RACE WEEKEND ANALYSIS: How Hadjar’s setup might have made a difference at Spa-Francorchamps

31 July 2024

It was an incredible weekend of racing at Spa-Francorchamps as the top three in the Drivers’ Championship battled it out in both Qualifying and the Feature Race.

Paul Aron took his second consecutive Pole Position on Friday ahead of Gabriel Bortoleto and Isack Hadjar, before the Campos Racing driver beat his rivals to claim victory in the Feature.

This result could prove to be the most significant of the season as he moved to 169 points and extended his lead in the Standings to 36 points.

To make matters worse for Aron, he retired with an issue on the final lap on Sunday and has dropped to third in the Standings, while Bortoleto continued his fine form by starting and finishing second.

So, on a weekend where the top three went toe-to-toe, how did Hadjar come out on top?

ARON’S FRIDAY BEST

The Hitech Pulse-Eight driver was once again in incredible form on Friday and getting pole, he gained two points and put himself in a strong position to claim his first Formula 2 win.

But how did he do it?

On his final lap in Qualifying, it was the high-speed technical middle sector where Aron made the difference. He completed that in 51.669s, over two-tenths better than his closest rivals Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who did a 51.893s.

Aron was fastest in Qualifying on Friday ahead of Bortoleto and Hadjar

Amongst his title rivals, Bortoleto was not far off with a 51.900s while Hadjar completed that section in 52.076s.

Hadjar’s time was very quick compared to the rest of the field, as only Aron, Bortoleto and Antonelli, did it in 51s, the other 19 drivers where in the 52s.

Aron’s time was remarkable as all three were covered by just 0.068s in the first sector and 0.101s in the third. The final sector was remarkably close not just amongst the top three but also the entire field, as on average, two-tenths separated all 22 cars.

Aron’s performance likely came from his setup as it is possible he added more downforce to his car, sacrificing straight line speed to be more efficient in the corners.

The speed trap in Qualifying showed Bortoleto be third fastest on 280.2km/h, Hadjar to be 14th with 277.9km/h, while Aron was 18th on 276.6km/h.

Now on their fastest first sectors, Bortoleto’s max speed was 310.2, Aron was at 308.2km/h, while Hadjar hit 307.6km/h.

But the key part here is that the Estonian had a great tow down the Kemmel Straight from Jak Crawford with DRS, while Hadjar did not have anyone close enough in front of him.

It’s always important to give credit where it’s due, Aron drove magnificently across the lap but his decision to sacrifice straight line speed might have worked against him in the races.

Aron led the early stages of the race but came under pressure from Hadjar

HADJAR CLOSE TO PICTURE PERFECT

The Feature Race got off to a bit of a slow start with a couple of early Safety Cars neutralising the action, although Hadjar had got ahead of Bortoleto down the Kemmel Straight on Lap 1, while Aron maintained the lead.

In the early phase before Aron triggered the mandatory pit stops at the end of Lap 8, only Laps 4, 7 and 8 showed representative sector and lap times.

The pattern developing was that Hadjar and Bortoleto were much quicker than Aron in the first sector, while the Estonian was faster in the middle, although things were close in the third.

The other theme throughout those early laps was that Bortoleto was faster through the speed traps, while Hadjar was second and Aron was third. The speed trap was at the start of Raidillon not at the Kemmel Straight, so the DRS was not opened yet.

But it was clear that Hadjar had an all-round setup early on as while he and Bortoleto would lose time to Aron in the middle sector, the Campos Racing driver was able to stay with the Estonian, which helped keep him close enough to take the lead on Lap 8 at the Kemmel Straight.

Even after the pit stops, Bortoleto was constantly faster of the three in the first and third sectors, but now Hadjar was the one to beat in the middle sector.

Bortoleto was the fastest through the speed trap of the top three drivers

That was because even though Aron had managed to get ahead of Hadjar at one stage, he lost out to the Frenchman and Bortoleto because his Medium tyres had fallen off. He then became involved in a battle with Crawford for P3, until he stopped on track on the final lap with an issue.

But in the battle for P1, Bortoleto closed the gap to Hadjar after the Championship leader encountered traffic in the form of the yet to pit Taylor Barnard.

He closed to within DRS range from Lap 17-19 and while he was faster in the first and third sectors, he could not get past Hadjar.

The Frenchman’s all-round setup meant he was quick all around the lap, so even though he was slower than Bortoleto through the first and third sectors, he was not that much slower.

Speaking after the race, Bortoleto said: “De ja vu from Imola, catching Isack and then when I caught him, the guy puts the pace on and I couldn’t get past, so I just stayed in the DRS, and at some point, lost it.”

Hadjar had clearly found the perfect balance in his setup giving him an all-round car on the day. It could be that his experience of racing at Spa last year in F2 gave him an idea of what to do, it could be a stroke of genius, or it could even better luck.

Whatever it is, it proved a masterstroke and it gave him the victory and a 36-point lead heading into the summer break.