Great Britain – Race 2: First victory for Nicholas Latifi

Nicholas Latifi led the second Silverstone race from start to finish. He won ahead of Luca Ghiotto and Artem Markelov. Charles Leclerc finished fifth.

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Rédigé par Par

Following yesterday’s first race, Nicholas Latifi found himself on pole position on the starting grid for this second race of the weekend. The Canadian got off to a very good start, which allowed him to maintain the lead, just ahead of Luca Ghiotto.

Behind, Oliver Rowland, sixth on the grid, made a very good move in the first lap by climbing to third place. However, this came at the cost of a slight collision with Jordan King, from which the MP Motorsport driver did not emerge unscathed. Although the stewards opened an investigation into the DAMS driver’s maneuver, they quickly ruled that there was nothing objectionable. However, he could not escape a five-second penalty for subsequently pushing Artem Markelov onto the grass when the Russian attempted to take advantage of Oliver Rowland’s initial collision.

The other driver who made an excellent start was Nyck de Vries, who started last due to his retirement yesterday. The McLaren protégé stayed along the pit wall and was already in 11th place by the end of the first lap. He continued his climb during the race, eventually finishing in 7th position. Similarly, Alexander Albon started 18th and managed to move up to 10th place on the first lap.

By the 11th lap, Charles Leclerc was able to find an opening on Sergio Canamasas after a battle that saw both drivers side by side for several consecutive corners. This allowed him to climb back up to 5th position and especially to minimize the gap with Oliver Rowland, who was facing a penalty at the end of the race.

If Nicholas Latifi remained out of reach from start to finish of the race, a train formed behind Luca Ghiotto. Oliver Rowland put considerable pressure on him to try to widen the gap from his pursuers. But Artem Markelov and Charles Leclerc had other ideas and were tucked into the exhaust of the British driver.

The safety car made its entrance with two laps to go, following Ralph Boschung’s big off-track excursion in the penultimate corner. It was very bad news for Oliver Rowland, who saw the entire field catch up to him and lost a lot of positions, going from 3rd to 10th, despite his attempt to create a gap in the very last lap by letting Luca Ghiotto pass before the green flag. Ultimately, he was overtaken on the track by Artem Markelov, who thus takes second place in the championship.

At the press conference, Luca Ghiotto still couldn’t hide his disappointment at never being able to directly threaten the race leader: « Before the safety car, my tires were already dead. I couldn’t follow him through a corner during the restart. » He will therefore regret his missed qualifications because his race pace over the weekend was still very good.

On the other hand, Sean Gelael also lost the opportunity to finish in the top 10 when he spun out during the restart.

Charles Leclerc therefore strengthens his position as leader of the championship, even though Sergio Canamasas was able to overtake him on the very last lap. He thus leaves with a lead of 67 points over Artem Markelov and 71 over Oliver Rowland.

From our special correspondent in Silverstone

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