Lindblad claims third F2 win, Tsolov scores first podium in Abu Dhabi

Photo: Dutch Photo Agency / Red Bull

Newly signed Racing Bulls driver Arvid Lindblad scored his third Formula 2 victory in the Abu Dhabi sprint race, as Campos Racing team-mate Nikola Tsolov netted a maiden podium.

Lindblad held the lead from reversed-grid pole position at the start ahead of Joshua Duerksen, while Victor Martins was slow away from third and fell to fifth, which became sixth later around the first lap after Dino Beganovic had elbowed him wide exiting Turn 7.

Although Lindblad set a new fastest lap on the fifth tour he couldn’t break over a second clear of Duerksen, until a virtual safety car was required on lap eight when John Bennet’s engine appeared to give up in smoky fashion on the approach to Turn 5.

The gap between Lindblad and Duerksen was just half a second after the restart on the following lap, but Duerksen ran wide and off track just a few corners later in Turn 12 and fell to 1.5s behind the leader.

Lindblad soon increased his advantage up above two seconds. He appeared to have dealt with a further VSC interruption a couple of laps from the end that brought the gap down to 1.5s, only for it to then fall below a second on the penultimate lap. In the end, Lindblad held on to win by 0.9s.

Tsolov finished 8.6s further back in third as he finished on the podium on just his third F2 start.

He was never really troubled by Oliver Goethe, who was more preoccupied trying to keep Beganovic at bay. The Hitech driver eventually got by for fourth with a bold move around the Turn 9, despite a big lock-up on the brakes, with six laps remaining.

Jak Crawford spent the first half of the race where he started it in ninth but went on a charge in the closing stages. He passed Gabriele Mini on the outside in the Turn 6 chicane despite some wheel-to-wheel contact, and then edged Mini out onto the kerb exiting Turn 9, which sent the front of the Prema car into the air.

Crawford went on to breeze past Alex Dunne, who had risen from 11th to seventh at the start, before attempting to replicate his Mini move in Turn 6 on Martins. He lost part of his front wing as the pair made contact, but proceeded to pass Martins anyway into Turn 9 to finish sixth.

That strengthens Crawford’s hold on second place in the standings, opening up a three-point margin on Richard Verschoor who finished 12th, just behind Leonardo Fornaroli.

Race results (23 laps)