[gmsabu]
Nobuharu Matsushita has won his second F2 feature race of the year holding off Luca Ghiotto and Nyck de Vries who rose from 13th and 17th respectively to finish on the podium.
While Callum Ilott led away from pole, Nikita Mazepin made a disastrous getaway and slipped back. Meanwhile Matsushita rose from sixth to second, with Ilott holding onto the lead.
Matsushita was able to take the lead outright on lap five, slipping cleanly past Ilott ahead of a tight field. Louis Deletraz and Tatiana Calderon both spun on lap six, sending them out of the race.
Almost all the leading cars had started on soft tyres, and by the time mandatory pit stops were available on lap six drivers were reporting as well beyond their best. Matsushita pitted from the lead soon after along with Ilott, both DAMS and Guanyu Zhou, giving the lead to Ghiotto.
By lap 12 that lead was vulnerable as the medium-starters’ tyres began to drop off compared to the already-pitted drivers behind them, who continued to race hard for eighth place. Fierce fighting saw Latifi and Zhou collide – puncturing Zhou’s tyre and damaging Latifi’s wing, forcing both to pit. More disastrously for Latifi’s championship, as he fell back De Vries came into contention.
Mick Schumacher, who had been running in second on the ‘alternate’ strategy, retired with a loss of power on lap 16. Zhou also retired following the contact with Latifi.Ghiotto made the medium tyres last in the lead until lap 21, when a slow pit stop saw him lose a lot of time and almost any hope of a podium finish. Meanwhile Ilott had reeled Matsushita back in.
Jack Aitken stretched his stint until lap 23, leaving Matsushita to try to hold on from Ilott for the remaining seven laps, with De Vries having stormed to third-place from his back-of-the-grid start. A dramatic-looking incident saw a turning vane leave Matsushita’s car on the straight but without falling onto the racing line or apparent effect on the car.
Struggling with the tyres by lap 27, Ilott was unable to resist a still-charging De Vries and lost out on second place in the final laps. Ghiotto, on his fresher soft tyres, also passed him the following lap. De Vries was similarly unable to compete with the Italian driver and slipped back to third, as Ghiotto took fastest lap of the race.
Thatleft Matsushita safe home in the lead, despite Ghiotto’s speed, while Nyck de Vries completed the podium and boosted his championship lead. Aitken finished eight, earning him reverse-grid pole for tomorrow.
De Vries’ championship advantage now stands at 49 points over Latifi, with a maximum further 113 points available this year.
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Feature Race results:
1. Nobuharu Matsushita (Carlin)
2. Luca Ghiotto (UNI-Virtuosi) +5.7s
3. Nyck de Vries (ART) +9.2s
4. Callum Ilott +17.2s
5. Sergio Sette Camara (DAMS) +20.4s
6. Jordan King (MP Motorsport) +24.8s
7. Giuliano Alesi (Trident) +32.3s
8. Jack Aitken (Campos) +33.0s
9. Sean Gelael (Prema) +38.8s
10. Mahaveer Raghunathan (MP Motorsport) +1:12.7s
11. Marino Sato (Campos) +1 Lap
12. Nikita Mazepin (ART) +1 Lap
13. Nicholas Latifi (DAMS) +2 Laps
14. Mick Schumacher (Prema) (Not classified)
15. Guanyu Zhou (UNI-Virtuosi) – DNF
16. Tatiana Calderon (BWT Arden) – DNF
17. Louis Deletraz (Carlin) – DNF
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montreal95 (@montreal95)
7th September 2019, 18:51
Incorrect regarding remaining available points. There are 16 available tomorrow. Plus there are two full rounds left in Sochi and Abu Dhabi in which 92 points maximum are available. So it’s 108 total. I don’t quite see how you got to the 65 number
Hazel Southwell (@hazelsouthwell)
7th September 2019, 19:37
@montreal95 I forgot to double for Sochi so you’re right that it was the wrong number – apologies, not sure how I did that but it’s 17 tomorrow; 15 for the win and 2 for fastest lap, so:
45 points for the remaining sprint race wins (3)
50 for the remaining feature races (2)
8 points for the two remaining pole positions (2)
10 for the remaining fastest laps (5)
Which makes that 113 unless I’ve done something very wrong.
bosyber (@bosyber)
7th September 2019, 19:40
Thanks for being on the ball there @hazelsouthwell – since I don’t really have easy access (as far as I know) to a way to see the race, your report is what’s keeping me informed, and I definitely appreciate it.
montreal95 (@montreal95)
7th September 2019, 19:43
@hazelsouthwell right, they’re giving 2 points for the fastest lap and not 1 like in F1. I counted 108 with 1 point per fastest lap. So it’s indeed 113. This is all a bit confusing :)
Francorchamps (@francorchamps17)
7th September 2019, 20:24
Raghunathan scored a point!
HAL
7th September 2019, 20:34
How many points has the Japanese driver on his superlicense ? If he continues to score big time, Torro Rosso will have no choice but to give him a ride for 2020…
montreal95 (@montreal95)
7th September 2019, 21:26
@HAL IIRC he will need to finish in the top 3 to qualify for the super-licence. He’s currently P6 45 points off P3 with 113 to play for. Unlikely but not impossible.
GtisBetter (@)
8th September 2019, 7:15
RB already have a japanese driver in their program, Yuki Tsunoda, who is in F3. He is very likely to be guided to f1. I doubt Matsushita will go to F1 even though he also has Honda backing.
Jockey Ewing
8th September 2019, 12:38
And what about our favourite Mahaveer finally scoring a point?
Possible carrer height imo.
F2 should implement some quite strict superlicense points threshold as an entry barrier like F1.
Sadly some bottom entrants would be bottom entrants at world level of F3 either.