Frederik Vesti took advantage of absolute chaos at the end to pass Jehan Daruvala and build on his victory in Formula 2 race 1 in Azerbaijan
The first Formula 2 race of the weekend in Azerbaijan was held this Saturday morning (11) at a different time than usual - after F1 qualifying - because of the local time zone. Thus, it started even before the main category appeared on the track. And the start already played a fundamental role, allowing Jehan Daruvala to take the first place and escape. But the second half of the race was absolute chaos, and Frederik Vesti was the one who took best advantage of it.
The race didn't have any problems until the end of the 14th of 21 laps. From then on, there were several crashes, three safety-car interventions, and the possibility of Vesti pulling over and attacking Daruvala until he overtook him.
Daruvala took the lead at the start after Vesti slipped and Jake Hughes, who was pole, went very bad. It took Vesti a few laps to get past Hughes, and in the meantime Daruvala was opening up more than 3s. It would have been enough for a quiet victory if it hadn't been for the accident of his teammate, Dennis Hauger, who crashed while attempting an impossible overtake on Théo Pourchaire.
The first restart saw Daruvala defend well, but Enzo Fittipaldi and Jüri Vips found each other and caused another safety car intervention. Then, in the second restart, Vesti attacked, Daruvala crashed, and the lead changed hands. Also, Richard Verschoor, who was third, crashed when attacked by Liam Lawson and forced the safety car back in.
The last restart was only for the last lap, but it also ended in trouble. Not at the front, where Vesti held on quietly and won, but at the back. Cem Bölükbasi and Calan Williams were involved in a hard crash that also included Ralph Boschung. It was to end the way it was.
Thus, Vesti's first victory in Formula 2. Daruvala and Lawson closed the podium, while Marcus Armstrong, Felipe Drugovich, Logan Sargeant, Theo Pourchaire, and Ayumu Iwasa were in the points. Hughes and Royn Nissany rounded out the top-10.
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Check out how the sprint race went:
Good morning! Very early in the Brazilian morning, early afternoon Azeri time, Formula 2 started for the sprint race of the weekend. The temperature was high, crossing the 30°C ambient line and reaching 50°C on the asphalt. Jake Hughes, 10th in Friday's qualifying, was the front-runner according to the inverted grid system for the first of the weekend's two races.
The star of the start was not pole, however. Jehan Daruvala started from third. Frederik Vesti started from second and got a better start, passing Hughes, but skidded at turn one and opened the way for Daruvala to drive and take the lead quickly. Hughes was second, while Vesti dropped to third.
Meanwhile, Logan Sargeant was fourth, with Richard Verschoor and Marcus Armstrong close behind. Felipe Drugovich had lost two positions and was seventh, Liam Lawson, Jüri Vips, and Dennis Hauger rounded out the top-10.
The next move came from the race director, who threw out a black and orange flag for Jack Doohan. The Australian driver aggressively drove over a zebra and damaged his front wing. He needed to go into the pits to make a repair there, and came back last.
Vesti was faster than Hughes and was attacking for second place. At first, he struggled to find space, but the ART driver was bold and put the open car on the outside to make the dive and take the position.
Vesti's overtake started Hughes' unfortunate streak in the race. Sargeant and Verschoor took advantage of the slow pole position to pass as well. His time in second, however, was crucial for Daruvala, who opened 3s5. Vesti, now second, quickly set the best lap of the race and was the fastest on the track. At the back, Amaury Cordeel would go off the track on his own and stand still for a few seconds in the escape area before resuming a path.
Hughes kept being overtaken by basically everyone and left the top-10. Théo Pourchaire was trying to recover from a rough start to the weekend and was trying to get into the points by overtaking Vips, but the Estonian defended himself with skill and kept the position.
The story of the race gained a milestone on the 14th of 21 laps. Dennis Hauger came up behind Pourchaire looking to get into the fight with the Frenchman and Vips, but he didn't have enough room. So the Norwegian decided to take a chance and went around the outside of a narrow bend. At first, he took the lead, but was unable to get around the curve and crashed into the wall. Safety-car on the track and race over for him.
Besides Hauger himself, the mistake was extremely costly for Prema. The team lost one of its cars and saw the advantage built at the front by Daruvala fall. The re-start equalized everyone and was held on the opening lap of lap 17, but the normalcy was short-lived.
Daruvala held the lead, as did Vesti in second, but Sargeant locked up his tires at the entrance to the corner and let Verschoor and Armstrong take third and fourth. Further back, Enzo Fittipaldi attacked Vips, who defended himself. The two touched and finished without going around the corner and stuck between the track and the escape area. A new safety car and the end of the race for the Brazilian, while Vips was left with 19th place.
The new restart, yes, presented a significant change. At the opening of lap 18, Daruvala braked at the corner and made room for Vesti to make the move and move the car into first place. Meanwhile, Verschoor was attacked by Lawson and, in an attempt to hold on, also went to the wall. Another safety car, the third in a row. Vesti was now the leader and had Daruvala and Lawson in the podium positions.
The feeling was that the race could end in yellow - not least because Cem Bölükbasi and Olli Caldwell had also met, but the race direction granted another lap.
The re-start for a final lap offered no redemption for Daruvala. Vesti controlled well and set off for the win. Lawson closed the podium, while Armstrong, Drugovich, Sargeant, Pourchaire, and Ayumu Iwasa scored. There was still time for one more crash, this one strong, with Bölükbasi and Calan Williams the protagonists and Ralph Boschung involved. It was really time to finish.
Formula 2 2022, Azerbaijan GP, Baku, Sprint Race, Final Result