Oliver Bearman controlled the Formula 2 feature race in Spain to claim his third victory of the season.
The Ferrari junior only relinquished the lead of the race after his mandatory pit stop, and crossed the line 3.5 seconds ahead of Enzo Fittipaldi. Victor Martins joined the pair on the podium.Championship leader Frederik Vesti made several impressive passes on his way to fifth after starting eighth, while nearest title rival Theo Pourchaire could only manage seventh after rising to third at the start.
Bearman took pole position for the second time in three feature races during his rookie F2 season. Fittipaldi joined him on the front row with Jack Doohan and Ayumu Iwasa directly behind.
The Prema on pole got off the line well, but the top three were soon side-by-side going into turn one. As the trio turned in, there wasn’t enough room for Fittipaldi who was forced onto the escape road.
He rejoined in second behind Bearman, and ahead of Pourchaire who enjoyed a brilliant start from fifth. As the lights went out, the Sauber junior immediately took the inside line and moved up a position at the opening corner, then gained another at turn three to claim third.
This left Doohan and Iwasa fighting directly behind, the two drivers trading positions over the opening lap before Alpine’s reserve driver ultimately held onto fourth.
The drivers kept position in the early stages. On lap 10 Pourchaire and Iwasa became the first to pit, Fittipaldi and Doohan then followed on the next lap. Doohan’s battle with Iwasa resumed as the Red Bull junior overtook him for net fourth at turn one just after the Virtuosi driver had left the pit lane.
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
Pourchaire attempted an overtake at turn one on Fittipaldi for 14th – a net second place – but the ART driver lost grip, went off track and stayed behind.
Bearman finally pitted from the lead on lap 14 and rejoined comfortably ahead of Fittipaldi, just as Pourchaire was starting to fall back. He first lost his net third to Iwasa, before being overtaken by Doohan down the start-finish straight on lap 18.
The front-runners still rapidly progressed through the traffic and by lap 25 Bearman and Fittipaldi were up to second and third respectively, behind Martins who was yet to pit. This long first stint came to benefit Martins, who ultimately gained a couple of positions leaving the pit lane in fifth on lap 26.
He soon moved up again on lap 28 after overtaking Doohan at turn one. But during those laps, further back yesterday’s sprint winner Vesti was rapidly progressing through the field.
On lap 26 he made a brilliant double overtake for seventh after passing Dennis Hauger and Zane Maloney – yet to pit at this stage – down the inside of turn one.
The following lap, he completed a similar move on championship rival Pourchaire to claim sixth before overtaking Doohan with a daring manoeuvre around the outside of turn 10.
Vesti then gradually reduced the gap to fourth-placed Martins, who was also getting closer to Iwasa in the final podium position. By lap 35, the trio were all separated by less than a second.
With three laps to go, Martins completed his attack on Iwasa by overtaking the Red Bull junior down the inside of turn one. The ART driver quickly pulled ahead to join Fittipaldi and winner Bearman on the podium.
With his third win in six races, the Ferrari junior is continuing to impress during his rookie campaign. It moves him up to fourth in the championship on 70 points, 40 behind leader Vesti. Pourchaire stays second on 99 points, 17 ahead of Iwasa in third with Hauger completing the top five.
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
Formula 2 Spain race two results
| Position | Car | Driver | Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8 | Ollie Bearman | Prema |
| 2 | 4 | Enzo Fittipaldi | Rodin Carlin |
| 3 | 6 | Victor Martins | ART |
| 4 | 11 | Ayumu Iwasa | DAMS |
| 5 | 7 | Frederik Vesti | Prema |
| 6 | 14 | Jack Doohan | Virtuosi |
| 7 | 5 | Theo Pourchaire | ART |
| 8 | 1 | Dennis Hauger | MP |
| 9 | 12 | Arthur Leclerc | DAMS |
| 10 | 22 | Richard Verschoor | Van Amersfoort |
| 11 | 23 | Juan Manuel Correa | Van Amersfoort |
| 12 | 20 | Roman Staněk | Trident |
| 13 | 9 | Jak Crawford | Hitech |
| 14 | 2 | Jehan Daruvala | MP |
| 15 | 25 | Ralph Boschung | Campos |
| 16 | 3 | Zane Maloney | Rodin Carlin |
| 17 | 24 | Kush Maini | Campos |
| 18 | 16 | Roy Nissany | PHM Racing by Charouz |
| 19 | 15 | Amaury Cordeel | Virtuosi |
| 20 | 10 | Isack Hadjar | Hitech |
| 21 | 21 | Clement Novalak | Trident |
| 22 | 17 | Brad Benavides | PHM Racing by Charouz |
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
Formula 2
- F2 champion Pourchaire to make IndyCar debut for McLaren at Long Beach
- Prema announce move into IndyCar with new two-car team in 2025
- “In my mind I won twice this weekend” says Hadjar after penalty
- Fortune finally favours Hadjar with Melbourne feature race win
- Bearman loses first F2 point of 2024 after penalty
Pinak Ghosh (@pinakghosh)
4th June 2023, 16:08
Formula 2 at the moment is more enjoyable than Formula 1.