WHAT WE LEARNED: Hadjar and Campos Racing take the initiative

After a strong run of form put Paul Aron on top in the Drivers’ Championship, Isack Hadjar hit back to go to the top himself with his third Feature Race victory of the campaign.

While his and Campos’ results at Silverstone were undoubtedly impressive, does it point to what we could expect moving forward?

HOLDING ON UNDER PRESSURE

The British summer weather definitely kept everyone guessing, and while rain in the middle of July put a dampener on people’s barbeque plans, it made for an intriguing Round 8. While none of the competitive sessions required a change from wets to dries of vice versa, executing cleanly counted for even more than usual, with little margin for error.

Rain hanging over Qualifying meant that a difficult first lap could leave a driver vulnerable, and even with the weather holding out, Paul Aron fell foul of that rule with his spin at Turn 1 ahead of his final attempts.

It left the door open for Hadjar to capitalise and secure Pole Position for Campos, putting the Frenchman in prime position for Feature Race success.

In the Sprint Race, Andrea Kimi Antonelli had the clearest view from reverse grid Pole, and duly converted for his maiden F2 victory. The PREMA Racing rookie held his nerve at the front in treacherous conditions while rivals further back hit trouble.

Managing multiple race restarts in the rain, Antonelli looked unflustered with a first F2 win there for the taking, despite the experienced Zane Maloney the rival directly behind him applying pressure. In fact, the PREMA driver looked comfortable in the lead, eventually finishing over eight seconds clear at the chequered flag.

The Italian said afterwards that he’d needed that win following a few tough rounds in what has been a promising but up to Silverstone win-less campaign. The Mercedes Junior Team driver will now be aiming to carry that momentum into Budapest and the remainder of the campaign.

READ MORE: RACE ANALYSIS: Another strategic stroke of genius by Fittipaldi and Van Amersfoort Racing

On Sunday, an unsafe release for Jak Crawford in the Feature Race meant that even though the DAMS Lucas Oil driver came through for position on Hadjar, the Campos driver was comfortably quick enough to stay within range for the win.

While others fell into their own troubles during the weekend, it was execution in the biggest moments that put the Silverstone winners on course to achieve their successes.

HADJAR FULFILLING EARLY SEASON POTENTIAL

It was an important weekend for Campos even without the results putting them at the top of the F2 mountains in the respective Championships.

While earlier in the campaign, both parties indicated that results had not fully demonstrated their full potential, Silverstone was the opposite of that, with Pole and Feature Race victory the first time they have secured the top spot on Friday and converted in on Sunday.

READ MORE: Zane Maloney’s Silverstone weekend in his words

The Red Bull Junior Team driver’s Feature success was his third race win of the campaign. It was also his fifth podium result in the Feature Race across the previous six race weekends. Barcelona is the only event where he hasn’t finished on the rostrum since Melbourne, and even then he secured a top five result.

After the false start of Sakhir and Jeddah, the Campos/Hadjar combination is looking menacing going into the pre-summer break rounds.

AN ABRUPT ENDING

On the other side of the title fight coin, Aron suffered a disappointing weekend at Hitech Pulse-Eight’s home event around Silverstone.

The Estonian had led the Championship arriving in the UK but left with a 16-point deficit to Hadjar after the Frenchman’s victory and Pole Position.

His difficulties started on Friday where a spin in Qualifying put him out of the running for Pole having held the spot provisionally earlier on. He was left to start both races from P12 on the grid, but things didn’t improve going forward.

After a streak of nine-consecutive points scoring results, Aron’s collision with Campos’ Josep María Martí in the Sprint Race brought an end to that impressive run. That was followed by contact with AIX Racing driver Joshua Duerksen battling for position.

It will be a tough streak to repeat but there is no doubting that Aron has taken to life in F2 more than capably. This setback will be a bitter pill to swallow in the break between Silverstone and Budapest, but there’s no reason to expect him to be off the pace going forward as a result.

Expect a resurgent Aron come lights out at the Hungaroring.