F2 title showdown: Who is in the running for glory?

The 2024 Formula 2 season has been one of many twists and turns, with championship challengers coming and going. With a double-header in the Middle East to decide the matter, who will come out on top?

While six drivers remain mathematically in the fight, there is a clear two-horse battle between points leader Gabriel Bortoleto and Isack Hadjar, while Paul Aron is lurking ready to pick up the pieces should disaster befall those ahead. The remaining three contenders hold a mere mathematical chance and need something drastic to happen for a shot at the throne.

Omitted from the list is Zane Maloney (third) who despite his elevated position in the standings will not be completing the season due to his move into Formula E with Abt.

Without further ado, here are the final runners and riders in the F2 title hunt.

Gabriel Bortoleto – 169.5 points

Bortoleto leads the standings and stands an excellent chance of securing back-to-back F3 and F2 titles

Photo by: James Sutton / Motorsport Images

Fresh from his taking the F3 title in his rookie season, Invicta driver Bortoleto is attempting to follow in the footsteps of Charles Leclerc, George Russell and Oscar Piastri by backing this up immediately with the F2 crown.

With his 2025 Sauber F1 seat confirmed already, it will be interesting to see his demeanour in the Qatar paddock this weekend. To some degree, the pressure is off now his future is secure, meaning that only personal pride is at stake and not his next career step.

Much like his F3 success, Bortoleto has climbed the table through sheer consistency following a somewhat shaky start. Three consecutive retirements in the Jeddah feature race and both Australia outings - owing to Pepe Marti wiping him out as the sprint race began, then a hydraulics failure in the feature - represents the only black spot on his campaign.

Feature race wins in Austria and Monza – the latter a spectacular last-to-first comeback drive – pushed him up the order and into contention, with only two sprint race non-scores following his Melbourne misfortune.

Out of the drivers in the mix, Bortoleto is without question the form man, making him the favourite to triumph across the coming fortnight.

Isack Hadjar – 165 points

Hadjar has four feature wins in 2024, but the Campos driver drew a blank at Monza and Baku

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

If Bortoleto is in form, then Red Bull junior and Campos racer Hadjar is the polar opposite. Not so long ago, Hadjar appeared to have one hand and four fingers on the trophy, but a catastrophic run of results has seen him surrender the top spot and, in the midst of Red Bull’s indecision over its 2025 driver line-up at RB, potentially harm his chances of a promotion.

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Across the last 10 races, Hadjar has scored points on just three occasions. Granted, two of these were much-needed feature race wins and the other was a third place in the Hungarian sprint race, but this is not the form that any driver would wish to carry into the decisive period.

This said, the lengthy break since Azerbaijan could be exactly what the Frenchman required to recharge and refresh. Should he rediscover his early-season pace, then it would be a tough challenge for any driver to best him.

With four wins to his name – all in feature races – Hadjar has more than any rival this term, although, with only two further podiums to his name, there is somewhat of a Jekyll and Hyde nature to his year.

Paul Aron – 133 points

Aron made much of the early running for Hitech, but has also slipped back as Bortoleto came on strong

Photo by: Formula Motorsport Ltd

Like Hadjar, Aron also held the championship lead and, at one point, looked a dominant force. But through a combination of poor luck and individual errors, the Hitech rookie has seen his title bid fade.

Trailing by 36.5 points, Aron knows that his hopes are hanging by a thread, and one incident could knock him out of the picture altogether.

Without a win, the Estonian topped the order early on due to his sheer consistency of seven podiums in the first 13 races. His record in the following 11 races, however, is zero podiums and a best finish of fifth – this one of only four further points finishes.

A pair of sixth-place finishes marked a welcome return to scoring in Baku, but far more than this is required to take his title bid to Yas Marina.

The rest

An expected run at the title from Martins has not really materialised

Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Images

If Aron needs a special result to snatch the title, Jak Crawford, Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Victor Martins need a miracle.

DAMS driver Crawford trails by 53.5 points, Prema driver Antonelli by 56.5 and ART’s Alpine junior Martins by 76.5. For the latter, only taking every available point and hoping that Bortoleto scores a run of four DNFs is enough. Should Martins miss out on pole in Qatar, his hopes are over.

This is somewhat of a shame for the 2022 F3 champion, who entered the year as a title favourite but struggled with the car in the early stages before discovering form, finishing second in four of the last eight races.

Crawford and Antonelli face similar mountains to climb, needing to outscore Bortoleto by 15 and 18 points respectively in order to carry any hope to Abu Dhabi.

While Crawford may believe he has something to prove – especially with Cadillac set to join the F1 grid in 2026 and the likely interest in hiring an American driver – Antonelli has his F1 seat sorted already, with the Italian set to replace Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes next year.

Given the scale of the challenge to overcome the points leaders and the differing levels of urgency for both, there could be a distinct difference in approach in Qatar.