driver remained ahead through the pitstop phase.
A string of impressive laps closed the gap down to the Indian driver, and an incisive dive to the inside of Turn 1 on Lap 13 put him fourth on the road. Then, a mid-race Safety Car allowed those running the alternative strategy to stop and emerge ahead.
READ MORE: How the 2024 Championship compares to previous Formula 2 seasons
Despite the tyre life differential, Fittipaldi was on the hunt, passing Taylor Barnard for third with 10 laps to go but saved his best pass for last.
Lap 22 and the VAR driver had caught the battling Amaury Cordeel and Juan Manuel Correa. He stuck to the outside line at Turn 1, went three-wide and swept across the pair of them to seal the lead and race victory with it.
Later in the day and after the last-minute call-up to become Scuderia Ferrari’s youngest-ever driver, Oliver Bearman put in a stellar performance on his F1 debut. Deputising for Carlos Sainz and after just one Practice session and qualifying around one of the toughest venues on the calendar, he earned points for the Prancing Horse in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix with P7.
It was a long time coming but after two years of missing out, Dennis Hauger made it to the top spot in Formula 2 Qualifying with his maiden Pole Position. The MP Motorsport driver was in fine form on Friday, setting a 1:28.694 to seal P1 by 0.3s over Andrea Kimi Antonelli.
After an early Red Flag stoppage, Hauger’s first effort put him just 0.031s off the top with Paul Aron on provisional Pole on a 1:29.904. Their follow up attempts left them in the same orderwith 15 minutes to go, just 0.003s between them in first and second still.
Into the final five minutes and Zane Maloney moved up to P1 just before a late Red Flag was thrown for Jak Crawford spinning into the gravel.
With one final lap to run, Kush Maini, then Antonelli and finally Hauger improved, with the Norwegian driver saving his best to last to go well clear of the pack for his first F2 Pole.