TSUNODA WINS F2 FEATURE RACE AT BAHRAIN

Tsunoda won the Formula 2 feature race on Bahrain’s Outer layout, as Mick Schumacher’s points lead goes unchanged into the title decider.

Yuki Tsunoda has claimed his third Formula 2 victory after a race-long battle with Nikita Mazepin and Robert Shwartzman.

Yuki Tsunoda has claimed his third Formula 2 victory after a race-long battle with Nikita Mazepin and Robert Shwartzman.

The Japanese driver lost the lead to Mazepin off the start with the pair running at the front of the field for the majority of the race, opting for the soft to hard strategy.

Tsunoda bided his time as he sat behind Mazepin and Shwartzman until the closing 12 laps.

FIA FORMULA 2 CHAMPIONSHIP – SAKHIR – FEATURE RACE RESULTS

POS	DRIVER	NAT	TEAM	GAP
1	Yuki Tsunoda	JPN	Carlin	48 laps
2	Guanya Zhou	CHI	UNI-Virtuosi Racing	+ 5.600
3	Nikita Mazepin	RUS	Hitech Grand Prix	+ 6.200
4	Felipe Drugovich	BRA	MP Motorsport	+ 6.600
5	Robert Shwartzman	RUS	Prema Racing	+ 7.400
6	Callum Ilott	GBR	UNI-Virtuosi Racing	+ 8.100
7	Mick Schumacher	GER	Prema Racing	+ 10.300
8	Jehan Daruvala	IND	Carlin	+ 11.800
9	Dan Ticktum	GBR	DAMS	+ 14.600
10	Pedro Piquet	BRA	Charouz Racing System	+ 17.500
11	Marcus Armstrong	NZL	ART Grand Prix	+ 17.700
12	Louis Deletraz	SWI	Charouz Racing System	+ 19.300
13	Artem Markelov	RUS	BWT HWA Racelab	+ 31.900
14	Ralph Boschung	SWI	Campos Racing	+ 34.300
15	Giuliano Alesi	FRA	MP Motorsport	+ 35.000
16	Luca Ghiotto	ITA	Hitech Grand Prix	+ 38.100
17	Marino Sato	JPN	Trident	+ 39.000
18	Theo Pourchaire	FRA	BWT HWA Racelab	+ 41.700
19	Sean Gelael	IND	DAMS	+ 45.800
20	Roy Nissany	ISR	Trident	+ 50.300
21	Christian Lundgaard	DEN	ART Grand Prix	+ 59.200
22	Guilherme Samaia	BRA	Campos Racing	+ 1 lap

Aggressive moves on Shwartzman into Turn 1 on Lap 36, then again on Mazepin on Lap 44 allowed the Carlin driver to stretch his legs at the front of the field and resist pressure from a charging Guanyu Zhou.

Tsunoda’s win wasn’t enough to keep him in championship contention but a third-place finish in the championship will see him acquire enough points to qualify for an F1 super licence with him likely to partner Pierre Gasly at the AlphaTauri F1 team in 2021.

Tsunoda is under investigation for his move on Mazepin into Turn 1, for overtaking off the circuit.

Zhou made the most of the hard to soft strategy, cutting his way through the pack in the closing laps.

The Chinese driver did pick up a five-second time penalty for speeding in the pit lane but he managed to pull enough of a gap over Mazepin, who defended very hard from Felipe Drugovich for the final spot on the podium as the pair finished third and fourth ahead of Shwartzman.

The stewards are investigating Mazepin’s defending, who on the final lap pushed Drugovich off the circuit, forcing the Brazilian to hit one of the brake marker boards on the run down to Turn 3.

In terms of the title battle, Mick Schumacher recovered well from 18th on the grid to seventh, taking the fastest lap as well to give him a 14-point lead over Callum Ilott going into Sunday’s sprint race.

Ilott struggled to make too much progress from ninth on the grid, ultimately coming home just two seconds clear of Schumacher in sixth place.

Today’s result means Prema has been as the teams’ champion, the first time it has done so since 2016 when the series was known as GP2.

Jehan Daruvala finished eighth having lost a place to Schumacher on the final lap and thus will start the sprint race from pole position.

Dan Ticktum and Pedro Piquet completed the points-paying positions. 

TSUNODA WINS F2 FEATURE RACE AT BAHRAIN TSUNODA WINS F2 FEATURE RACE AT BAHRAIN

F2 SPRINT RACE BAHRAIN : SHWARTZMAN WIN HIS FOURTH VICTORY

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