Race 1: Lando Norris makes a perfect debut in Sakhir

Sakhir was the venue for the first F2 race. Several drivers position themselves as declared title contenders. At the forefront of these, we can find Lando Norris (Carlin) and Nyck de Vries (Prema), who are supported by McLaren. Similarly, Mercedes will have a keen eye on George Russell (ART Grand Prix), while at Renault, they will closely follow the results of Jack Aitken (ART Grand Prix) and Artem Markelov (Russian Time).

The first qualifying session was extremely tight as the top four drivers are separated by only 12 hundredths of a second! However, it was the youngest driver on the grid, Lando Norris, who managed to prevail at the very end of the session, edging out George Russel’s best lap time. Alexander Albon, who only has a contract for this race with Dams, wanted to showcase his abilities by setting the third fastest time of the session. The contrast with his teammate, the experienced Nicholas Latifi, who only managed 15th, couldn’t be more pronounced. The same situation is seen at Prema as Nyck de Vries secured the 4th fastest time while the wealthy Sean Gelael could only manage 19th, second to last.

On this hot Saturday afternoon, we could therefore expect a tight race, with tire management playing a crucial role on this sandy track. However, at the end of the warm-up lap, the drivers were sent back for a second lap as Roberto Merhi (MP Motorsport) and Artem Markelov stalled while lining up on the grid. While the former Spanish F1 driver did not restart, the vice-champion was able to start from the pit lane.

At the lights out, Lando Norris makes a perfect start and will never be threatened again, extending the lead throughout the race, peaking at over ten seconds ahead, before finally managing towards the end of the race. The British driver therefore achieves the grand slam, with the bonus point for the fastest lap also secured.

But it was not the same for George Russell, who struggled a lot in his second place. This allowed Sergio Sette Camara to leap from sixth place to second position at the first corner. Nyck de Vries did not hesitate to drive along the pit wall to also secure a place on the initial podium while Nirei Fukuzumi (Arden) also took advantage of the ART driver’s distress.

Nyck de Vries then made it a point to quickly find the opening on the second Carlin driver in order to try to compete with his direct rival within the McLaren young driver program but it was unsuccessful as he was never able to get closer to the front. Conversely, he struggled with his tires, which allowed Sette Camara to pass him again and even allowed Alexander Albon to join the battle for the podium.

In this context, George Russell attempted a strategic move by being the first to return to the pit lane, as early as the 15th lap of a race that had 31 laps. This paid off initially as he was able to position himself ahead of Sergio Sette Camara and Alexander Albon. But the two men had no trouble catching up and then overtaking the Briton.

But a new man led the battle, namely Artem Markelov. The Russian was very aggressive throughout the race, to make up for his pit lane start. Nevertheless, he was one of the last to return to the pits to change tires slightly damaged by his fantastic comeback. He was able to get back to the exhaust pipes of Carlin No. 2. He thought he had done the hardest part by placing himself inside the first corner at the start of the last lap. However, he did not expect the Brazilian’s lightning counterattack, allowing him to maintain second place and ensure the double for Carlin’s return to the discipline.

Behind, Nyck de Vries was able to take the lead over his teammate, who had opted for a tire change at the start of the race, allowing him to finish 7th after starting 19th on the grid. It is Maximilian Günther (Arden) who will start on pole thanks to his eighth place finish of the day.