Jack Aitken emerges from the fray in Baku

The first FIA showdown F2 in Baku offered a more than lively race, at the end of which Jack Aitken (Campos Racing), eighth on the grid, avoided multiple incidents to win in front Nyck de Vries (ART Grand Prix) and Jordan King (MP Motorsport).

At the start of the formation lap, Tatiana Calderon (Arden) had stalled on the grid before the car of the Colombian is pushed by the marshals into the pit lane to start.

When the lights went out, Nyck de Vries took the advantage over pole sitter Nobuharu Matsushita (Carlin) at the start. Behind, Mick Schumacher (Prema Racing) tried to brake very late at the first corner forcing Luca Ghiotto (Uni-Virtuosi) to start wide.

The safety car was then deployed after the stops on track by Ralph Boschung and Giuliano Alesi (Trident), after contact between the two teammates during the first braking in the middle of the melee. If the Swiss can restart, the Frenchman is forced to retire.

At the restart, de Vries maintains the advantage over Matsushita, while Jack Aitken (Campos Racing) emerges in third position ahead Nicholas latifi and Sergio Sette Camara (DAMS). Anthoine Hubert (Arden) finds himself battling with Mick Schumacher for 6th place.

At the start of the sixth lap, Matsushita suddenly found himself idling, entering the pits and losing any chance of victory. Enough to allow Aitken and Latifi to climb one place behind the solid leader de Vries.

De Vries loses control

Immediately at the end of the 6th lap, De Vries, Aitken, Latifi, Schumacher, Hubert, Ghiotto, Delétraz all returned to the pits. Bad luck for the leader De Vries who loses time changing tires at the left front wheel.

Aitken took the opportunity to get back on his heels at the exit of the pitlane, before overtaking the Dutchman on the exit lap. A lap later, while Tatiana Calderon emerges in the lead, after having decided to delay her stop, Latifi in turn overtakes de Vries for virtual second place when braking for the first corner.

Then occurs the second neutralization of the test after Mick Schumacher's spin at the exit of turn 16. A yellow flag then the virtual safety car are deployed.

The resumption of the race sees Aitken pass Tatiana Calderon to regain first place. The fight intensified between de Vries and Latifi for second place, the Canadian retaining his possession, before de Vries passed again at the start of the 12th lap, still at the end of the long pit straight.

The hierarchy stabilizes in the top 3, with Aitken, de Vries and Latifi in that order, while the fight in the top 10 continues, notably between Luca Ghiotto, Dorian Boccolacci (Campos Racing), Jordan King (MP Motorsport) and Anthoine Hubert.

In the 17th round, Guanyu-Zhou (Uni-Virtuosi) made a mistake when he was caught braking in the first corner while coming back on Juan Manuel Correa (Sauber Junior Team by Charouz). The safety car is deployed and regroups the peloton. Tatiana Calderon stops permanently on the track and retires.

Final Sprint

The safety car disappeared at the end of the 20th lap but several contacts in the peloton between Ghiotto and Sette Camara then between Delétraz and Boccolacci, eliminated Sette Camara and Delétraz, forcing the race direction to restart the Safety Car.

SAFETY CAR DEPLOYED (LAP 21/29)

Collision on the restart!

The pack bunches up, and Deletraz can't avoid the back of Boccolacci, with Sette Camara crashing into the wall after contact with Ghiotto #AzerbaijanGP  #F2 pic.twitter.com/2fXVLoYbjS

- Formula 2 (@ FIA_F2) April 27, 2019

On the next restart, Aitken retained control of the race ahead of Nyck de Vries, who complained of graining on his tires behind the Safety Car. 5th, Hubert shoots straight at the first corner and falls back to 10th, missing a great chance to score big points.

Jordan King overtakes Nicholas Latifi to take third place and thus freezes the final ranking, since Jack Aitken will no longer be worried. The Briton regains success in the category, which eluded him since Barcelona last year, and signs his first success in the main race in F2.

Nyck de Vries and Jordan King completed the podium, King's first top 3 since Spa in 2016. Nicholas Latifi and Dorian Boccolacci moved up to 4th and 5th positions. Eighth, Juan Manuel Correa will start on pole for the second race, under the reverse grid rule.