Formula One F1 - Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates - December 8, 2024 Invicta's Gabriel Bortoleto celebrates after winning the Formula Two world championship REUTERS/Jakub Porzycki
ABU DHABI (Reuters) - Brazilian Gabriel Bortoleto won the Formula Two championship in Abu Dhabi on Sunday ahead of his move to Formula One with the Sauber team next season.
The 20-year-old Brazilian was Formula Three champion last year and he secured back-to-back titles after finishing second at Yas Marina while French rival Isack Hadjar stalled on the grid in the season's final feature race.
Bortoleto finished the season with a total 214.5 points to Hadjar's 192.
Paraguayan rookie Joshua Durksen, who also has German nationality, won Sunday's race.
Red Bull-backed Hadjar, who had gone into the final weekend only half a point behind, finished overall runner-up with Alpine F1's Estonian reserve Paul Aron third.
Bortoleto follows current F1 drivers Oscar Piastri, George Russell and Charles Leclerc as winner of back-to-back titles in the feeder series.
Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli, who is replacing seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton at the Formula One team next season, was ill and did not race. He ended the campaign sixth overall.
Britain's Oliver Bearman, who will be racing for Haas in 2025 after competing in three grands prix this year with Ferrari and the U.S. team, ended up 12th overall.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Ed Osmond)
