Joshua Dürksen proved why the winner of the team’s championship picked him as their second driver for 2026. And AIX Racing certainly helped him to finish the season on a high.
Roman Staněk, starting on Pole, made a great start and kept the lead. His teammate was not so lucky as he lost a position. Arvid Lindblad behind made an incredible start, taking P9. Same things for Gabriele Minì taking P8. Jak Crawford had a 10-seconds stop and go penalty, making at his risk his P2 in the championship.
Beginning of the end
In lap 2, Alexander Dunne was chasing Victor Martins for P9, but he took the curb making his car jump. He regained the track right into the back of the ART’s car. Both of them spun and Cian Shields couldn’t avoid the black and white Rodin. The three of them DNFs, with Victor Martins’s career in Formula 2 being over on lap 3 of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The safety car was brought on track and Alexander Dunne took a 10-seconds penalty.
Restart happened on lap 6, and Staněk still kept the lead. Villagomez attacked Browning for P9. It was close between Goethe and Minì as the Italian slightly pushed the German out of the track. A couple of corners later, Goethe was close again from the back of the Prema’s car. On lap 8, most of the drivers in supersoft pitted, except for Dürksen, who pitted a lap later.
Even though Staněk went out in front of Beganovic, the Hitech driver took the upper hand on the Czech. It was a great strategy from AIX Racing as the Paraguayan pitted and went out in front of the pack for the lead. A yellow flag waved as Sebastián Montoya had an issue and stopped on track after a big spin. This yellow flag became a virtual safety car and a new safety car. Laurens Van Hoepen also DNFed but nothing was said about it.
Giving everything
Leonardo Fornaroli in the lead created a gap in the restart but braked a little too late so Lindblad behind managed to come closer again. Minì, despite a thorne in his finger, overtook Inthrapuvasak, who went a bit wide. Oliver Goethe did the same. Both Hitech’s drivers took a 5-seconds penalty for speeding into the pitlane. Richard Verschoor in front overtook John Bennett for P3. Arvid Lindblad almost made the same move on Leonardo Fornaroli for the lead, but the Italian managed to defend. Jak Crawford and Nikola Tsolov also overtook Bennett, while Dürksen overtook Stenshorne just behind.
Leonardo Fornaroli locked his tyre and had to cut a turn, the same thing that gave him a penalty yesterday during the sprint race. The battle continued between him and Lindblad as the Brit overtook him but the Italian regained his lead. A couple of turns later, the Campos driver gained the lead once again and managed to keep it. Jak Crawford was there to give it all and overtook Fornaroli for P2. However, the Invicta driver, with the help of the DRS, could regain his position. The same happened two laps later but this time, Jak Crawford kept his advantage.
Finishing the season on a high
Nikola Tsolov is the first driver on the alternative strategy to pit on lap 29, followed by Stenshorne and Bennett. Lindblad and Fornaroli pitted on lap 31. The future Racing Bull Formula 1 driver went on the Invicta box at first, which was noted as a pitlane infringement. Thankfully for him, the change of tyres was better for him than for Fornaroli. Crawford and Verschoor pitted in lap 32. In front, Gabriele Minì attacked Roman Staněk for P3 on track but virtually P2 with Beganovic’s penalty. The Czech defended his position and managed to keep it. Joshua Dürksen won the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, in front of Roman Staněk and Gabriele Minì. Invicta Racingwon the team championship with 313 points.