F1 News
Martins wins F2 sprint race as track limits play a key role
- Ludo van Denderen
If the Formula 2 race is a prelude to F1 qualifying and Grand Prix later, the stewards have a busy time ahead. Time penalties rained down during the F2 sprint race, making the official result quite different from the finishing order. In any case, Victor Martins had no problems; the Frenchman grabbed the lead position at the start and did not relinquish it.
Kush Maini started from pole, but the Indian hardly moved from his spot, and then saw one driver after another pass him. Martins, who started second, was able to pass the Invicata driver immediately, to go first through the first corner. Japan's Miyata also had an excellent start to the race. Behind them, there was also a regular change of positions. For instance, talent Andrea Kimi Antonelli could not hold off Hadjar.
After one third of the race, Victor Martins was more than one and a half seconds ahead of Miyata. In the end, Miyata, who came over from Japanese GT, did not manage to finish on the podium. In fact, on two occasions he received a five-second time penalty for exceeding track limits, which ultimately sent him way down in the standings. And Miyata was not the only one; driver after driver crossed the white lines too often and had to pay for it with a penalty.
After a lot of calculation, the well-recovered Maini and Juan Manuel Correa (third) were finally allowed to report on the podium alongside Martins. For the latter, that was special. For the first time since his terrible crash at Spa in 19 - in which Anthoine Hubert lost his life - the American could spray champagne on a podium. Richard Verschoor did not play a significant role in the sprint race. He finished 16th. Oliver Bearman had a problem and did not make it to the finish.
The results of the sprint race in Formula 2
