F2 Silverstone: Martins takes dominant victory despite penalty
Victor Martins delivered a sensational drive to claim his maiden Formula 2 win, enduring three safety cars and a five-second penalty to take victory.
The ART rookie and reigning F3 champion started on pole and though he briefly lost the lead to Ayumu Iwasa (DAMS) on lap one, reclaimed the lead quickly, though he was later penalised for gaining an advantage off track.
Despite three safety cars and the five-second penalty, which he was handed after his pitstop, the Alpine Academy member managed to clear a seven-second gap to second-placed Hitech driver Zane Maloney to hold onto the win.
His team-mate, Theo Pourchaire, finished third to close the gap in the championship to Prema driver Frederik Vesti to just six points, with the Dane failing to finish after a safety car restart crash early on.
Iwasa led into Turn 1 after a fantastic launch before Martin fought back, running wide at the Loop and incurring a penalty in the process.
Behind, Oliver Bearman (Prema) slotted into third, having started fifth, as second-place start Kush Maini fell back to sixth.
Martins built a three-second lead to Iwasa by lap three, with a further 1.1s to Bearman, while further back Jack Doohan (Virtuosi) took fourth from Hitech's Enzo Fittipaldi round the outside of Stowe.
The first pitstops came on lap six, with Fittipaldi, Vesti, Roy Nissany (PHM), Hitech's Jak Crawford and VAR driver Richard Verschoor first to pit.
The first safety car period began on lap seven after Amaury Cordeel spun his Virtuosi car after contact with Dennis Hauger (MP Motorsport), prompting the rest of the field to dive into the pits.
Isack Hadjar inherited the lead for Hitech ahead of DAMS driver Arthur Leclerc and Martins, who held the lead of those who had stopped.
Racing resumed on lap 11, but the safety car was immediately redeployed after Stanek, Hauger and Vesti made contact on the restart.
Vesti was rear-ended by Hauger as the pack bunched up for the restart, with the Mercedes junior then clipping Stanek's rear and forcing him into a spin.
Vesti pitted and attempted to rejoin, but came to a stop on pit exit with a terminal suspension issue.
The safety car ended on lap 15, with Bearman running wide at Abbey and dropping to 10th, before losing further places as Fittipaldi suffered a similar fate.
The following tour, Martins was handed his penalty and was about to begin building a big enough gap to hold onto his maiden win when the safety car came out again as the Campos pair stopped on track.
Maini had attempted a move on Bearman but miscalculated and hit Boschung, ending both drivers' races, though they appeared to have made up as they walked off track.
With Hadjar, Leclerc, Juan Manuel Correa (VAR) and Trident driver Clement Novalak all pitting under that safety car, Martins was again handed the lead out front.
The safety car headed back into the pits with 10 laps remaining, releasing Martins, as Leclerc passed Pourchaire up the inside of the Loop for third.
A three-way battle for second ensued between those two and Maloney before the Monegasque driver began to fall back, with Pourchaire taking third on lap 25 before Doohan also passed Leclerc as the Ferrari junior locked up.
Martins meanwhile was five seconds clear of Maloney by the following lap, a gap which he increased to seven seconds when he crossed the line.
Saturday podium finisher Doohan finished fourth, with Iwasa and Bearman in fifth and sixth.
MP Motorsport's Jehan Daruvala was seventh, with Fittipaldi, Leclerc and Crawford rounding out the top 10.
F2 returns in Budapest from 21-23 July.
Cla | Driver | Team | Gap |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Victor Martins | ART Grand Prix | |
2 | Zane Maloney | Rodin Carlin | |
3 | Theo Pourchaire | ART Grand Prix | |
4 | Jack Doohan | Invicta Virtuosi Racing | |
5 | Ayumu Iwasa | DAMS | |
6 | Oliver Bearman | Prema Powerteam | |
7 | Jehan Daruvala | MP Motorsport | |
8 | Enzo Fittipaldi | Rodin Carlin | |
9 | Arthur Leclerc | DAMS | |
10 | Jak Crawford | Hitech Pulse-Eight | |
11 | Juan Manuel Correa | Van Amersfoort Racing | |
12 | Roy Nissany | PHM Racing by Charouz | |
13 | Clement Novalak | Trident | |
14 | Brad Benavides | PHM Racing by Charouz | |
15 | Dennis Hauger | MP Motorsport | |
16 | Isack Hadjar | Hitech Pulse-Eight | |
17 | Richard Verschoor | Van Amersfoort Racing | |
18 | Kush Maini | Campos Racing | |
19 | Ralph Boschung | Campos Racing | |
20 | Frederik Vesti | Prema Powerteam | |
21 | Roman Staněk | Trident | |
22 | Amaury Cordeel | Invicta Virtuosi Racing | |
View full results |
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