The F2 Baku Sprint Race saw Brit Oliver Bearman drive from ninth to first as carnage ensued around him, with the race concluding behind the third Safety Car of the 21-lap race.
Oliver Bearman took his first F2 victory in the F2 Baku Sprint Race as the field dropped like flies around him. He snatched the win from his PREMA Racing teammate Frederik Vesti, with the front of the field all suffering from racing incidents.
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Three safety cars were deployed throughout 21 laps, with five drivers retiring from the F2 Baku Sprint Race. A late restart following Roy Nissany’s collision with the wall on the exit of Turn 15 saw race leader Denis Hauger and second-place Victor Martins crash out. The PREMA pair took hold of the opportunity and claimed victory in an incident-ridden afternoon in Baku.
At Lights Out
As the lights went out Victor Martins attempted to split the front row of Richard Verschoor and Zane Maloney. He quickly ran out of room and banged wheels with Maloney, who retired with a puncture after briefly maintaining the lead. Reverse-polesitter Richard Verschoor quickly lost P1 as he collided with the wall at Turn 1, picking up damage and retiring from the race. Denis Hauger capitalised on the chaos, driving from sixth to first.
Ralph Boschung’s promising start as he made his way into the points came to an end on Lap Three as he clipped the wall at Turn 11, bringing out the Safety Car for the first time in the F2 Baku Sprint Race.
As racing got back underway on Lap Six, Hauger stayed ahead as he used a tow along the main straight to his advantage. Vesti scrapped with Jehan Daruvala for third as Bearman began climbing through the ranks. The Brit passed both Théo Pourchaire and Jak Crawford on consecutive laps.
Lap 10 saw Vesti claim third from Daruvala, before Daruvala fell to fifth on the following lap as Bearman made use of DRS, snatching fourth.
Ayumu Iwasa was forced to retire on Lap 11 with his DRS stuck open.
The Safety Car was deployed again on Lap 15; Roy Nissany locked up on the approach to Turn 15 and hit the wall on the exit.
A Chaotic Restart
Three laps of racing remained as the Safety Car once again entered the pits, but everyone was struggling for grip on their medium tyres. As the race resumed, chaos erupted as both Hauger and Martins in first and second hit the barriers at Turn One, leaving them out of the race. Daruvala had nowhere to go as he rounded the corner, colliding with the underneath of Martins’ car as the Halo once again did its’ job.
Just behind them, Pourchaire and Arthur Leclerc also ran wide, avoiding colliding with the stricken cars in front but leaving them stationary beside them. Jack Doohan locked up into the apex and spun out of the race, leaving only a few cars remaining on track.
Vesti emerged from Turn One in the lead, being chased down by his teammate Bearman. As Vesti ran wide at Turn Four, Bearman took advantage of having better grip and clipped through to take the lead seconds before the third and final Safety Car was deployed.
The race concluded behind the Safety Car, meaning PREMA held onto their first 1-2 finish of the season. Bearman secured P1 with Vesti taking P2. Jak Crawford emerged in third. Kush Maini secured fourth having started the race in 14th, Enzo Fittipaldi crossed the line in fifth and Juan Manuel Correa in sixth. Clément Novalak brought home his first points of the season in seventh ahead of Isack Hadjar who claimed the final points-paying position.
Bearman has high hopes for tomorrow’s Feature Race;
“First win in F2 and also my first podium! I’m really happy to take this result starting from P9. It was a mega race and going off pole tomorrow, we can be hopeful.”
Provisional Classification
- Oliver Bearman
- Frederik Vesti
- Jack Crawford
- Kush Maini
- Enzo Fittipaldi
- Juan Manuel Correa
- Clément Novalak
- Isack Hadjar
- Roman Stanek
- Amaury Cordeel
- Brad Benavides
- Zane Maloney
- Ralf Boschung
- Ayumu Iwasa
- Dennis Hauger (DNF)
- Victor Martins (DNF)
- Jehan Daruvala (DNF)
- Théo Pourchaire (DNF)
- Arthur Leclerc (DNF)
- Jack Doohan (DNF)
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