The Man from Paraguay, Joshua Dürksen, has won his first ever Formula 2 Race in show stopping fashion in the F2 Sprint at the 2024 Azerbaijan GP. Formula 2 delivered yet another unpredictable race in Baku. In case you missed it, here’s the recap of the Azerbaijan Sprint race.
Early Action and Big Movers
Mansell’s debut race began with a strong start, holding onto his pole position. However, Minì quickly made himself known, overtaking Jak Crawford to claim second place. By the end of Lap 1, Crawford had dropped to P4, while Hadjar, despite starting 20th, made significant progress, climbing up to 16th.
The first lap was clean, but the top three of Mansell, Minì, and Dürksen, began to set the pace creating a major DRS train for the rest of the field.
The battle of the debutants
By Lap 4, Minì had managed to drop out of Mansell’s DRS zone but rejoined before the detection point. The Baku street circuit’s risks were evident, with drivers being extremely cautious throughout the opening laps. Many drivers in the position to score points didn’t want to cause a potential incident to ruin their race.
Minì’s pace in the PREMA was undeniable. Channelling his inner Ollie Bearman around Baku in 2023, the Italian managed to overtake Mansell for the lead. By Lap 8 Minì had built an 0.8-second gap.
Despite having a strong opening stint in his debut F2 race, Mansell was soon overtaken by Dürksen who showed promising pace in his AIX.
As previously mentioned, Dürksen showed very promising pace in his car and was able to claim the lead from Minì on lap 13 of the sprint race. Dürksen was able to pull a significant gap to the rookie behind him, having gained a two-second lead over 2 laps.
Late Safety Car
The seemingly clean race took a dramatic turn on Lap 15 when Miyata hit the barriers at Turn 3. The safety car was deployed. Fittipaldi, Cordeel & Villagomez used this safety car as an opportunity to pit for super soft tyres. The safety car period ended on Lap 17, with Dürksen leading Minì and Crawford on the restart.
Dürksen waited until the very last second to go, leaving Minì vulnerable to Crawford. He inevitably lost out and moved down to P3. Bortoleto and Mansell had a moment into turn 2, with Mansell hitting Bortoleto into the wall, though the race continued with both drivers in it.
Mansell and Antonelli had an intense battle, with Antonelli eventually claiming 7th place, after a series of exchanges. Mansell’s incident with Bortoleto was noted for potential penalties to be determined after the race ended.
The Final Laps
In the closing laps of the F2 Sprint at the 2024 Azerbaijan GP, Minì was able to hold off Martins with a struggling Prema car. Despite the pressure, Minì managed to secure second place by just 0.02 seconds.
Durksen’s Historic Victory
In an impressive drive, Dürksen claimed his first-ever Formula 2 victory. Making the nation of Paraguay proud. Minì’s strong performance secured him a podium finish, demonstrating his talent on debut.
The F2 weekend will continue tomorrow with the feature race!
Featured Image credit: Formula Motorsport Ltd
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