INDIA in F1

Category: F2

  • It feels good to start in the top-3, says Jehan Daruvala

    It feels good to start in the top-3, says Jehan Daruvala

    THOUGHTS FROM TSUNODA, MAZEPIN AND DARUVALA

    FIA Formula 2: Hello and welcome to the press conference with the top three qualifiers for this weekend’s FIA Formula 2 Feature Race here at Sakhir. We are joined by pole-sitter Yuki Tsunoda for Carlin, in second place is Nikita Mazepin for Hitech Grand Prix, and third is Jehan Daruvala, also for Carlin. Yuki you really needed this pole after last weekend, and you delivered under pressure. Just how happy are you with today’s result?

    Yuki Tsunoda: Like you said, I’m really happy. Especially from last week in Qualifying. I did a big mistake and I felt really sorry for the team. I’m really happy with the drive to say thanks to Carlin for today, for the pole. I’m really happy, and a really big thanks to Carlin.

    FIA Formula 2: I was going to ask you about the team actually, with both yourself and Jehan up here. Quick in practice, quick last week here. Do you think you’ve got the quickest car for the race as well?

    Yuki: I really, fully, trust my team. Especially the engineers and mechanics. I think we’ll also have a strong pace as well for tomorrow. But you can never expect much for tomorrows race. It’s a different track, well a different layout. I think there’ll be a lot of overtakes. You can never expect. We don’t know how we’re going to be tomorrow on the pace. I’ll just do my job and we’ll see what’s going to happen.

    FIA Formula 2: Good luck tomorrow, thank you. Nikita, second place matches your best result in Formula 2, which you achieved at Spa this year, I think. Just how good did the car feel out there today?

    Nikita Mazepin: I think we were strong. Obviously, it’s a new track and let’s say a pretty strange one. It reminds me of going back to karting days when the lap was a minute or so. You obviously cross the start/finish line a lot quicker. There’s also a lot more cars around you, and everything is just different. It’s a nice challenge for everyone. It’s the closing weekend of 2020, so it’s nice to get a bit of spice there. In regard to Qualifying, I think I started off pretty calm, and it became pretty messy towards the end. We were very close, I think the pace looked strong, but not close enough. However, tomorrow is the big day I believe.

    FIA Formula 2: It is indeed. I know you didn’t quite get pole, but you are still just in the title fight. With Callum (Ilott) starting in ninth and Mick (Schumacher) all the way back in at least 18th, it could be blown wide open tomorrow. Had you written your chances off coming into this weekend? Do you like them a bit more now?

    Nikita: I think you know me reasonably well by now. There is no way I’m going to be writing the chances off for myself before the mathematical chances are out. That’s for sure. To be honest, I don’t want to sound like I’m the wrong man for the job but I’m not really thinking about the title. I’m just enjoying my last moments with my team. Like I said, it’s the closing weekend. I’m definite what I’m going to be doing next year, and the guys are doing a fantastic job. I’m just enjoying the Qualifying that I’ve done with Hitech GP.

    FIA Formula 2: Well done today and good luck tomorrow. Jehan, your first podium last weekend and now another top three Qualifying performance to go with Sochi. You’re in really good form at the moment.

    Jehan Daruvala: Yeah, like I said last week, things are starting to come together. Last week we were really strong as well, both me and Yuki. We were both out of place in Qualifying. We hit the ground running in practice and we both did a couple of good laps in Qualifying. It feels good to start in the top three. Let’s see what we can do tomorrow.

    FIA Formula 2: You said you both did good laps – the gap to Nikita was just nine thousandths of a second. We knew it would be close around here anyway, but do you think you left that out there somewhere?

    Jehan: Yeah, I was kind of under-powered on the acceleration out of Turn 1, and I didn’t make the most of it. The next lap I found almost six or seven hundredths in the first sector, but the rears were done by then. I think pole was definitely a little bit out of reach, but a front row lock out for the team was possible.

    FIA Formula 2: We’ll see how tomorrow goes for you. Yuki, just returning to you. You need a perfect weekend to be able to have any chance of winning the Championship. You’ve done the first part of that. You mentioned that you think the race will be difficult – how hard do you think it will be if you’re leading into Turn 1? Are we going to see a lot of slipstreaming and overtaking tomorrow?

    Yuki: I don’t think so, well of course there’ll be overtakes, but I think the FIA made the distance of the DRS zone a little bit shorter into Turn 1, so that will cause a few difficulties compared to last week. There are only a few corners in the middle sector and it’s hard to make a gap from those corners. Still, I think there’ll be a lot of overtakes. I’ll just do my job. In this Qualifying, I think my Sector 2 was really good compared to others. I think that makes a big difference in my lap time compared to others. I have pretty good confidence in the pace. Like I’ve said, the race pace at Carlin last week was really strong, so we’ll just do our jobs.

  • Easy win for Shwarztman; Ilott, Daruvala crash out: F2

    Easy win for Shwarztman; Ilott, Daruvala crash out: F2

    Sakhir, 29 Nov 2020: Robert Shwarztman made a dominant return to the top step of the Formula 2 podium, leading the Sprint Race from lights-to-flag in Sakhir for his fourth win of the season and his first since Round 7.

    The PREMA racer beat out his Championship rival, Nikita Mazepin, who moved up to third in the standings and kept himself in the title fight heading into the season finale. Louis Delétraz clinched his fifth podium of the year in style, making up 13 places with a stunning charge through the field from 16th.

    Championship leader Mick Schumacher will take a 14-point lead in the final round of the year, finishing in seventh, with his main rival, Callum Ilott failing to score after a collision with Daruvala. Yuki Tsunoda was also unable to score after a coming together with Marcus Armstrong in the opening laps left him with a puncture and chucked him to the back of the field.

    AS IT HAPPENED

    Shwartzman stuttered ever so slightly off the line, as Tsunoda dived through the middle and attempted to take the inside line at the first turn, but the Russian recovered superbly, defending the position at the corner and getting back ahead.
    Tsunoda’s teammate, Daruvala, got an equally strong start from sixth, lunging up to fourth when the lights went out and getting ahead of Schumacher and Mazepin, who both lost a position. The title rivals began a back and forth and Schumacher narrowly avoided contact as Mazepin budged past him at the first corner.

    Tsunoda’s strong start came unravelling as contact with Armstrong left him with a puncture on his right rear and forced him into an unwanted pitstop on Lap 2, returning 21st. Meanwhile, Shwartzman had broken away from the pack, building a 2.6s gap over Armstrong.

    Racing was brought to an abrupt halt as Theo Pourchaire’s fire extinguisher went off, forcing him to pull over onto the side of the road and retire, bringing out a Safety Car. Delétraz made the most of the opportunity, diving into the pits and switching to the medium tyre.

    Shortly after the restart, Daruvala got caught up in a three-car collision at Turn 10. Ilott had spotted his title rival, Schumacher, lock up on entry and attempted to dive down the inside, but locked up himself and collided into a helpless Daruvala, who was sent spinning out.

    Schumacher managed to get away scot-free, but Ilott wasn’t as lucky, with the UNI-Virtuosi man forced into the pits for a new front-wing. His misery was then compounded as he was handed a drive-through penalty, which all but ended his chance of points.

    Meanwhile, Pedro Piquet had made the most of the carnage, slipping past Schumacher and nabbing P4, before the Virtual Safety Car was deployed to clear up Daruvala’s Carlin.

    Race leader Shwartzman brushed off the restart to continue his assault to the chequered flag. Armstrong wasn’t as fortunate. Despite initially pulling away cleanly, Mazepin fired past for second and left him to deal with the plucky Piquet.

    The Charouz racer was immediately on his tail, sliding left and right as he searched for a gap, eventually finding space and firing past. Schumacher was under pressure behind him, as Guanyu Zhou lunged in-front for fifth.

    Deletraz was making the most of his fresher medium tyres, darting through the pack and into the points. Moves on Christian Lundgaard, Schumacher, Zhou and Armstrong all followed as the Swiss racer stormed towards a potential podium place.

    Standing in his way was his teammate, Piquet, but the two never got a chance to battle as the Brazilian suffered from a mechanical issue and was forced to pull over and retire – ending his chance of a maiden podium.

    Shwartzman cruised to a fourth win of the season ahead of Mazepin and Deletraz. Armstrong retained fourth ahead of Zhou. Schumacher and Drugovich took the final two points places.

    Schumacher leads the Drivers’ Championship with 205 points, 14 ahead of Ilott on 191. Mazepin is up to third with 162, ahead of Shwartzman 159 and Tsunoda on 157. In the Teams’ Championship, PREMA are first are first with 364 points, ahead of 316.5 and Hitech Grand Prix on 266. Carlin are fourth with 208 and ART Grand Prix fifth with 201.

    KEY QUOTE – ROBERT SHWARTZMAN (PREMA RACING)

    “I am happy to be back here – it took a while. This is my first win since Spa. I am really happy with the work that the team done, because we had a big problem with our pace at the beginning of the weekend. We finally managed to get better and during the race, everything was going well.

    “There was a Safety Car and Virtual Safety Car, but I did a decent job at the restart, so in the end it was a comfortable race. A good job from the team and a big thanks to them.”

    WHAT’S NEXT?

    The field will have just a few days to catch their breath before the season finale takes places here in Sakhir, Bahrain on December 4-6. Schumacher will be looking to clinch the title at the earliest opportunity, with Ilott and Mazepin now his main rivals.

  • Jehan Daruvala claims maiden F2 podium

    Jehan Daruvala claims maiden F2 podium

    Bahrain, 28 Nov 2020: Indian racing star, Jehan Daruvala earned his maiden FIA Formula 2 podium at the Bahrain Grand Prix Support Race. The Red Bull Racing Junior is the first Indian to stand on the podium in an FIA Formula 2 Race, in the current iteration of the championship.

    For the record the first of the double header’s, Feature race produced a win for Felipe Drugovich. Mick Schumacher the championship leader finished fourth, with challenger Callum Ilott taking a second to reduce the gap to 12 points with one Feature race and two Sprint races left in the season.

    The F2 season moved to Sakhir, Bahrain for the last 2 rounds of the F2 championship, and Jehan immediately showed his pace in the only practice session. In the last 15 minutes, Jehan posted a lap time of 1:42.782 to go fastest. With just 5 minutes left, Nikita Mazepin of Russia, went faster by a mere 0.122.

    The top Indian racer from Mumbai redeemed the third place in the penultimate round to earn a valuable 15 points that pulled him to 12th place among 25 drivers after he was languishing in the bottom half. He was plagued by reliability issues and bad starts early in the season. The podium is a late consolation for the rookie, who showed enough promise in F3 last year to be among the front runners but could not achieve up to his potential due to the under-performing car, but he never once complained. He has only a couple of points less than what Mick Schumacher, the championship leader, had as a rookie last year at this stage. The thought put out by a senior motorsports journalist Vinayak Pandey provides hope for future as the Indian has raw pace and is no less than any of his peers, provided he gets a car that is competitive.

    Qualifying threatened to completely undo all of Jehan’s efforts. He faced traffic on his quick laps, which allowed him to post a time, only quick enough for eighth on the grid, 2 places ahead of Championship leader, Mick Schumacher. Callum Ilott of Great Britain earned another pole position.

    Jehan made an excellent start for the Feature Race (Race 1) from eighth. He gained 2 places and stayed in a sixth for a few laps. Jehan and other racers on the Medium compound of tyre, then seemed to struggle against those on the Hard Compound. Lap 5 saw Jehan lose 2 places & was forced off the circuit. The resulting loss of speed lost him more positions. Jehan stayed in tenth for a few laps before pitting to change tyres.

    The 22 year old Indian emerged from the pits down in 18th place. He then reeled of a series of quick laps to climb up the order. He gained more positions as others pitted and was running sixth by lap 19 of the 32 lap race. Jehan soon overtook multiple race winner Robert Shwartzman to move upto fifth. Race leader Mick Schumacher then took his mandatory pit stop. Jehan’s blistering pace after his own pitstop meant that Schumacher emerged from the pits behind Jehan, who was now running third.

    The main risk was that Schumacher had tyres which were many laps fresher than Jehan. The two were evenly matched for at least another six laps, before Schumacher now in his second season started closing the gap to Jehan. Schumacher soon brought the gap down from 2 seconds to around 1.5 seconds. Besides much fresher tyres, Schumacher was also now on the faster Medium compound and charged to reduce the gap down to 0.7 seconds with 5 laps remaining. Unfortunately for the Indian, this meant that Schumacher was now also able to use his DRS (Drag Reduction System) which gave him extra speed on 3 straights around the F1 circuit. It seemed only a matter of corners before Schumacher would overtake Jehan. However in a nail biting few laps, Jehan without the option of DRS and a tyre disadvantage drove one of his best races of the season. With 3 laps to go, Jehan had to defend aggressively into the first corner, both drivers were side by side for a few corners but Jehan was not giving up in spite of his disadvantage. He held his nerve and placed his Carlin car in exactly the right places, preventing Schumacher from getting ahead.

    2 laps before the end of the race, Schumacher momentarily got ahead of Jehan, but the Indian was not going to allow that and he braked late, to get the position back. Jehan’s excellent racing caused Schumacher to make a couple of mistakes. This allowed Jehan room to breathe. He continued his intelligent drive to increase the gap and crossed the line 0.894 seconds ahead of Schumacher, to earn a really well deserved third place. Brazilian Felipe Drugovich won the race ahead of Callum Ilott.

    Jehan was the 2nd runner up in the FIA Formula 3 Championship last year. He earns his maiden FIA Formula 2 podium, in his first season in the ultra-competitive championship, which has seen fifteen other racers stand on the podium! Jehan’s achievement is also the first podium, by an Indian in the current iteration of the FIA Formula 2 Championship.

  • A Formula 1 kind of Wednesday for Robert, Callum and Mick

    A Formula 1 kind of Wednesday for Robert, Callum and Mick

    Maranello, 30 Sept 2020:  This was a day to remember for Robert Shwartzman, Callum Ilott and Mick Schumacher at the Fiorano track. The Ferrari Driver Academy (FDA) students each had a run behind the wheel of a 2018 Ferrari SF71H to experience driving a Formula 1 car as part of the #RoadToF1 programme. Mick and Callum are scheduled to take part in the first free practice session for the Eifel Grand Prix on 9 October, with Alfa Romeo Racing and Haas F1 Team respectively, and Robert will make his Friday debut on 11 December at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix weekend.

    Robert. First up was Robert, who has three Formula 2 wins to his name so far this year. For the 21 year old Russian this was his very first time at the wheel of a Formula 1 car. He went out for an installation lap at 9.03 and twenty minutes later he began his first real run. The youngster, who has been part of the FDA since 2017, got off to a cautious start, but soon got the hang of the car and the track.

    Callum. Callum Ilott’s turn came at noon. The Englishman has been with the FDA since 2018 and is currently second in the Formula 2 series with three wins to his name. This was his first time at the wheel of a Ferrari, although the 21 year old from Cambridge had experienced a Ferrari-powered Formula 1 Alfa Romeo Racing C38 at last year’s post-Spanish GP test at the Barcelona Catalunya circuit. Ilott completed a good number of laps of the 2.976 km track, running at a constant pace; perfect preparation for his debut at the Nürburgring.

    Mick. At 3pm, it was the turn of Mick Schumacher, the current Formula 2 championship leader, with two wins. The 21 year old German has been with the FDA since 2019 and this was not his first time at the wheel of a Ferrari. In 2019, he drove that year’s SF90 in Bahrain, also having a drive in the Alfa Romeo C38 at the same test. Mick also completed his programme, aimed at familiarising himself with a Formula 1 car, after so many races in the junior category over the past few months.

    Next appointment. There is now a long break in the Formula 2 calendar until the two rounds planned in Bahrain on 28 and 29 November and 5 and 6 December.

    Robert Shwartzman said: “I have dreamed of the day when I would drive a Formula 1 car for the first time ever since I was a little kid and finally today was the day. Driving this car was fantastic and great fun.
    The power is what strikes you most: when you accelerate the horsepower never seems to stop. The brakes are equally impressive: the car stops when it feels as though it’s too late to make the corner. Apart from the actual driving, it was also special to work with the team. There are a lot of them and they pay attention to every little detail. They really work at a very high level. Thanks to everyone who made this memorable day possible.”

    Callum Ilot said: This was an unforgettable day. I’d already been able to drive a Formula 1 car last year, but today I was able to get to grips with the car with just ten days to go to my debut on a Grand Prix weekend. It was very useful and I thank Ferrari for giving me this opportunity.
    What struck me about the SF71H was its aero efficiency, which means you have grip levels you just don’t find in other categories. Then there’s the extreme power from the engine and instant braking.

    Mick Schumacher said: “I would like to thank Ferrari and the FDA for giving me the opportunity to get behind the wheel of a hybrid-powered Formula 1 car, a few days before my debut at a Grand Prix weekend at the Nürburgring. It was very useful to get used to all the procedures again, which are pretty complex and also with how a team works in this top level of the sport.
    A few weeks ago in Mugello, I was able to drive an F2004, an amazing car, but quite old fashioned now. Getting behind the wheel of a 2018 hybrid car allowed me to understand how important the electronics are for the Power Unit and how much progress Formula 1 has made in terms of aerodynamics.
    I can’t wait to jump into the cockpit in Germany and it will be nice to take part in a practice session for the first time in front of my home crowd. In the team, there are some mechanics who worked with my father and that will make the day even more special.”

    Marco Matassa Head of FDA Technical Department
    “I am very pleased with how today went. I’d like to thank the Scuderia Ferrari race team for its support, because in the middle of such a busy season, it’s no small matter to change the car configuration to suit the individual needs of all three drivers, while helping them get to grips with something as complex as a hybrid-powered Formula 1 car.
    On the technical front I’m happy with the way Mick, Callum and Robert quickly got used to the SF71H. For two of them this wasn’t their first time in a Formula 1 car, but even so it’s not easy to switch from the driving style demanded from a Formula 2 car to one best suited to Formula 1. The car has much more power, a significantly more sophisticated braking system and power steering that requires sensitivity and precision to use properly. However, they were all quick and immediately began running at a good pace. I believe the laps they did today will be very useful when Mick and Callum run on Friday at the Nürburgring.
    On a purely emotional level, it was wonderful to see the lads in their red race suit in front of their Ferrari, posing for the group photo, especially with Robert who was having his very first drive in a Formula 1 car, which is an unforgettable moment for any driver.”
  • Guanyu Zhou grabs first win; Jehan robbed of P5 due to `penalty’

    Guanyu Zhou grabs first win; Jehan robbed of P5 due to `penalty’

    Sochi, 27 Sept 2020: Guanyu Zhou is finally a FIA Formula 2 race winner, but it’s not quite how the UNI-Virtuosi racer would have pictured it, after the Sochi Sprint Race ended early after a collision between Luca Ghiotto and Jack Aitken.

    Indian racer Jehan Daruvala, affected by a 5-second penalty finished on P11 as the penalty was applied. Initially, it was confusing because the placings were decided on Lap 5 positions but Jehan was penalised for a Lap 6 incident. Jehan said: “Firstly, glad to see that both drivers are safe after that crash in today’s race! Since the race was classified on Lap 5, and I got my penalty on Lap 6, we think that I should be P5. But we won’t know for sure till later on as it will be an on-going investigation.”

    However, the penalty stuck and Jehan later tweeted: “Penalty has stood. So, unfortunately, will not be in the points. Confusing as the drivers who caused the red flag still classified in their positions. Anyways, not much I can do about it but take away the positives from the weekend.”

    The duo crashed at Turn 3 on Lap 7 and ended up deep in the barriers. Both drivers walked away safely, but the scale of repairs needed meant that the decision was taken not to restart the race. With more than 25% of the 21 lap race left to run, only half points are awarded to the grid, leaving Zhou with a sense of frustration after a dominant start to the race.

    Nikita Mazepin secured his fifth podium of the season at his home event, taking second, while Mick Schumacher claimed his 10th rostrum this year to further enhance his position at the top of the Drivers’ Championship.

    AS IT HAPPENED

    Zhou was calm and composed when the lights went out, incisively pulling away from Mazepin, who was swallowed up by the field and fell to fifth. Aitken posed an immediate threat to Zhou, but the Campos driver’s attempt around the outside of Turn 1 failed to come off.

    As has become a regular feature this season, Schumacher made a storming start. The German thundered down the right from eighth and took the inside line into the first turn, coming out of the second corner in fourth.

    There was an early Virtual Safety Car period after a collision between Guilherme Samaia and Jake Hughes. The Campos bounced over the kerb at Turn 2, before making contact with Hughes’ left rear and taking them both out of the race.

    Mazepin made up the positions he lost after the restart, climbing back up to third, before flinging his Hitech Grand Prix machine past Aitken to retake P2.

    Schumacher continued his charge up the field with an extraordinary move on Aitken for third. The PREMA clearly had the pace, but it looked as if he would have to wait until the main straight to overtake. Schumacher had other ideas though, boldly firing down the inside line and into third.

    Racing was brought to a halt after a scary moment between Aitken and Ghiotto. The two were battling for fourth position but caught one another at speed and ran off into the wall. Thankfully both drivers walked away safely, but a red flag was needed to recover the cars and mend the barriers.

    Guanyu Zhou wins F2 Sprint Race at Sochi on Sunday. Photo by Joe Portlock via Getty Images

    The marshals got to work clearing away the cars and repairing the barriers, but in the end the damage proved too great to fix in the time available, and the decision was made to abandon the race.

    That meant Zhou collected his first win in F2, ahead of Mazepin and Schumacher. Aitken and Ghiotto held on to fourth and fifth due to the countback rule, with the classification being taken from the final lap completed, before the red flag was shown. Yuki Tsunoda claimed sixth, ahead of Callum Ilott, while Dan Ticktum took the final points’ position. A time penalty saw Jehan Daruvala drop to P11.

    Schumacher tops the Drivers’ Championship with 191 points, 22 ahead of Ilott. Tsunoda is up to third with 147 points, two ahead of Christian Lundgaard. Robert Shwartzman is fifth on 140 points. In the Teams’ Championship, PREMA are top with 331 points, ahead of UNI-Virtuosi on 288.5. Hitech Grand Prix are third with 244, ahead of ART Grand Prix and Carlin.

    KEY QUOTE – GUANYU ZHOU (UNI-VIRTUOSI)

    “Finally! I have my first victory in the F2 Championship and it definitely felt good to stand on the top step. I promised the Chinese fans at the start of the season that I would win at least once for the country and we have done that today.

    “Obviously, it hurts a little bit because we have only got half points. I think from the beginning of the race up until the red flag, we were quite decent. I think that me and Nikita had good pace compared to everyone else and were pulling away.

    “It was nice to see Jack and Luca walk away, so that is a good thing. Obviously going into a little break with a victory is definitely nice.”

    WHAT’S NEXT?

    Schumacher leads the title fight heading into the penultimate round of the season, but it remains all to play for, with less than 50 points separating the top four. The field will now enjoy a short break before heading to Sakhir, Bahrain for a season concluding double-header.

  • Mick Schumacher takes another win; Jehan Daruvala slips to P5

    Mick Schumacher takes another win; Jehan Daruvala slips to P5

    Sochi, 26 Sept 2020: Mick Schumacher strengthened his grip on the Drivers’ Championship with arguably his most accomplished performance in Formula 2 machinery, clinching his second victory of the season in Sochi. The PREMA racer beat out pole-sitter Yuki Tsunoda from third, with the Carlin racer finishing second in-front of fellow title rival Callum Ilott.

    Jehan Daruvala, the Indian racer, who started on P2 slipped to P5 but said: “I will analyse the race and I will come back stronger tomorrow as I start on P4 in the reverse grid.”

    Tsunoda had looked comfortable for much of the race, but Schumacher had been shrewdly managing his tyres and made light work of dashing past with 10 laps to go. Ilott briefly challenged the German for the win, but ended up clinging onto third with little life left in his tyres.

    It was a disappointing morning for the in-form Christian Lundgaard, as the ART Grand Prix driver was taken out of the race on the very first lap, after a tangle with Jüri Vips and Pedro Piquet.

    It was a similarly frustrating race for another of the title contenders, Robert Shwartzman, as the Russian struggled to 11th on home soil, finishing out of the points for the third race in a row.

    AS IT HAPPENED

    Tsunoda enjoyed a sterling launch when the lights went out, getting away cleanly from teammate Jehan Daruvala. He faced a sterner challenge from the traditionally strong starting Schumacher, who barged his way ahead of Daruvala from third and immediately put Tsunoda under pressure into Turn 1.

    Tsunoda held on, as the front three got through the opening corner cleanly, but there was carnage behind them as Vips tagged Piquet. The ailing Charouz left Lundgaard with nowhere to go, collecting him and dumping the Dane off the road to end his race early and bring out the Safety Car.

    Louis Delétraz, Felipe Drugovich and Roy Nissany were caught up in the collision as well, with the former forced into the pits for repairs and the latter two retiring. Tsunoda aced the restart when the Safety Car returned and began to gently eek away from Schumacher.

    With two cars in the front three, Carlin opted to pit Daruvala first, leaving the race leader out there for a further lap. Tsunoda, Schumacher and Ilott all followed into the pitlane a lap later, returning in ninth, 10th and 11th.

    Aitken, on the alternate strategy, was handed the lead from fifth over Nikita Mazepin, but the Campos seemed to be struggling for grip and was battling to hold the Hitech off. The Russian made his move, but Aitken offered up a strong defence and Mazepin was forced wide and through the bollards. Guanyu Zhou skipped past, although the Hitech would regain the position a few laps later.

    The Campos ace was “flat out,” but his mediums looked in a bad way, struggling to hold on around the Sochi Autodrom. All the while, Tsunoda was catching up, having already fought up to P7 with 12 laps to go. Schumacher and Ilott were directly behind him, but Daruvala was struck in 11th, having lost track position in the pitlane.

    Aitken pitted from the lead with 10 laps to go and was followed in by Mazepin and Zhou a lap later. Tsunoda took back the race lead, but only fleetingly. Schumacher was in his slipstream and bombed past him on the main straight, daringly out-braking the Carlin and making the move stick into Turn 2.

    Having previously looked so assured, Tsunoda was then at the mercy of Ilott, who followed Schumacher through for second place all too easily. Ilott was eying up his race leading title rival, but just couldn’t get within DRS range.

    Chasing Schumacher, Ilott’s tyres began to drop off and the UNI-Virtuosi racer was reeled back in by Tsunoda, who hauled his Carlin around the outside of Turn 3 and back into second place.

    Ilott was then under pressure from Ghiotto, but managed to cling on by the skin of his front wing at the chequered flag. Schumacher had already crossed the line with a comfortable 6.3s lead over Tsunoda.

    Ghiotto had to settle for fourth, followed by Daruvala and Aitken. Mazepin, Zhou and Marcus Armstrong followed, with Dan Ticktum completing the top ten, as title contender Robert Shwartzman finished 11th and out of the points. Meanwhile, Jake Hughes finished 12th for HWA RACELAB on his F2 debut.

    Schumacher now has an 18-point advantage on Ilott in the Drivers’ Championship, sitting in first on 186 points. Ilott is second with 168, ahead of Lundgaard and Tsunoda who are tied on 145. Shwartzman has dropped to fifth with 140 points. In the Teams’ Championship, PREMA are first with 326 points, ahead of UNI-Virtuosi on 280 and Hitech on 234. ART are fourth, ahead of Carlin.

    KEY QUOTE – MICK SCHUMACHER (PREMA RACING)

    “I am very happy with today’s race. I think that we maximised what we had. The supersoft stint was a bit of a mess, especially the pit phase as I wanted to do another lap, but in the last sector I felt my rears going. I saw everybody else going in as well, so I opted to pit. It was a bit messy, but in general I think we managed it pretty well.

    “On the medium tyre, we managed it pretty well, we were always in contention and we stayed with Yuki, having a gap of around two, two-and-a-half seconds. With the traffic out there, we kind of all bunched together, but I managed to get the move done and I just had to manage the race from there. 25 points is always good and that’s another win for this year, so I am pretty happy.”

  • Jehan Daruvala loses pole by a whisker to teammate Tsunoda in dying stages

    Jehan Daruvala loses pole by a whisker to teammate Tsunoda in dying stages

    Sochi, 25 Sept 2020: Yuki Tsunoda left it late to claim his third pole position of the season, after Carlin teammate Jehan Daruvala had led nearly the entirety of Formula 2 Qualifying in Sochi. Tsunoda snatched pole in the dying stages, while the Indian driver missed out by just 0.006s, as Carlin secured the first front-row lockout in F2 Qualifying since UNI-Virtuosi in July 2019.

    Championship leader Mick Schumacher was first out of the blocks around Sochi, but it was his teammate Robert Shwartzman who set the quicker lap of the two, briefly taking first place with a benchmark time of 1:49.634.

    Beating them both, Daruvala flung his Carlin around for first at the end of his maiden run. Nikita Mazepin managed to find time in the first and second sectors to briefly go top, but the Carlin driver found a further four tenths of a second to retake provisional pole.

    The Carlins were clearly revelling around the Sochi Autodrom, as Tsunoda nipped ahead of Mazepin and into second place. Meanwhile, Jake Hughes was sat in ninth on his F2 Qualifying debut as the cars headed back to the pits for fresh rubber.

    Daruvala picked up from where he left off when they returned for a second stint, finding a further tenth to try and solidify first place ahead of Tsunoda. Guanyu Zhou and Callum Ilott managed to fight up to third and fourth, but neither of them could match the Carlins for pace.

    The Pirelli rubber had held up well around Sochi and Tsunoda put it to good use. The Red Bull junior set a stunning final lap to steal first from his teammate.

    Daruvala attempted a reaction, but fell agonizingly short, by just six thousandths of a second.

    Shwartzman briefly claimed third, but ended up down in seventh after the final set of push laps. Schumacher found further pace from his PREMA to take P3 behind the Carlin duo.

    Ilott, Schumacher’s title rival, managed to improve to fourth on the final run, but his teammate Zhou dropped to P9.

    The morning’s fastest man, Luca Ghiotto, found the speed for fifth, ahead of Christian Lundgaard. Jack Aitken finished in eighth, with Mazepin taking 10th.

    Tsunoda will be in the hunt for his third win of the season in the Feature Race tomorrow, when action gets underway at 10.15am (local time).

  • Facile win for Lundgaard; Jehan Daruvala take P7

    Facile win for Lundgaard; Jehan Daruvala take P7

    Mugello, 13 Sept 2020: ART Grand Prix’s Christian Lundgaard dominated the FIA Formula 2 Sprint Race, securing a second win in the Championship with a 14s advantage over Charouz Racing System’s Louis Delétraz. DAMS’ Jüri Vips scored his first F2 podium finishing in third, just a half-second off the Swiss driver.

    Indian racer and Red Bull Junior Jehan Daruvala finished P7 on Sunday. “P7 from P10 on the grid… Was up to P5 at one point but just lost the tyres closer towards the end… Two good starts in both races so that’s a positive step up… Looking forward to Sochi in a couple of weeks,” said the Mumbai born Carlin racer.

    Lundgaard made amends for a disappointing Feature Race, when he lost the win late on to Nikita Mazepin’s fresher tyres after a Safety Car had crushed the Dane’s advantage out in front. His Sunday was a complete contrast. Starting from third, he thundered to first off the line and from there the win never looked in doubt.

    The Dane’s victory earns him third in the Drivers’ Championship, with Robert Shwartzman out of the points and dropping to fourth in the standings.

    Mazepin also suffered contrasting fortunes, as he collided with teammate Luca Ghiotto, ending the Italian’s race and earning himself a 10s time penalty.

    Pole-sitter Artem Markelov’s race ended in disaster. The HWA RACELAB driver struggled for pace and dropped down to third place, before getting forced into the pits for a new front wing after colliding with Mick Schumacher.

    Schumacher was able to stretch his lead at the top of the standings with a fourth-place finish, with his main rival, Callum Ilott, back in sixth.

    AS IT HAPPENED

    Jehan Daruvala who had issues with the car the whole season had an engine change and is showing positive signs and looks forward to Sochi. A Daruvala image @Twitter

    Markelov got a good start from reverse grid pole, but Lundgaard had a better one. The Dane angled his ART down the side of the Russian and towards the inside line, just about forcing himself ahead at the exit of Turn 1.

    Vips stuttered off the line on his first front row start and instantly dropped down to fourth place behind Delétraz, while Schumacher kept it clean and held on to fifth.

    Lundgaard had garnered a strong 2s lead over Markelov by the end of the first lap alone, but the Dane would need to be wary of wearing out his rubber. As he stretched his lead, Markelov’s focus switched to Delétraz behind. The Swiss driver made light work of the passing the HWA racer, pulling off a tidy move at the first turn.

    Vips attempted to follow Delétraz through, but tapped tyres with Markelov and wobbled, remaining in third. The Estonian gathered himself together and went again, making a similar move work on the next tour of Mugello.

    Markelov told his team he wouldn’t give up, but the HWA racer collided with Schumacher and was forced to dive into the pits with front wing damage.

    Schumacher’s main title rival, Ilott, had been making moves from 12th and climbed up to ninth, ahead of Marcus Armstrong. Meanwhile, Shwartzman lost a place to Ilott’s teammate, Guanyu Zhou, who was putting on a storming drive from 20th.

    Having finished one-two in the Feature Race on Saturday, Mazepin and Ghiotto’s Sunday was entirely different. The Italian racer attempted a move on his teammate, but the Russian locked up and the two collided. Ghiotto was dumped into the gravel trap and forced to retire, before Mazepin was handed a 10s-time penalty for causing the crash.

    Spotting the collision, Lundgaard would have suffered unpleasant flashbacks from Saturday, when his lead of the race was crushed by a Safety Car. The Dane will have been relieved to see only a Virtual Safety Car on this occasion, allowing him to retain his 11s gap at the front.

    Little changed at the restart, although Zhou did manage to find a way past Armstrong to line up behind Ilott in eighth. The duo then gained a further place from Felipe Drugovich who suffered from a wide moment. Zhou kept on moving, first picking off Ilott, and then gaining fifth from Daruvala as well.

    Yuki Tsunoda briefly nabbed the final points’ position from Drugovich, but was forced into the pits by Race Control, having suffered damage to his front wing earlier in the race.

    Just two laps remained and Lundgaard continued to look comfortable out in front, but Delétraz was clinging on to second by the skin of his teeth with Vips right behind him. The Estonian made an attempt at the first turn of the penultimate lap, but couldn’t make it stick, despite possessing fresher rubber.

    Lundgaard crossed the line first for a controlled victory, as Delétraz followed in second 14s later, hanging on ahead of Vips. Schumacher took fourth, brushing off a late challenge from Zhou. Ilott nabbed sixth after a late pass on Daruvala, with Marino Sato taking his first points in F2, with P8.

    Schumacher now has 161 points at the top of the Drivers’ Championship, with Ilott in second on 153. Lundgaard is third with 145, five ahead of Shwartzman. Mazepin is up to fifth on 127. In the Teams’ Championship, PREMA are first with 301 points, ahead of UNI-Virtuosi on 261 points, and Hitech on 216. ART are fourth, with Carlin fifth.

    KEY QUOTE – CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD (ART GRAND PRIX)

    “P1 today, and redemption for yesterday when I was leading the whole race until the Safety Car ruined it. I think that we showed the pace that we had today, and I am just happy to come away with 17 points.

    “I said to the team before we went on track, it is 17 points or nothing today and we came away with all 17, so I am very happy.”

  • Mazepin scores 2nd F2 win; Jehan Daruvala takes a point

    Mazepin scores 2nd F2 win; Jehan Daruvala takes a point

    Mugello, 12 Sept 2020: Nikita Mazepin scored his second FIA Formula 2 win from 14th on the grid in an incredible Feature Race at Mugello. The Russian capped off a Hitech Grand Prix one-two, with Luca Ghiotto claiming second on home soil ahead of Charouz Racing System’s Louis Delétraz.

    Indian racer Jehan Daruvala took a point finishing P10 after another difficult day. “It was a tough race today. Radio dint work, so I had no idea when to pit. When I did so, Yuki was already in the pits so we had to double stack and I lost a lot of time. Positive thing is that on the prime tyres the pace was really good,” tweeted Daruvala about the race.

    The race was turned on its head by the Safety Car as Giuliano Alesi’s stricken HWA RACELAB machine was recovered from the gravel trap. Mazepin was gifted a golden opportunity for victory on the alternate strategy. The Russian driver found himself in third place after the Safety Car with fresh soft tyres.

    The Hitech racer made light work of passing long-time race leaders Christian Lundgaard and Ghiotto, who were both on heavily degraded hard tyres. Ghiotto was able to cling on to second ahead of Delétraz, but poleman Lundgaard plummeted to sixth having dominated most of the race.

    There was also a shift in the Drivers’ Championship as Mick Schumacher stole first place from Callum Ilott, becoming the third different leader in 2020. Ilott had looked on course to retain his lead but suffered front wing damage during a SC restart and was forced to pit, dropping him out of the points.

    The third of the Championship’s top three, Robert Shwartzman, saw his own title hopes take a battering as well, as the PREMA racer was forced to retire.

    AS IT HAPPENED

    Starting from the front of the grid for the first time in F2, Lundgaard tore into the distance when the lights went out and broke away from the pack. Dan Ticktum held on to second, but Ilott suffered a disastrous start from P3 and was swallowed up by the field and fell to seventh.

    Ghiotto got the best start of the lot, hurling his Hitech machine from seventh and up to third ahead of the first turn, finding a gap down the right and then diving through the middle.

    The top ten was shuffled in the opening laps, as Felipe Drugovich fired up to fourth ahead of Marcus Armstrong, and Ilott regained a place from Jack Aitken to nab sixth. Yuki Tsunoda made a move himself and nabbed P8 from Carlin teammate Jehan Daruvala.

    On the hard Pirelli tyres, Mazepin enjoyed a solid start to the race from 14th and had fought his way up to P9 – the highest of the drivers on the alternate strategy – by the time the pit window opened. Race leader Lundgaard was the first to ditch the softs for the hard rubber, returning at the back of the field.

    Ticktum inherited the race lead as he attempted to eke more out of his soft Pirellis, but the decision looked to be the wrong one as Ghiotto fizzed ahead of him. The pair then pitted on Lap 10 and returned behind Lundgaard.

    The Dane started picking off the field on his return to the track, as Ghiotto got stuck behind Nobuharu Matsushita, costing him valuable time. The Italian eventually got through and was followed in tow by Ticktum and Ilott, who were fiercely locked in battle.

    Tsunoda joined the British duo’s fight, having made a move past Armstrong. Ticktum came out on top, while Ilott lost a place to Tsunoda. Meanwhile, Lundgaard was warned on the radio to look after his tyres, but had a Ghiotto-shaped shadow following in his wheel tracks.

    Robert Shwartzman dived into the pits and returned with fresh soft boots, but he’d not get the opportunity to use them, as he was forced to pull off the road and retire – a big dent to his Championship hopes.

    Lundgaard was handed back the race lead when Mazepin pitted on Lap 22, but Ghiotto had fresher tyres and was hot on his heels from second. Ghiotto’s job was made a whole lot easier by the emergence of a Safety Car after Giuliano Alesi slowed to a stop on the gravel trap.

    Lundgaard held on at the restart, but Ticktum was thrown wide after a coming together with Tsunoda. The Briton got going again but had fallen to 11th. The Carlin driver was served with a 5s time penalty, ending his chance of points.

    Theirs wasn’t the only collision, as Aitken, Guanyu Zhou and Schumacher all collided in the midfield. The German survived, but Zhou and Aitken both stopped on track with damage, bringing out another Safety Car.

    Ilott was caught up in the chaos and suffered damage himself, forcing him into the pits for a new front wing and dropping him to last. Schumacher was fortunate, holding on to sixth to take the Championship lead.

    The other beneficiary of the carnage was Mazepin, who had been gifted third while wearing a shiny new pair of soft tyres.

    The front three went three-wide at the restart as Mazepin made a stunning move for first place, clinching the position at the exit of Turn 1. The second Hitech of Ghiotto leapt to second, as all of Lundgaard’s hard work was undone. The Dane’s tyres had nothing left to give and he continued to fall down the order, eventually falling to P6.

    Mazepin held on with ease at the chequered flag, but his teammate was clinging on to second by the skin of his teeth. Ghiotto was desperately defending from Delétraz and the Swiss driver’s fresher, faster soft tyres.

    The Italian managed to cling on to P2 across the line, with Delétraz forced to settle for third place. Drugovich finished fourth, with Schumacher in fifth and Lundgaard in sixth. Jüri Vips took his first points in F2 with seventh, ahead of Artem Markelov, who took his first points of 2020. Armstrong ended up in ninth, with Daruvala tenth.

    Schumacher now sits first in the drivers’ standings on 153 points, four ahead of Ilott. Shwartzman is third on 140 points, with Lundgaard fourth on 128. Mazepin is one point further back in fifth. In the Teams’ Championship, PREMA are first on 293 points, ahead of UNI-Virtuosi on 251. Hitech Grand Prix are third, with ART Grand Prix fourth and Carlin fifth.

    KEY QUOTE – NIKITA MAZEPIN (HITECH GRAND PRIX)

    “I am over the moon with the result. Starting P14, realistically, you need to be very careful setting your goals for the race. To win the Feature Race, the main race, with my teammate in second place, which makes it a double for Hitech, is a dream come true. We could not have even dreamed of this the night before.

    “I had a very frustrating Friday and it makes it difficult to go to sleep when you are not satisfied with the job that you have done. I won the race from P14, and it was extremely fun inside of the car, but also tough at the same time. I am sure that it was also great to watch. Thankfully it happened, and thank you for the support.”

    WHAT’S NEXT?

    Artem Markelov will have the chance to take his third points finish of the season from reverse grid pole in the Sprint Race on Sunday at 11.55am (local time).

  • Lundgaard seals first F2 pole; Jehan Daruvala qualifies P6

    Lundgaard seals first F2 pole; Jehan Daruvala qualifies P6

    Mugello, 11 Sept. 2020: ART Grand Prix’s Christian Lundgaard snatched his first-ever pole position in FIA Formula 2, beating out DAMS’ Dan Ticktum by the narrowest of margins – just 0.005s. Callum Ilott recovered from a tough start to the session to take third place, less than a tenth off pole himself.

    After a cautious Free Practice session which saw a heavy focus on long-runs and data gathering, the cars fed out onto the Mugello circuit for the second time and instantly set about testing the limits of the track.

    After a fruitful day, last Sunday, within points in both races, Indian racer Jehan Daruvala, showed a spring in his step with new engine in place and qualified an encouraging P6. The season so far was bogged down because of issues with the car and the Indian is expected to show his pace on Saturday in the feature race. “Car was good and it was all super close… Starting on the 3rd row and looking forward to the race tomorrow,” quipped the Mumbai-born youngster.

    Mick Schumacher and Luca Ghiotto pushed them a tad too far early on and both drivers skidded wide into the gravel trap.

    The ART pairing of Marcus Armstrong and Lundgaard got the limits just right, taking first and second after the first set of flyers. The Kiwi led the way, setting the benchmark at 1:30.857, less than a tenth quicker than his teammate.

    Lundgaard swapped positions with Armstrong at the end of the second set of fast laps, beating his teammate by 0.6s. Armstrong couldn’t improve enough and started to tumble down the order, as Ticktum stole the second spot on the front row.

    Christian Lundgaard – ART Grand Prix takes pole on Friday. An F2 image

    The field dived into the pits for a fresh set of boots and returned in unison. Lundgaard picked up from where he left off and strengthened his grip at the top of the leader board thanks to personal best first and second sectors, lapping at 1:30.133.

    Ilott had been lingering outside of the top ten during the first half of Qualifying, but punched in a purple middle sector to leap up to third, only losing time in Sector 3.

    There remained just enough time for one final set of laps, but the soft Pirellis were looking worse for wear. Lundgaard opted to return straight to the pits, confident the job was done.

    Ticktum had one final shot at pole but struggled to find pace in either the first or final sectors. However, the DAMS driver looked to have already done enough on the previous run to retain P2.

    No one else could improve and Lundgaard retained pole, ahead of Ticktum and Ilott. Armstrong held on to fourth, ahead of Felipe Drugovich and Jehan Daruvala. Jüri Vips wobbled on his final push lap, which meant that he could only manage P7, ahead of Luca Ghiotto.

    Title contender Robert Shwartzman made a late improvement to sneak into the top ten, taking P9, whilst Jack Aitken completed the top ten. Fellow Championship contenders Yuki Tsunoda and Schumacher could only manage 11th and 15th.

    Lundgaard looks to have carried over his form from Monza, where he scored a double podium finish. The Dane will hope to claim his second win of the campaign in the Feature Race on Saturday, at 4.45 pm.