F2 2023 Bahrain: Boschung secures maiden win comfortably ahead of Hauger
4th March 2023Campos Racing’s Ralph Boschung secured the season-opening sprint race with a healthy 10-second gap over MP Motorsports Dennis Hauger, in second place.
- Trident’s Romain Stanek started second on the grid but was quickly swallowed up by the pack with a poor start as the lights went out
- ART’s Victor Martins secured his maiden podium finish as the French driver finished third on his Formula 2 debut
It was a great start from Ralph Boschung who went until the opening corner unchallenged, while Romain Stanek was swallowed up by the pack. By the opening corners, Boschung cleared a healthy 1.5-second gap over Dams’ Ayumu Iwasa after the Dams pairing, of Iwasa and Arthur Leclerc, battled for track position against each other.
In the wake of the opening laps, Boschung remained out of the DRS range to second-placed Iwasa while Leclerc lost third place to ART’s, 2022 Formula 3 world champion, Victor Martins.
On lap five, Isack Hadjar and Leclerc were handed 10-second stop-and-go penalties for starting procedure infringement. Replays showed mechanics were found on the grid when they were given the signal to leave.
At the end of lap six, both drivers peeled into the pit lanes to serve their penalties. They both returned to the track at the bottom of the order with Leclerc out ahead of Hadjar, in P21 and P22 respectively.
As the race crept over the halfway mark, number 13 was certainly an unlucky number for Iwasa as the Japanese driver lost second place to Martins into turn one. The Dams driver defended the inside line into the first corner but, with better traction, Martins managed to secure the runner-up spot around the outside.
Despite a fight back, Iwasa couldn’t regain his lost position but soon came under pressure from Martins’ teammate, Theo Pourchaire. Iwasa temporarily lost third to Pourchaire but quickly regained his position, the ART driver soon lost fourth place to MP Motorsport’s Dennis Hauger.
On lap 15, into the final corner, Iwasa locked up and opened up the door to Hauger behind him. While the Dams driver remained in the lead as they crossed the start/finish line, Hauger – with help from the DRS – made a move down into the first corner but the move wasn’t confirmed until the subsequent second corner.
As it stood, on the penultimate lap, Boschung led the race with a very comfortable five-second gap over Martins while Hauger occupied the final podium-awarding position.
However, the final podium positions changed hands as Hauger found a gap to pass Martins into turn 11. On the run through turns 12 and 13, Hauger bolted out in front of Martins to hold onto the runner-up spot.
Podium:
- Ralph Boschung, Campos Racing
- Dennis Hauger, MP Motorsport
- Victor Martins, ART
That’s it for the article: !
What do you think of Victor Martins’ performance in his first race in F2? Let us know in the comments!
Read more Formula Two here:
- Dams confirm Arthur Leclerc to join 2023 F2 grid
- Abu Dhabi GP: MP Motorsport clench team title as Iwasa wins
- Abu Dhabi GP: Iwasa takes pole in final F2 qualifying of 2022
- Dutch GP: Armstrong commands win in inaugural Holland sprint
- Belgium GP: Doohan tyre strategy secures first feature race win
- Belgian GP: Lawson secures F2 win after early move
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