F2: Drugovich seals first Feature Race victory in Sakhir

Felipe Drugovich took his third win of the season in Sakhir, and his first on a Saturday, as he stormed to victory in the Feature Race. The MP Motorsport rookie is now tied for most wins in 2020, as he finished with a solid 14.8s advantage over polesitter Callum Ilott.

Ilott continued to chip away at Schumacher’s lead at the top of the Drivers’ Championship, slicing it down to just 12 points with three races to go. Starting from 10th, the German produced a sterling recovery drive to fourth, but an 11th podium proved an overtake too far, with Daruvala resiliently taking third to score a maiden podium in F2.

The drive of the day belonged to Daruvala’s teammate, Yuki Tsunoda. The Red Bull junior began the afternoon at the back of the grid, but magnificently made his way up to sixth, behind Nikita Mazepin.

AS IT HAPPENED

Title chasing Ilott’s weekend had gotten off to a superb start, with the UNI-Virtuosi man taking pole by nearly four tenths in Qualifying. But, he wasn’t quite as quick off the line on Saturday as Drugovich flung his MP machine down the left of the Briton ahead of the first corner. Drugovich braked too early and Ilott just about clung on at the exit, but then the Brazilian found further pace and dragged himself in-front, ahead of Turn 2.

Race start. (Photo by Dan Istitene – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images)

Schumacher had struggled to 10th in Qualifying but made his customary strong start when the lights went out, flying all the way to fifth by the first corner alone. Having made it that far, Schumacher went toe-to-toe with Guanyu Zhou for P4, but his back tire caught the front wing of the Virtuosi. Schumacher avoided any damage and after a brief wobble, dived ahead, before Zhou was forced into the pits with damage.

Schumacher was now looking at the back of Marcus Armstrong and out-braked the Kiwi at the first corner of the second lap, but Armstrong wasn’t planning on surrendering the position that easily. The ART man fought back, playing on the fact he had nothing to lose, while Schumacher couldn’t afford any risks. Having survived the challenge of Schumacher, Armstrong got a move on and dispatched of Ilott at Turn 4, leaving the Briton to battle with his main title rival.

Drugovich celebrates. (Photo by Joe Portlock – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images)

The front two had made the bold decision to start on the softer compound, while the majority of the grid opted for the hard Pirellis. Ilott looked to be feeling the consequences, with his mediums beginning to struggle.

Meanwhile, Schumacher’s hard tires looked in decent shape and it didn’t take the German long to make the most of this, gliding past Ilott at the first corner. Schumacher was then gifted second, as Armstrong locked up and handed him a view of the race leader.

Ilott soldiered on to Lap 13, but his pit stop was slow and cost him precious time, eventually returning in 17th. Race leader Drugovich took his mediums three laps further and returned in P12, one place ahead of Ilott. Schumacher was handed the lead, before pitting with 12 laps to go and returning in sixth.

Schumacher’s teammate, Robert Shwarztman, made the alternate strategy work from 14th, getting over a difficult Qualifying session and making his way to seventh behind his Championship rival Mazepin.

It was a similar story for Tsunoda, who’d said in the lead up to the weekend that the track had “Lots of overtaking zones.” The Carlin racer was making the most of these, beginning the day in 22nd, he had fought all the way to reverse grid pole. He wasn’t finished there, as an overtake on Shwarztman came next, before he followed Mazepin past Armstrong for P6.

Drugovich had opened up an eight second gap at the front, while Schumacher had fought back up to fourth, getting stuck behind Jehan Daruvala, who was battling for a first podium in F2. The German made multiple attempts to take the honor away from the Carlin driver, but opted to air on the side of caution and settled for fourth.

L to R Ilott, Drugovich, and Daruvala (Photo by Joe Portlock – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images)

Feature Race Results

Pos No. Driver Team LAPS GAP INT.
1 15 F. Drugovich MP Motorsport 32 0.000s 0.000s
2 4 C. Ilott UNI-Virtuosi 32 14.833 14.833
3 8 J. Daruvala Carlin 32 19.376 4.543
4 20 M. Schumacher PREMA Racing 32 20.270 0.894
5 24 N. Mazepin HiTech Grand Prix 32 28.293 8.023
6 7 Y. Tsunoda Carlin 32 28.590 0.297
7 5 M. Armstrong ART Grand Prix 32 31.361 2.771
8 21 R. Shwartzman PREMA Racing 32 43.868 12.507
9 2 D. Ticktum DAMS 32 46.959 3.091
10 9 J. Aitken Campos Racing 32 47.327 0.368
11 12 P. Piquet Charouz Racing System 32 49.174 1.847
12 25 L. Ghiotto HiTech Grand Prix 32 49.294 0.120
13 1 S. Gelael DAMS 32 50.590 1.296
14 3 G. Zhou UNI-Virtuosi 32 53.775 3.185
15 22 R. Nissany Trident 32 53.816 0.041
16 11 L. Delétraz Charouz Racing System 32 55.957 2.141
17 14 G. Alesi MP Motorsport 32 61.488 5.531
18 17 T. Pourchaire BWT HWA RACELAB 32 61.839 0.351
19 6 C. Lundgaard ART Grand Prix 32 63.086 1.247
20 23 M. Sato Trident 32 65.576 2.490
21 10 G. Samaia Campos Racing 32 66.756 1.180
22 16 A. Markelov BWT HWA RACELAB 32 76.019 9.263