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Antonelli wins F2 sprint at Silverstone

Victory for Antonelli at Silverstone in F2 Sprint race

6 July at 14:25
Last update 7 July at 11:05
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  • Sophia Crothall
  • Editor

The Formula 2 Sprint Race this afternoon at Silverstone was rather wet, causing the race to start from a rolling start. The wet weather caused a red flag to be called in lap 4, with the race being stopped. In the end, Andrea Kimi Antonelli secured his first race win in Formula 2, whilst teammate Oliver Bearman failed to finish. 

Flying start for Antonelli, problems for Bearman

Prema's Kimi Antonelli started on pole position for Saturday's F2 sprint race, with his teammate Oliver Bearman starting 6th on the grid. The formation lap was completed under a safety car, with the race then starting with a rolling start due to the poor weather conditions. Antonelli was able to hold on to his position, whilst the battle for P4 between Jak Crawford, Gabriel Bortoleto and Bearman heated up. As a result, the latter two collided, leaving the Brit with front wing damage. Bearman suffered and fell from sixth to ninth. Antonelli had a lead of over two seconds ahead of Zane Maloney until the race was called to a stop after lap 4 when a red flag was called due to the weather conditions. 

Bearman's struggles continued 

The race restarted at 13:40, with Antonelli leading the way. By lap 8, the two championship leaders Paul Aron and Josep Maria Martí made contact, with Martí hitting the rear of Aron. Isack Hadjar, went off at Copse by himself - all three were left out of the race. Bearman was then able to move himself up to P8 ahead of Hauger after going through the loop during lap 13. Nevertheless, this did not last long after the Prema driver went off at Copse, moving him down to P18. At the front, Antonelli created a three seconds gap between him and Maloney. Towards the back of the grid though, British driver Zak O'Sullivan suffered after a collision with his ART teammate at the loop, with both eventually retiring. Bearman then also stopped on track after he faced issues with his car and retired on lap 17. 

Victory for Antonelli

With four minutes remaining, Antonelli set the fastest lap. He had a big lead ahead of Maloney, who was becoming increasingly under pressure from both Invicta cars. In the final two minutes, the Prema driver once again set the fastest lap, creating a five second gap between him and Maloney. In the end, Antonelli won the F2 sprint race by eight seconds, making this his first ever win in Formula 2. Maloney finished in second, and Bortoleto in third.