Bearman completes brilliant Baku double with F2 feature race triumph

Photo: Prema

Prema’s Ollie Bearman controlled the Formula 2 feature race from pole to take his second win of the weekend on the streets of Baku.

Bearman led home Rodin Carlin’s Enzo Fittipaldi in a relatively tame contest, with ART Grand Prix’s Theo Pourchaire completing the podium.

Fittipaldi slotted into second at the start behind Bearman, with Pourchaire maintaining third, while ART GP’s Victor Martins made up three places to fifth behind Frederik Vesti.

Pourchaire challenged Fittipaldi at the start of lap two, using his DRS to complete the move into turn three. The Sauber junior then got a great run to snatch the lead into turn one, but Bearman responded to reclaim the advantage next time by.

Bearman was then able to break DRS by pulling out a lead of 1.1 seconds over Pourchaire before the pair made their mandatory pitstops at the end of lap eight – timing it as a virtual safety car period began – to switch from supersoft to medium compound tyres, with Bearman extending his advantage by a further second.

Pourchaire closed the deficit after that by setting the fastest lap, but Bearman responded to edge away once more despite a light brush with the wall.

Fittipaldi caught and passed Pourchaire with six laps to go, moving to the outside at turn three before sealing the overtake into the following corner.

Starting on the medium compound, Isack Hadjar and Ayuma Iwasa ran first and second until making their pitstops in the closing stages, with Bearman taking back the lead with four laps to go and with a four-second advantage over Fittipaldi.

Fittipaldi reduced the gap and came home 2.315s behind Bearman, who completed a rare double victory after also winning the sprint race, while Pourchaire moved into the points lead by finishing third. Martins was a further second adrift in fourth.

Vesti lost ground during the early pitstop phase but recovered to fifth, edging Campos Racing’s Kush Maini who climbed up from 14th on the grid.

Dennis Hauger was seventh ahead of Hadjar and Richard Verschoor, with Jak Crawford the final points scorer in 10th.

MP’s Jehan Daruvala was in contention for a top-10 finish after passing Crawford, but a mistake at turn one cost him a couple of positions and was then further hampered by 10s time penalty for an unsafe return to track.

Pre-race points leader Iwasa trailed home 13th, and failed to score a point across the weekend.

PHM Racing by Charouz’s Brad Benavides was the only retiree after sliding down an escape road and then striking a barrier.

Feature race results (29 laps)