Verschoor wins incident-rich Formula 2 sprint race in Saudi Arabia
General
- Ludo van Denderen
When Oliver Bearman opened the curtains at his hotel in Jeddah on Friday morning, the Brit (18) was fully expecting to start the Formula 2 sprint race later in the day. However, the moment the lights went out, the youngster was in the Ferrari F1 garage. As a replacement for Carlos Sainz, a Grand Prix debut awaits him, while his championship chances in F2 take a heavy hit. He saw Richard Verschoor win the sprint race.
Bearman obviously took no points in the sprint race, as the Brit will also miss out on the feature race on Saturday. Prema Racing thus has only one driver at the start this weekend, in Kimi Antonelli. However, the Italian (17) struggled in Jeddah. At the start, the Mercedes Academy driver got away slowly, then made contact with Jak Crawford and Victor Martins, and then overtook a car under the safety car.
Verschoor takes the lead
After Colapinto and O'Sullivan - competing for different F2 teams but both part of the Williams Academy - could not get away on the grid and after several collisions, the safety car entered the track on the very first lap. With almost a quarter of the sprint race already finished, the race could resume and it was Richard Verschoor who made a fine impression. The Dutchman had started second behind Paul Aron. He skillfully and quickly passed the seasoned F2 driver.
Verschoor drove further and further away from Aron, until Anthony Cordeel stopped in the middle of the track. The safety car had to go out again, only to come back in a lap later. Verschoor was allowed to control the restart as leader and the Trident driver did so well. Further down the field, every place was being fought for ,including Crawford and Zane Maloney. The pair passed each other several times, with the walls constantly close by.
After 20 laps, Verschoor crossed the line first, ahead of MP Motorsport's Dennis Hauger. Aron finished third. Mercedes junior Antonelli finished seventh. Red Bull junior Isack Hadjar crashed out on the last lap after problems with his car.
The results of the sprint race in Saudi Arabia
