Daniel Ticktum wins Race 1 ahead of Jüri Vips

Initially scheduled for 9:30 a.m. this Saturday morning, Race 1 of Formula 2 finally took place at 15:45 p.m. On a drying track, the start was given with fifteen minutes left after two major incidents affecting the two UNI-Virtuosi drivers during the grid lap. Felipe Drugovich was the victim of a big crash, his car having hit both sides of the track, while his teammate Guanyu-Zhou, in the fight for the championship, didn't hit anything but he spun and was never able to restart.

As a result, the track marshals decided that there would be two formation laps and a rolling start to allow the drivers to warm up their tires and keep them as warm as possible. A provision which allowed Daniel Ticktum (Carlin), the pole sitter, to manage his start as best as possible, despite the pressure from Jüri Vips (Hitech) and Liam Lawson (Hitech) in the first laps. In third position, the New Zealander was forced to retire after making a mistake, and the Briton had plenty of time to escape, leaving Vips behind to secure his second victory of the year. 

Big arms in difficulty 

Between Zhou's error during the grid lap and his non-participation in the race, the championship leader Oscar piastri had all the luxury of widening his lead. Starting 9th, the Australian was unable to take advantage, weighed down by an error which cost him three places. He finally finished 10th but scored no points. Status quo, therefore, at the top of the championship. The good operation is to the credit of Robert Shwartzman (Prema). The Russian, on his home soil, finished 3rd and took ten points from the two men. He is now back to eleven small units behind Zhou, the current 2nd in the championship. 

For its part, Theo Pourchaire (ART Grand Prix) had an intelligent and solid race. The Frenchman made no mistakes and was patient when necessary. Starting 7th, he was able to take advantage of the errors of Lawson and Daruvala to take 5th place and two additional points for the best lap in the race. As a reminder, due to the weather conditions which disrupted the day's program in Sochi, there will be no race 2. The main race will be held this Sunday at 10:20 a.m. French time.