Race report
FIA F2 Silverstone
F2 Silverstone: Vesti wins as Doohan and Bearman clash in the rain
Frederik Vesti took his fourth Formula 2 win of the season at Silverstone, winning Saturday’s sprint race in mixed conditions to extend his championship lead.
Megan White
Edited: Jul 8, 2023, 7:17 PM
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The Prema Racing driver crossed the line 13 seconds ahead of second-placed title rival Theo Pourchaire in a dominant performance.
The Dane endured an early safety car and was unchallenged thereafter to take his third win in four rounds.
Pourchaire lined up third for ART and although he briefly fell back to fourth, made it back to second to finish ahead of Jack Doohan (Virtuosi).
It was far from easy for the Australian, who endured a fierce battle with Ollie Bearman (Prema) which culminated in the Briton running off at Vale, with Doohan appearing to wave at his rival as he passed.
The race started behind the safety car amid wet conditions, with heavy rainfall having preceded the session.
Although the safety car did pull into the pits, it was deployed again soon after as PHM driver Brad Benavides was nudged into a spin by Clement Novalak, making contact with Ayumu Iwasa who had dropped down the order.
The Trident driver was handed a five-second penalty for the incident, while DAMS driver Iwasa pitted with an issue, he later rejoined.
Racing resumed on lap four, with Bearman on the charge as he passed Pourchaire for third up the inside of Turn 3 before claiming second from Hadjar at Stowe.
It wasn’t to last though, as Hadjar retook second on lap seven after a spin from Bearman, with Pourchaire then taking back third at the exit of Club the following tour.
Out front, Vesti had built a seven-second lead, with Hadjar a second clear of Pourchaire, before the Sauber Academy member made it into second on lap 11.
A fiery battle between Bearman and Doohan then ensued as they tussled for fourth – Doohan was first to run wide, going off at the exit of Stowe and calling for Bearman to be penalised for pushing him off.
But the Ferrari junior pushed on, passing Hadjar up the inside of Copse before Doohan followed suit the following lap to reignite their battle.
By lap 17, the pair were ever closer, with Bearman eventually running wide at Vale as Doohan went through for third, appearing to wave as he did so.
Bearman was then noted by the stewards for rejoining into the pack, which saw him fall to sixth as Enzo Fittipaldi (Hitech) and Hadjar claimed places.
Victor Martins finished seventh for ART, with Arthur Leclerc (DAMS), PHM’s Roy Nissany and the other Hitech of Zane Maloney rounding off the top 10.
Cla Driver Team Laps Time Gap Points 1 Frederik Vesti
Prema Powerteam 19 - 2
Theo Pourchaire
ART Grand Prix 19 13.4 13.400 3
Jack Doohan Invicta Virtuosi Racing 19 19.4 19.400 4
Enzo Fittipaldi Rodin Carlin 19 25.6 25.600 5
Isack Hadjar Hitech Pulse-Eight 19 30.5 30.500 6
Oliver Bearman
Prema Powerteam 19 30.8 30.800 7
Victor Martins
ART Grand Prix 19 31.3 31.300 8
Arthur Leclerc
DAMS 19 31.6 31.600 9
Roy Nissany PHM Racing by Charouz 19 32.4 32.400 10
Zane Maloney Rodin Carlin 19 38.5 38.500 11
Jehan Daruvala
MP Motorsport 19 39.8 39.800 12
Dennis Hauger
MP Motorsport 19 40.2 40.200 13
Kush Maini
Campos Racing 19 44.1 44.100 14
Jak Crawford Hitech Pulse-Eight 19 44.7 44.700 15
Amaury Cordeel Invicta Virtuosi Racing 19 45.2 45.200 16
Roman Staněk
Trident 19 48.2 48.200 17
Clement Novalak
Trident 19 51.0 51.000 18
Richard Verschoor
Van Amersfoort Racing 19 52.8 52.800 19
Juan Manuel Correa
Van Amersfoort Racing 19 1'07.9 1'07.900 20
Ralph Boschung
Campos Racing 19 1'14.1 1'14.100 21
Ayumu Iwasa
DAMS 18 1 lap
Brad Benavides PHM Racing by Charouz 17 View full results
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