INDIA in F1

Tag: Mahaveer Raghunathan

  • Mahaveer Raghunathan finishes 10th in feature race; Matsushita wins: F2

    Mahaveer Raghunathan finishes 10th in feature race; Matsushita wins: F2

    Carlin driver wins from fifth, ahead of Ghiotto and De Vries
    Race winner Nobuharu Matsushita (JPN, CARLIN) celebrates in parc ferme on Saturday. An FIA F2 image

    Monza, 7 Sept 2019: Nobuharu Matsushita claimed his second FIA Formula 2 win of the season, in an overtake fuelled Feature Race at Monza. The Japanese driver rose from fifth on the grid and eventually finished 7s ahead of home hero Luca Ghiotto, and Championship leader Nyck de Vries, who completed a sensational drive from last place.

    It was an emotional afternoon for the F2 field and each car adorned touching tributes to the late Anthoine Hubert who tragically passed in last weekend’s race at Spa and Juan Manuel Correa who was injured in the horrific collision. The entire Formula 2 family was Racing for Anthoine, and race winner Matsushita later dedicated his win to the Frenchman.
    Correa’s teammate Callum Ilott started on pole for the first time in his career and cleanly got away off the line, fending off a challenge from fellow rookie Guanyu Zhou. The third of the three rookie frontrunners wasn’t as lucky: Nikita Mazepin struggled at the entry to Turn 1 and went wide, which dragged him down the order.
    Zhou suffered the same fate as his Russian rival a lap later, going wide at the tricky Turn 1 which threw him down to fifth. Behind him, Louis Delétraz spun on the same corner which ended his race, and De Vries went wide as well.
    The struggles of those in front of him had handed Matsushita second, with the Carlin driver perfectly manoeuvring the corner and setting the fastest lap behind race leader Ilott. The Japanese began to hone in on the Brit and by lap 5, he was within DRS range. The duo went side-by-side down the pit straight and the Sauber Junior Team by Charouz racer clung on by the skin of his teeth. Matsushita was unrelenting and eventually forced himself ahead of Ilott, who couldn’t fight off the DRS enthused Carlin any longer.
    Further back, Ghiotto had fired past his teammate as those on the soft tyre began to feed into the pits. Matsushita was amongst those on the prime stint to pit last and returned sixth, narrowly ahead of Ilott in seventh. The lead was handed to Ghiotto who was on the alternate strategy.
    The Italian had 30s on Matsushita – who was running fresher tyres – and was pushing his UNI-Virtuosi machine to the limit of its powers, in an attempt to stretch the gap even further. Behind them, a coming together between Nicholas Latifi and Zhou left the latter with a puncture to his rear right tyre and he was eventually forced to retire from the pits. Latifi pitted for a new front wing, which dumped him to last.
    Ghiotto eventually pitted with a 20s buffer between himself and Matsushita, but a slow stop from his UNI-Virtuosi team dropped him down to seventh and wounded his dreams of a home victory – not that he would let that stop him trying.
    As the rest of the cars on the alternate strategy began to pit, Matsushita took the race lead and began to put air between himself and Ilott. De Vries passed Sérgio Sette Câmara for third, with a 3s deficit to close for P2. He quickly set to work and within two laps had swept passed the Ferrari F1 junior down the pit straight.
    Despite his troublesome pit stop, Ghiotto had somehow managed to force his way back to third, having followed De Vries past Ilott a lap later. The Italian had the fresher tyres of the two and added another scalp to his growing list of overtakes, thundering past the Dutchman to the tune of a roaring Italian crowd. With just a lap remaining, there was too much ground to cover for first, leaving the Italian wondering what might have been.
    Sette Câmara scrambled past Ilott on the final lap for fourth, before Matsushita crossed the line for first. He was followed by Ghiotto and De Vries, who completed the podium. At the request of the drivers, the French national anthem was played during the podium celebrations in honour of Hubert.
    Sette Câmara and Ilott were fourth and fifth, but the Brazilian was handed a 5s time penalty for gaining track advantage earlier in the race which resulted in Ilott classifying ahead of Sette Câmara. Jordan King finished sixth ahead of Giuliano Alesi, who scored his best finish in F2. Jack Aitken, Sean Gelael and Mahaveer Raghunathan – who also scored his highest finish – were the final men in the points’ positions.
    With Latifi out of the points, De Vries stretches his Championship lead to 49 points with yet another podium finish. The Canadian follows in second on 166, ahead of Ghiotto on 155 and Sette Câmara on 151. Aitken completes the top five with 138. In the Teams’ Championship, DAMS lead the Championship with 317 points, ahead of UNI-Virtuosi on 262 and ART Grand Prix on 221. Carlin are fourth with 170 and Campos Racing fifth with 168.
    Jack Aitken will start on reverse grid pole ahead of Alesi and King for tomorrow’s Sprint Race, at 10.50am local time.
    FIA Formula 2 Championship Round 10 – Feature Race provisional classification
    DRIVER
    TEAM
    1
    Nobuharu Matsushita
    Carlin
    2
    Luca Ghiotto
    UNI-Virtuosi Racing
    3
    Nyck De Vries
    ART Grand Prix
    4
    Callum Ilott
    Sauber Junior Team by Charouz
    5
    Sérgio Sette Câmara
    DAMS
    6
    Jordan King
    MP Motorsport
    7
    Giuliano Alesi
    Trident
    8
    Jack Aitken
    Campos Racing
    9
    Sean Gelael
    PREMA Racing
    10
    Mahaveer Raghunathan
    MP Motorsport
    11
    Nikita Mazepin
    ART Grand Prix
    12
    Marino Sato
    Campos Racing
    13
    Nicholas Latifi
    DAMS
    NOT CLASSIFIED
    Mick Schumacher
    PREMA Racing
    Guanyu Zhou
    UNI-Virtuosi Racing
    Tatiana Calderon
    BWT Arden
    Louis Delétraz
    Carlin
    OVERALL FASTEST LAP
    Mick Schumacher (PREMA Racing) – 1:34.632 on Lap 21
    FASTEST LAP ELIGIBLE FOR POINTS
    Luca Ghiotto (UNI-Virtuosi Racing) – 1:34.900 on Lap 28

  • De Vries tops red hot Qualifying session: F2

    Dutchman secures pole ahead of Sette Câmara and Aitken
    Nyck de Vries delivered on his Free Practice form with Pole position in FIA Formula 2 Qualifying, to strengthen his grip at the top of the Driver’s Championship and set himself up for a potential fourth win of the season. The ART Grand Prix man will start ahead of DAMS’ Sérgio Sette Câmara and Campos Racing’s Jack Aitken, following an early end to the session, after a late red flag.
    Sette Câmara was the first out on track in hot conditions and the first to top the timesheets, thrashing his machine around the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in 2:23.620. Callum Ilott was one of seven cars yet to set a time when his Sauber Junior Team by Charouz machine came to a halt on track and forced the session to a brief stop, with a red flag.
    When they returned, De Vries and Nobuharu Matsushita swiftly went to work and both set purple sectors in their battle for pole position. It was the Dutchman who came out trumps, beating the Japanese driver by as little as 0.0.17s for P1.
    With 15 minutes left on the clock, the grid headed in for fresh rubber and when they returned, De Vries and Matsushita continued to dominate. The in-form duo shattered their own times to remain 1st and 2nd, ahead of Guanyu Zhou and Louis Delétraz.
    Four minutes of the session remained when Sean Gelael slid off the circuit and slammed into the walls, bringing out the second red flag of Qualifying. Sette Câmara and Aitken were fortunate to cross the line in time to clock their laps, and their tours of the circuit were good enough for P2 and P3, which put them ahead of Matsushita.
    The session ended under the red flag, leaving the order otherwise unchanged. De Vries remained on top, ahead of Sette Câmara, Aitken, Matsushita and Delétraz. Mick Schumacher, Nikita Mazepin, Jordan King, Zhou and Luca Ghiotto completed the top then.
    With De Vries’ main title rival, Nicholas Latifi, languishing back in 11th, the Dutchman will sense a massive opportunity in the fight for the Championship when action resumes tomorrow, at 4.45pm local time.
    FIA Formula 2 Round 9 – Qualifying provisional classification
    DRIVER
    TEAM
    LAPTIME
    LAPS
    1
    Nyck De Vries
    ART Grand Prix
    1:58.304
    8
    2
    Sergio Sette Camara
    DAMS
    1:58.576
    8
    3
    Jack Aitken
    Campos Racing
    1:58.785
    8
    4
    Nobuharu Matsushita
    Carlin
    1:58.832
    8
    5
    Louis Deletraz
    Carlin
    1:58.910
    8
    6
    Mick Schumacher
    PREMA Racing
    1:59.141
    7
    7
    Nikita Mazepin
    ART Grand Prix
    1:59.142
    8
    8
    Jordan King
    MP Motorsport
    1:59.366
    9
    9
    Guanyu Zhou
    UNI-Virtuosi Racing
    1:59.425
    7
    10
    Luca Ghiotto
    UNI-Virtuosi Racing
    1:59.614
    7
    11
    Nicholas Latifi
    DAMS
    1:59.747
    7
    12
    Giuliano Alesi
    Trident
    1:59.961
    8
    13
    Anthoine Hubert
    BWT Arden
    2:00.005
    7
    14
    Ralph Boschung
    Trident
    2:00.030
    7
    15
    Juan Manuel Correa
    Sauber Junior Team by Charouz
    2:00.250
    9
    16
    Sean Gelael
    PREMA Racing
    2:00.327
    6
    17
    Marino Sato
    Campos Racing
    2:01.185
    10
    18
    Mahaveer Raghunathan
    MP Motorsport
    2:01.226
    10
    19
    Tatiana Calderon
    BWT Arden
    2:03.224
    8
    NOT CLASSIFIED
    Callum Ilott
    Sauber Junior Team by Charouz
    1

  • De Vries dominant in Round 9 opener; Mahaveer 20th: F2

    Dutchman tops Free Practice for second round in a row, ahead of Latifi and Delétraz
    Spa Francorchamps, 30 August 2019: Nyck De Vries topped title rival Nicholas Latifi on their return from the summer break, in Free Practice at Spa-Francorchamps. The ART Grand Prix man laid down a marker for Round 9 as he looks to further cement his place at the top of the driver’s standings, with Latifi in 2nd and Louis Delétraz 3rd.
    Nobuharu Matsushita led the cars out onto the track, with nearly a full cohort heading onto the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps at the start of the session, in 21 degree heat. When the times started to tumble, Nicholas Latifi went top, with 1:59.892. His excellent early pace was all the more impressive given his exploits in F1 FP1, not half an hour beforehand.
    The DAMS driver – along with his teammate Sérgio Sette Câmara – is sporting a very special tribute this weekend, in remembrance of team owner Jean Paul Driot, who sadly passed away during the last round, in Budapest.
    The Canadian’s lead wouldn’t make the halfway mark, as De Vries set about topping his second Free Practice in as many rounds. The Championship leader set two green sectors on his way to a time of 1:59.509, more than 0.3s clear of Latifi in P2.
    This was followed by spins from Giuliano Alesi and Mick Schumacher, which forced the latter out of the session early and left him in P7, with more than 10 minutes to go. This brought out a brief Virtual Safety Car.
    The order remained unchanged when the VSC period ended, with De Vries leading Latifi, who was ahead of Delétraz, Sette Câmara and Jack Aitken. Meanwhile, F2 debutant Marino Sato was lying 19th as he focused on getting laps under his belt and becoming accustomed to his new wheels.
    The session was ended early when Ralph Boschung’s Trident came to a halt on track and brought out a red flag, with five minutes to go. Free Practice ended under the red flag and handed De Vries the early bragging rights, after a strong opening session. Latifi remained in second ahead of Delétraz, Sette Câmara and Aitken, with Luca Ghiotto, Schumacher, Boschung, Alesi and Matsushita completing the top ten.
    The Championship’s top two will go full throttle in Qualifying this afternoon at 455.pm local time, as they search for that extra edge going into the final part of the campaign.
    FIA Formula 2 Round 9 – Free Practice provisional classification
    DRIVER
    TEAM
    LAPTIME
    LAPS
    1
    Nyck De Vries
    ART Grand Prix
    1:59.509
    12
    2
    Nicholas Latifi
    DAMS
    1:59.892
    11
    3
    Louis Deletraz
    Carlin
    2:00.008
    12
    4
    Sergio Sette Camara
    DAMS
    2:00.258
    12
    5
    Jack Aitken
    Campos Racing
    2:00.460
    9
    6
    Luca Ghiotto
    UNI-Virtuosi Racing
    2:00.607
    11
    7
    Mick Schumacher
    PREMA Racing
    2:00.932
    9
    8
    Ralph Boschung
    Trident
    2:00.980
    11
    9
    Giuliano Alesi
    Trident
    2:00.987
    13
    10
    Nobuharu Matsushita
    Carlin
    2:01.027
    11
    11
    Anthoine Hubert
    BWT Arden
    2:01.301
    13
    12
    Guanyu Zhou
    UNI-Virtuosi Racing
    2:01.301
    11
    13
    Sean Gelael
    PREMA Racing
    2:01.423
    13
    14
    Callum Ilott
    Sauber Junior Team by Charouz
    2:01.562
    14
    15
    Jordan King
    MP Motorsport
    2:01.645
    12
    16
    Nikita Mazepin
    ART Grand Prix
    2:01.795
    13
    17
    Juan Manuel Correa
    Sauber Junior Team by Charouz
    2:02.014
    7
    18
    Tatiana Calderon
    BWT Arden
    2:02.819
    15
    19
    Marino Sato
    Campos Racing
    2:02.962
    12
    20
    Mahaveer Raghunathan
    MP Motorsport
    2:05.746
    12

  • Arjun Maini, Mahaveer Raghunathan to race in F2 during the British GP week-end

    Silverstone, 11 July 2019: Two Indian racers talented Arjun Maini and regular Mahaveer Raghunathan will feature in the F2 race, run as a support race during the British GP weekend and as the teams and drivers of the F2 paddock land at the former airfield of Silverstone for Round 7 of the 2019 FIA Formula 2 Championship, two weeks after the sensational action in Austria’s Styrian Alps.
    Arjun Maini, will be racing in the second and last of his two races in F2 championship this season while MP Motorsport’s Mahaveer Raghunathan returns to F2 this weekend having served a one-event suspension that saw him miss both races in Austria for amassing 12 penalty points for infringements during Virtual Safety Car periods.
    Carlin’s Louis Delétraz went fastest during practice for the first time this season, before Championship leader Nyck de Vries pulled off a masterclass in qualifying to take pole position early in the session. Nobuharu Matsushita chased the Dutchman down superbly in the last few laps to earn his first F2 Feature Race win, calling it the best drive of his entire career over the radio as he took the chequered flag. The ‘firsts’ continued in Sunday’s Sprint Race, as Sérgio Sette Câmara and his DAMS machine took victory for the first time in 2019. The Brazilian leapt to the front from third on the grid and put in a measured display to stay there until the end.
    De Vries (152) has pulled further ahead in the Drivers’ Championship, and now has a 37 point lead over Nicholas Latifi (115). Sérgio Sette Câmara (107) has climbed to third, just eight points behind his teammate. DAMS lead the way in the Teams’ Championship with 222 points, though second-placed UNI-Virtuosi Racing (182) have closed the gap to 40 points. ART (158) are 22 points further behind in third.
    Round 7 of the season takes place at Silverstone Circuit, famed for its high speeds, fast corners and long straights. Race strategy will be crucial as teams and drivers look to get the best possible performance from Pirelli’s hard and soft compound tyres. A number of British drivers will hope to enjoy victory on home soil, but the rest of the grid will have designs of their own in what should be another incredible weekend of F2 action.
    Warm Up // Jordan King – MP Motorsport
    “I’ve always been quite successful at Silverstone. My first ever car race was there in Formula Palmer Audi and I got pole and finished second which started off a good love affair as they say! I suppose the highlight at this level is winning there in back in 2016. I probably had the best part of 50 people there – friends, family and partners. It felt good to be there with lots of people who had come on the journey with me and who had supported me.
    “I enjoy Silverstone. It is a real pleasure to drive. It’s an old-school circuit and there is something special about driving there – with it being your home Grand Prix it’s like a double win. From what you see as a driver, the fans look amazing, there’s plenty of colour in the crowd and you like to think that all the union flags in the grandstand are for you.
    “It’s really fast and it’s physically one of the hardest tracks of the year on your neck, shoulders and arms. It’s tricky with all the high-speed corners and tyre degradation is normally quite high. That makes for another interesting aspect to the racing angle.
    “Although it’s high-speed and it’s hard to follow through the corners you can still overtake. The two main overtaking spots are into Brooklands and Stowe but battles go on for more than a couple of corners.
    “I used to be a lot more stressed about the smaller details but now I’m just driving for the moment, to help the team, push the guys forward. I’m still setting goals and trying to achieve things but I’m not going into qualifying thinking ‘I have to be top five’ because it’s unnecessary pressure. I’m just going out and driving the best that I can.”
    Mario Isola, Pirelli Head of F1 and Car Racing
    “Silverstone is known as the ‘home of British motorsport’ so it’s a very significant race for many teams and drivers in the F2 championship. The biggest question mark will be the new asphalt, which nobody has had a chance to drive on yet, while the weather in England at this time of year is also often variable. We expect quite a big performance gap between the two nominated compounds in Formula 2, which should hopefully lead to some interesting strategies. The soft will need careful management on this demanding circuit but will offer a considerable performance advantage.”
    Season Stats
    37 The points gap between Championship leader Nyck de Vries (152) at the top of the standings and Nicholas Latifi (115) in second place.
    4 The number of times a DAMS driver has picked up bonus points for the fastest lap this season. Sérgio Sette Câmara and Nicholas Latifi have both done it twice.
    357 The number of racing laps completed so far this season.
    95 The number of laps De Vries has led so far this season in his ART Grand Prix machine.
    Noteworthy
    The F2 race lap record at Silverstone is 1:42.512, set by Nobuharu Matsushita with ART Grand Prix in 2017
    Matsushita’s Feature Race win in Austria is not only his first ever Feature Race victory but also Carlin’s first win since Lando Norris won the opening race of the season in Bahrain last year
    That victory means all three British teams (UNI-Virtuosi Racing, BWT Arden and Carlin) have won at least one race this season going into their home event
    The British round of the FIA Formula 2 Championship is also the home event of Callum Ilott of Sauber Junior Team by Charouz, Campos Racing’s Jack Aitken and MP Motorsport’s Jordan King
    Dorian Boccolacci, who competed in the first five rounds of the 2019 F2 Championship with Campos Racing, also returns to the F2 paddock with Trident this weekend. The French driver has previously raced for the Italian outfit in GP3.
    Seven different drivers have won races this season: Aitken, Matsushita, Nyck de Vries, Sérgio Sette Câmara, Nicholas Latifi, Luca Ghiotto and Anthoine Hubert
    If De Vries wins this weekend he will match Artem Markelov for the record highest number of wins in the modern era of FIA Formula 2. A win in both races would see the Dutchman surpass the Russian
    De Vries has stood on the podium six times in the last five events, including three wins, the longest current podium streak in the championship. Sette Câmara is next best with three podiums from three events
    Mick Schumacher battled brilliantly during the Sprint Race in Austria. Starting 18th on the grid he finished fourth and might have grabbed his first F2 podium had it not been for good defending from De Vries in third
    Data (GMT+1)
    Friday
    Free Practice: 11.55 – 12.40
    Qualifying: 15.55 – 16.25
    Press conference: 18.00
    Saturday
    Feature race: 15.45 (29 laps)
    Press conference: 17.05
    Sunday
    Sprint race: 10.00 (21 laps)
    Press conference: 11.05

  • Hubert holds on for photo finish victory; Mahaveer shunted out: F2

    Frenchman earns maiden F2 win on the streets of Monaco
    Monaco, 25 May 2019: Anthoine Hubert became the season’s first rookie winner by the finest of margins in the FIA Formula 2 Sprint Race at Monaco. The Frenchman survived a late onslaught from second placed Louis Delétraz whose front-wing was just inches behind the BWT Arden’s at the chequered flag. Fellow rookie Guanyu Zhou finished in third to claim his second podium in F2.
    Indian Mahaveer Raghunathan was shunted out after an unlucky incident.
    At the start of the race, Hubert, on a new set of Soft tyres, made a good getaway to retain the lead from Delétraz, while Zhou sailed around the outside of Artem Markelov into Turn 1 for P3. Also on fresher tyres, Ralph Boschung snuck into P7 ahead of yesterday’s Feature Race winner Nyck De Vries and Sérgio Sette Câmara. The safety car brought a brief stop to the racing after Luca Ghiotto made contact with Tatiana Calderon at Turn 5, which effectively ended the Colombian’s day.
    Racing resumed, but not for long: the Italian’s luckless weekend would continue when he entangled himself with Indian racer Mahaveer Raghunathan at the hairpin and ended both his own, and the MP Motorsport man’s race. The marshals were swift in clearing up the mess, but Hubert was even quicker – not only did he hold onto the lead at the restart, he went on to set the fastest lap.
    Despite his pace out in front, the 22-year-old had not been able to distance himself from the remainder of the front four and just 2.5s separated the quintet, who were all in search of their first F2 win.
    The title fight was then given a shake-up: mechanical issues forced Boschung into retirement, while Matsushita dropped to 9th, which elevated De Vries into P6 and handed him the Championship lead.
    Just over 10 laps remained and it all kicked off at the back: Sean Gelael failed to slow down at the Nouvelle Chicane and flung himself into the rear of Giuliano Alesi, which ended the Trident man’s race.
    The front four had pulled away from the Campos of Dorian Boccolacci in fifth, with a sturdy 10s gap, but out in front Hubert still couldn’t shake the unrelenting Carlin of Delétraz. Despite Zhou’s continued presence behind him, his eyes refused to leave the tail of the Renault Junior with little left to go.
    The Frenchman had been steadfast all race, but a momentary wobble on the final lap threatened to derail his race and he kissed the barrier. Delétraz had been gunning for this mistake, but was unable to capitalise and Hubert managed to steady his Arden and head for the chequered flag.
    The Renault Junior’s dalliances with the wall would have appeared to most as Delétraz’s final chance, but the Swiss had other ideas and attempted a daring lunge at the death. His Carlin cut around the outside of Hubert on the final straight and he edged to his left, but ended just inches behind when they crossed the line.
    Behind them, Zhou held on for third place in-front of Artem Markelov, Boccolacci, Sette Câmara, De Vries and Nikita Mazepin.
    Out of the points, but eligible for the fastest lap, Nicholas Latifi clawed further pace from his DAMS to snatch the quickest time at the death to remain on top of the Driver’s Championship on 95 points, followed by De Vries on 94 points. Ghiotto is in third on 67 points, ahead of Jack Aitken on 62 and Zhou on 54. In the Team’s standings, DAMS top the table with 147 points, 26 points ahead of UNI-Virtuosi Racing. ART Grand Prix are in third on 100 points, followed by Campos Racing on 92 and Carlin on 60.
    Racing will resume at the Circuit Paul Ricard in France in just under a month’s time, when Latifi and De Vries are sure to face up against one another once again.
    2019 FIA Formula 2 Championship – Monaco Sprint Race classification
    DRIVER
    TEAM
    1
    Anthoine Hubert
    BWT Arden
    2
    Louis Deletraz
    Carlin
    3
    Guanyu Zhou
    UNI-Virtuosi Racing
    4
    Artem Markelov
    MP Motorsport
    5
    Dorian Boccolacci
    Campos Racing
    6
    Sergio Sette Camara
    DAMS
    7
    Nyck De Vries
    ART Grand Prix
    8
    Nikita Mazepin
    ART Grand Prix
    9
    Nobuharu Matsushita
    Carlin
    10
    Nicholas Latifi
    DAMS
    11
    Mick Schumacher
    PREMA Racing
    12
    Juan Manuel Correa
    Sauber Junior Team by Charouz
    13
    Jack Aitken
    Campos Racing
    14
    Callum Ilott
    Sauber Junior Team by Charouz
    15
    Sean Gelael
    PREMA Racing
    NOT CLASSIFIED
    Giuliano Alesi
    Trident
    Ralph Boschung
    Trident
    Mahaveer Raghunathan
    MP Motorsport
    Luca Ghiotto
    UNI-Virtuosi Racing
    Tatiana Calderon
    BWT Arden
    OVERALL FASTEST LAP
    Sean Gelael (PREMA Racing) – 1:23.318 on Lap 27
    FASTEST LAP ELIGIBLE FOR POINTS
    Nicholas Latifi (DAMS) – 1:23.868 on Lap 30

  • De Vries seals back-to-back F2 wins in Monaco; Mahaveer Raghunathan 15th

    Monte Carlo (Monaco), 24 May 2019: There was no nip and tuck about Nyck De Vries’ victory in Monaco: the Dutch dynamo produced a flawless display to claim back-to-back FIA Formula 2 wins. The ART man led Luca Ghiotto from lights-to-flag, whilst Carlin’s Nobuharu Matsushita took third.
    Indian racer Mahaveer Raghunathan of MP Motorsport finished 15th.
    Callum Ilott suffered heartbreak after the formation lap: the Briton who was starting from P2 signalled an issue on the grid, which caused an aborted race start. He would later retire from the pits.
    Polesitter De Vries appeared to be in an entirely different race when the lights went out: the Dutchman was unopposed off the line without anyone in P2 and quickly collected a comfortable lead. Ilott’s retirement also left Mick Schumacher with a clear run when the lights went out, but a poor getaway from the German allowed Anthoine Hubert to lunge ahead.
    After his disappointing beginning, Schumacher would use the power of his PREMA to good effect and quickly reassumed his position in fourth thanks to a daring move on Hubert. On the option/prime strategy, the German was amongst the first drivers to switch to Soft compounds and would head the cars on the same strategy.
    At the front, Ghiotto set the fastest lap in his pursuit of De Vries, but to little effect as the race leader was still able to build a 3s gap to the Italian who also had to check his mirrors as Sérgio Sette Câmara remained close.
    De Vries’ race lead looked all the more lucrative given his Championship rival’s woes further back: Nicholas Latifi tried to make a move on Schumacher but made the jump too soon and attempted a tight move on the hairpin which resulted in a battered front wing, having found no room on the inside. This forced the Canadian into the pits and he re-joined in lowly 15th.
    Trying to stay ahead of Louis Delétraz who was on the same strategy as him, Schumacher was desperate to overtake Tatiana Calderon (on the prime/option strategy). The German attempted to squeeze between the Colombian and the barrier at La Rascasse, but the room wasn’t there and he caught her tyre and spun the BWT Arden car. Delétraz had nowhere to go and came to a halt behind and the trio blocked the track, bringing out a red flag.
    The cars were pushed back into the pits ahead of the race restart, which derailed De Vries’ dominance at the front. The Dutchman had built up a 6s lead over Ghiotto, but this was shattered and he would need to do it all over again. They both switched to new soft tyres in the pitlane, before De Vries who made light work of the restart and moseyed off back out in-front.
    Latifi began making inroads in his search for a points finish. However, his progress was short-lived – his move on Sean Gelael for P10 at La Rascasse came too early and he collected the rear of the PREMA which sent him into the wall, allowing Hubert to dive past them both. The Canadian was handed a drive-through penalty and Gelael forced into a front-wing change.
    Ghiotto was the first of the front three to dive into the pits and returned in third place. De Vries and Sette Câmara followed on the next lap. The Dutchman re-joined ahead of Ghiotto whilst the Brazilian slotted in just ahead of Matsushita who had pitted one lap earlier. On warmer tyres, the Japanese passed the DAMS car at Turn 5, claiming third place along the way.
    With just five laps to go, drama returned to the streets of Monaco: Mahaveer Raghunathan appeared to hit the brakes late and jerked the back of Jack Aitken, which shunted his Campos into the barrier. Simultaneously, Juan Manuel Correa lost control and smashed into the wall at the swimming pool. The Safety Car came out bunching the cars at the front.
    At the restart with only one lap to go, De Vries would not be denied what felt rightfully his: he remained calm and collected to stay ahead of the pack and take the chequered flag first. Ghiotto settled for second as Matsushita returned to the podium with third place. Sette Câmara finished fourth ahead of Dorian Boccolacci, Guanyu Zhou, Artem Markelov, Delétraz, Hubert and Ralph Boschung.
    Starting from reverse grid pole, Delétraz will hope to be the second Carlin of the weekend to enjoy the podium, when racing resumes at 5.15pm local time.
    2019 FIA Formula 2 – Monaco Feature Race classification
    DRIVER
    TEAM
    1
    Nyck De Vries
    ART Grand Prix
    2
    Luca Ghiotto
    UNI-Virtuosi Racing
    3
    Nobuharu Matsushita
    Carlin
    4
    Sérgio Sette Câmara
    DAMS
    5
    Dorian Boccolacci
    Campos Racing
    6
    Guanyu Zhou
    UNI-Virtuosi Racing
    7
    Artem Markelov
    MP Motorsport
    8
    Louis Delétraz
    Carlin
    9
    Anthoine Hubert
    BWT Arden
    10
    Ralph Boschung
    Trident
    11
    Nikita Mazepin
    ART Grand Prix
    12
    Giuliano Alesi
    Trident
    13
    Nicholas Latifi
    DAMS
    14
    Mick Schumacher
    PREMA Racing
    15
    Mahaveer Raghunathan
    MP Motorsport
    16
    Tatiana Calderon
    BWT Arden
    17
    Juan Manuel Correa
    Sauber Junior Team by Charouz
    18
    Jack Aitken
    Campos Racing
    NOT CLASSIFIED
    Sean Gelael
    PREMA Racing
    Callum Ilott
    Sauber Junior Team by Charouz
    OVERALL FASTEST LAP
    Nobuharu Matsushita (Carlin) – 1:22.243 on Lap 38
  • Mahaveer Raghunathan puts in 53 laps on Day 1 of Second Test: Formula 2

    Mahaveer Raghunathan puts in 53 laps on Day 1 of Second Test: Formula 2

    Nyck Vries tops Day 1 on 6th March 2019. An F2 image

    Barcelona, 6 March 2019: Nyck de Vries set the quickest laptime on the opening day of the second FIA Formula 2 pre-season testing at Barcelona. The Dutchman from ART Grand Prix set a time of 1:28.655 in the afternoon session to lead the way ahead of DAMS’ Sérgio Sette Câmara and rookie Nikita Mazepin.

    The only Indian racer Mahaveer Raghunathan of MP Motorsport was 18th fastest in the morning and improved to 16th in the afternoon session. He did 26 laps in the morning and added 27 more in the post-lunch session to gain some useful information for the team.
    The pit lane opened at 9.30 local time under grey skies. Both Trident cars hit the track first with Giuliano Alesi leading Ralph Boschung. There was an early red flag a few minutes into the session after MP Motorsport’s Mahaveer Raghunathan stopped on track at Turn 7. The proceedings were halted once more shortly after the re-start so that the marshals could clean the pit lane.
    One hour into the session, Raghunathan was the only driver who had set a laptime until his teammate Jordan King found some pace to dip under 1m30s. Carlin’s Louis Delétraz went top in a 1:28.919, heading teammate Nobuharu Matsushita by +0.804s, but de Vries went quickest just before the two-hour mark in a 1:28.821 as Luca Ghiotto slotted in P2 (+0.048s).
    At the chequered flag de Vries sat pretty at the top of the standings ahead of Ghiotto and Delétraz. Jack Aitken was fourth ahead of Mazepin, Nicholas Latifi, Matsushita , Alesi, Sette Câmara and Guanyu Zhou.
    After a two-hour lunch break, the action resumed under blue skies. The ART pair of de Vries and Mazepin were the first to take to the track, but it was Ghiotto who set the early pace in a 1:29.176. The afternoon session was dedicated to race simulations and pit stop practice. Campos’ Roberto Merhi brought out a first red flag on the one-hour mark after he stopped at Turn 2.
    At the re-start, Juan Manuel Correa placed his Sauber Junior Team by Charouz car on P2 but de Vries bettered the American’s time by three tenths. On his next effort, the Dutchman was able to go top whilst teammate Mazepin also set a personal best to move up to second.
    In the opening of the final hour, Mick Schumacher claimed the top spot in a 1:28.866 and remained unchallenged until fifteen minutes before the end of the session: de Vries reclaimed P1 as Sette Câmara moved up to P2 to edge Schumacher. Mazepin also improved to take third in the closing stages.
    Five minutes before the chequered flag Raghunathan stopped at Turn 8 bringing out one final Red Flag. The session was not restarted. Behind the top three, Schumacher, Ghiotto, Zhou, Sean Gelael, Boschung, Correa and Aitken completed the top ten.
    Day 2 will kick off tomorrow at 9.00 local time.
    FIA Formula 2 Barcelona Test – Day 1 Morning Session
    DRIVER
    TEAM
    LAPTIME
    LAPS
    1
    Nyck de Vries
    ART Grand Prix
    1:28.821
    18
    2
    Luca Ghiotto
    UNI Virtuosi
    1:28.869
    16
    3
    Louis Delétraz
    Carlin
    1:28.875
    31
    4
    Jack Aitken
    Campos Racing
    1:28.928
    21
    5
    Nikita Mazepin
    ART Grand Prix
    1:29.107
    17
    6
    Nicholas Latifi
    DAMS
    1:29.343
    30
    7
    Nobuharu Matsushita
    Carlin
    1:29.413
    32
    8
    Giuliano Alesi
    Trident
    1:29.492
    23
    9
    Sérgio Sette Câmara
    DAMS
    1:29.555
    20
    10
    Guanyu Zhou
    UNI Virtuosi
    1:29.589
    13
    11
    Ralph Boschung
    Trident
    1:29.708
    26
    12
    Anthoine Hubert
    BWT Arden
    1:29.709
    18
    13
    Jordan King
    MP Motorsport
    1:29.743
    23
    14
    Roberto Merhi
    Campos Racing
    1:29.752
    35
    15
    Callum Ilott
    Sauber Junior Team by Charouz
    1:29.796
    15
    16
    Juan Manuel Correa
    Sauber Junior Team by Charouz
    1:30.000
    16
    17
    Tatiana Calderon
    BWT Arden
    1:30.773
    22
    18
    Mahaveer Raghunathan
    MP Motorsport
    1:34.373
    26
    19
    Mick Schumacher
    PREMA Racing
    —
    30
    20
    Sean Gelael
    PREMA Racing
    —
    32
    FIA Formula 2 Barcelona Test – Day 1 Afternoon Session
    DRIVER
    TEAM
    LAPTIME
    LAPS
    1
    Nyck de Vries
    ART Grand Prix
    1:28.655
    37
    2
    Sérgio Sette Câmara
    DAMS
    1:28.772
    31
    3
    Nikita Mazepin
    ART Grand Prix
    1:28.829
    43
    4
    Mick Schumacher
    PREMA Racing
    1:28.886
    29
    5
    Luca Ghiotto
    UNI Virtuosi
    1:28.993
    33
    6
    Guanyu Zhou
    UNI Virtuosi
    1:29.070
    27
    7
    Sean Gelael
    PREMA Racing
    1:29.180
    28
    8
    Ralph Boschung
    Trident
    1:29.249
    32
    9
    Juan Manuel Correa
    Sauber Junior Team by Charouz
    1:29.391
    27
    10
    Jack Aitken
    Campos Racing
    1:29.459
    63
    11
    Callum Ilott
    Sauber Junior Team by Charouz
    1:29.776
    29
    12
    Anthoine Hubert
    BWT Arden
    1:29.848
    37
    13
    Jordan King
    MP Motorsport
    1:29.952
    19
    14
    Giuliano Alesi
    Trident
    1:30.169
    34
    15
    Tatiana Calderon
    BWT Arden
    1:30.185
    31
    16
    Mahaveer Raghunathan
    MP Motorsport
    1:31.639
    27
    17
    Louis Delétraz
    Carlin
    1:34.850
    43
    18
    Nobuharu Matsushita
    Carlin
    1:35.235
    34
    19
    Nicholas Latifi
    DAMS
    1:35.290
    36
    20
    Roberto Merhi
    Campos Racing
    1:35.664
    23