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Megan White

Bahrain F2: Verschoor wins ahead of Daruvala and Lawson

The Trident driver, who joins the team from MP Motorsport for his second season in the series, took advantage of polesitter Felipe Drugovich’s poor start to move into the lead. 

It marks Trident’s first F2 win since Luca Ghiotto took the top step of the podium in Sepang in 2016. 

MP Motorsport’s Drugovich tumbled out the top three after struggling off the line, with Boschung and Daruvala also taking advantage of the Brazilian’s problems. He went on to finish in P5. 

After a laps-long battle between Campos Racing’s Boschung and Daruvala, the Red Bull junior emerged in front for Prema Racing, taking second, with Liam Lawson snatching the final podium position for Carlin with just two laps to go. 

Boschung finished fourth, with Drugovich in fifth and Logan Sargeant in sixth for Carlin, having passed a struggling Juri Vips (Hitech Grand Prix) in the final few tours. 

Verschoor took the lead off the line, with a poor start for Drugovich dropping him rapidly down the order and allowing Boschung up to P2 with Daruvala in P3. 

The polesitter was tussling with Theo Pourchaire for P5 on lap two, with a tight battle on the outside of Turn 1 finishing in the French driver’s favour having gained five places since the start. 

Marcus Armstrong’s race was ended on lap three after he was spun by Jake Hughes in the battle for P9 around Turn 8, with Roy Nissany narrowly escaping the collision. Hughes, driving for Van Amersfoort Racing, was handed a 10-second penalty for the incident.  

The yellow flags were waved before the safety car came out for the start of the fourth tour, with Verschoor, Boschung and Daruvala running in the top three. 

Drugovich had a great start when racing resumed two laps later, attempting to take P4 from Lawson but just lacking the pace.

The pair were chased by Jack Doohan, who started in P10 but rapidly made up places, almost taking P5 from the Brazilian at Turn 1 before being held off, while Doohan held off a charging Vips at Turn 4 to keep P6. 

Pourchaire was forced to retire on lap six, with a mechanical issue in his ART-run car causing an oil leak. 

Lawson and Drugovich continued their battle on lap 10, with Lawson running wide at Turn 10 in his bid to hold off the Brazilian driver, albeit keeping his 0.5s lead. 

Vips finally took P6 from Doohan on Lap 13, sweeping up the inside at Turn 1. The Australian rookie, driving for Virtuosi, eventually finished outside the points in P10. 

Daruvala was right on Boschung’s gearbox with just eight laps to go, and despite a yellow flag in sector two, managed to make it past him on the straight to take P2. 

The virtual safety car was instigated on Lap 15 after Hughes and Clement Novalak made contact, with Hughes stopping on track and Novalak forced to pit for a new front wing. Novalak received a 10-second penalty for causing the collision. 

When the VSC ended, Boschung was able to launch an attack on Daruvala to regain P2, sweeping around Turn 10 to regain the position, before Daruvala passed him again on the outer loop. 

With just two laps to go, Lawson snatched the final podium spot from a struggling Boschung into Turn 1, while Logan Sargeant took P6 from a struggling Vips. 

Ayumu Iwasa, who started in P22, had an astonishing charge through the field to finish in P8, with reigning FIA F3 champion Dennis Hauger taking ninth, having started P15. 

Bahrain F2 - sprint race results:

Cla # Driver Team Laps Gap
1 20 Netherlands Richard Verschoor Italy Trident 23  
2 2 India Jehan Daruvala Italy Prema Powerteam 23 1.853
3 5 New Zealand Liam Lawson United Kingdom Carlin 23 4.975
4 15 Switzerland Ralph Boschung Spain Campos Racing 23 6.981
5 11 Brazil Felipe Drugovich Netherlands MP Motorsport 23 8.801
6 6 United States Logan Sargeant United Kingdom Carlin 23 9.263
7 8 Estonia Jüri Vips United Kingdom HitechGP 23 13.350
8 17 Ayumu Iwasa Japan Nissan e.dams 23 15.749
9 1 Norway Dennis Hauger Italy Prema Powerteam 23 17.665
10 3 Australia Jack Doohan Virtuosi Racing 23 21.472
11 22 Brazil Enzo Fittipaldi Czech Republic Charouz Racing System 23 22.902
12 16 Israel Roy Nissany Japan Nissan e.dams 23 26.574
13 9 Denmark Frederik Vesti France ART Grand Prix 23 27.490
14 23 Turkey Cem Bolukbasi Czech Republic Charouz Racing System 23 31.921
15 21 Australia Calan Williams Italy Trident 23 49.959
16 4 Japan Marino Sato Virtuosi Racing 23 50.640
17 25 Amaury Cordeel Van Amersfoort Racing 23 52.671
18 12 Switzerland Clement Novalak Netherlands MP Motorsport 23 1'18.205
19 14 United Kingdom Olli Caldwell Spain Campos Racing 22 1 Lap
20 24 United Kingdom Jake Hughes Van Amersfoort Racing 14  
21 10 France Theo Pourchaire France ART Grand Prix 6  
22 7 New Zealand Marcus Armstrong United Kingdom HitechGP 2  
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