Charles Leclerc wins the F2 title in Jerez
Game, set, and match for Charles Leclerc, who clinches the title in F2 thanks to his victory in the first race of the weekend in Jerez.
This weekend, Jerez regained a taste of its glorious past. If the 1997 F1 championship was decided at the Spanish circuit following the accident between Michael Schumacher and Jacques Villeneuve, it was the first F2 race that took place in southern Spain.
Once again, the Monegasque managed to put all the odds in his favor by signing yesterday’s pole position, his eighth in ten sessions since the start of the season. His start was once again faultless and he had no trouble in keeping Luca Ghiotto’s Russian Time behind him.
He then managed his soft tires until the 10th lap, just like his main title rival, Oliver Rowland. The two men then had to make their way through the drivers who had decided to extend their stints with their medium tires. This strategy seemed to be the wrong card on the twisty track until Nobuharu Matsushita and Santino Ferrucci completely revived the race by colliding six laps from the end.
The safety car entry allowed to regroup the entire pack and put Nicholas Latifi and Antonio Fuoco, who were on much fresher tires, in an ideal position to play spoiler in the battle between their respective teammates for the lead of the race and, consequently, for the title.
But their comeback was clearly compromised by the marshals, who never displayed their blue flags. Louis Deletraz and Sean Gelael found themselves in the leaders’ way even though they were one lap behind. This was providential for Charles Leclerc, whose tires were worn out on the final lap, but Oliver Rowland was never able to launch an attack on his rival, which left him somewhat frustrated at the end of the race: “I knew he was starting to struggle. I wanted to capitalize on that but it was difficult because I had slower cars trying to overtake me, which is a bit frustrating because I was trying to focus on my lines but I had to keep an eye on my mirrors to see if they were coming.”
However, the joy of the Monegasque was somewhat spoiled by the mistake of the local organizers, who decided to play the Marseillaise and not the anthem of his country…
