Red Bull junior Isack Hadjar prolonged his lead within the Formula 2 overall standings by dominating the Belgian feature race.
After an early battle with title rival Paul Aron (Hitech) under the DRS system, the Campos-based driver Hadjar recovered from a slow pit stop and pressed his advantage further into the pits.
However, when Aron lost control of his rivals, the Frenchman was forced to deal with Gabriel Bortoleto (Invicta), who entered the round in third place overall.
Despite having a DRS advantage for a substantial period within the closing stages of the race, Bortoleto was unable to maneuver ahead as his tyres grained and he finished 2.9 seconds behind.
Hadjar’s grip on the title tightened further on the ultimate lap when Aron, who was expected to complete third, stopped on the Kemmel straight with reliability issues. Aron’s points deficit now stands at 41 ahead of the summer break.
The race got off to a frantic start as Haas-bound Oliver Bearman and Campos driver Pepe Marti made contact after the pair made lightning-fast starts. Zane Maloney (Rodin) made a disastrous start and was caught in the center because the trio made their technique to La Source, with Bearman being launched from the left into Marti and each condemned to retirement.
Before the protection automotive got here out, Hadjar managed to pass Bortoleto and take second place, leaving only pole-sitter Aron behind him.
Less than a lap after his retirement, the protection automotive was deployed again after Victor Martins didn’t avoid Rafael Villagómez’s Van Amersfoort Racing automotive, which skidded onto the track at Les Combes.
With no further breaks the tyre strategy remained unchanged, with Aron initiating a pit stop from the front group shortly after passing Hadjar at Les Combes, who followed suit a lap later, changing from the soft to the medium.
Having pulled up behind the leading pair, Bortoleto expected to have the advantage within the closing laps but after getting stuck in dirty air at Campos in Hadjar, that advantage was to come back to nothing.
As Aron slowed on the ultimate lap, DAMS driver Jack Crawford moved into an unlikely podium position, with sprint race winner and Williams junior Zak O'Sullivan fourth from tenth on the grid.
As Hadjar's lead in the final classification increases, Bortoleto overtakes Aron for second place, 37 points behind.
Now in sixth place, Maloney’s hopes of winning the title are dwindling as he’s 59 points behind.
F2 Belgium – Main Race Results
