Frederik Vesti came back from sixth to win feature F2 race in Saudi Arabia ahead of Jack Doohan and Jehan Daruvala.
Pole-sitter Victor Martins did not have a good start to feature F2 race in his ART car as he lost to Prema’s Oliver Bearman who took the lead, with the Frenchman having to defend second from Virtuosi’s Jack Doohan.
Prema’s Frederik Vesti jumped MP Motorsport’s Jehan Daruvala at the start to fourth, with DAMS’ Ayumu Iwasa in sixth, ART’s Theo Pourchaire up to seventh after clearing Campos’ Kush Maini as Hitech GP’s Jak Crawford and Campos’ Ralph Boschung rounded Top 10.
There was a Virtual Safety Car period after a collision between Virtuosi’s Amaury Cordeel and PHM Charouz’s Brad Benavides, where the latter retired. There was a 5s time penalty for Maini after he was found to have forced Crawford off the road.
The pit stop saga saw Bearman held on the net lead from Martins as Vesti jumped Doohan to third, while Daruvala was fifth from Iwasa and Maini, as MP Motorsport’s Dennis Hauger gained places to eighth as Pourchaire dropped to 10th behind Crawford.
While DAMS’ Arthur Leclerc led the way on the alternate strategy, Bearman and Martins had the fight for net lead in sixth and seventh. The Frenchman got the move done at Turn 1 but went off which forced him to give up the place after few corners.
Martins came back at him on the lap to retake the place and net lead as a wide moment from Bearman allowed Vesti to sneak through his teammate for net second. As things settled a bit, there was an investigation of the move between Martins and Bearman.
In the meantime, Cordeel was handed a 10s time penalty for his collision with Benavides. While the alternate runners continue to run, Martins came under pressure from Vesti in the battle for net feature F2 race lead as Bearman spun from net third at Turn 22.
He lost three places as there was another spin and this time it was a net leader Martins, handing Vesti the lead in sixth from Doohan and Daruvala in the Top 3. Iwasa ran ninth but was fourth from Iwasa, Hauger, Maini, Carlin’s Enzo Fittipaldi, Pourchaire and PHM Charouz’s Roy Nissany in Top 10.
Leclerc finally pitted from lead with five laps remaining as Vesti took the actual feature F2 race lead from Doohan, Daruvala, Iwasa and Hauger. The first of the late pitter was Verschoor in sixth from Fittipaldi who got Bearman as Leclerc was ninth from Maini.
There was a 5s penalty for Trident’s Roman Stanek for leaving the circuit and gaining an advantage. At the front, Vesti had enough gap to win the feature F2 race in Saudi Arabia from Doohan and Daruvala to round out the podium.
Iwasa was fourth as he held off Hauger as Verschoor made the alternate strategy stick to be sixth as Fittipaldi was close to the Dutchman in the end. Leclerc was eighth from Carlin’s Isack Hadjar and Bearman, who managed to score a point in 10th.
#F2 #SaudiArabianGP Provisional results of the Feature Race with a victory for Vesti. Doohan and Daruvala completing the podium in 2nd and 3rd. #MsportXtra @F2Inside pic.twitter.com/aZgIozKQt8
— #MsportXtra © (@MsportXtra) March 19, 2023
More to come
Here’s sprint F2 race in Saudi Arabia