Azerbaijan GP: Bearman walks to F2 win after chaotic final restart

Prema’s Oliver Bearman has secured his first Formula 2 win, in Baku for the Azerbaijan Sprint, as 12 drivers retired out of the race.

How the race unfolded…

It was a remarkable opening lap to the F2 sprint race in Baku. ART’s Victor Martins got a great start from third but immediately made contact with Zane Maloney (Carlin) as the Martins tried to go through the pole sitter, Van Amersfoort Racing’s Richard Verschoor, and Maloney.

Immediately after the first corner, Verschoor lost tyre grip and nearly spun out on the corner exit after he made slammed into the wall. As he attempted to get back into the race, the Dutch driver suffered front wing damage and later retired from the race.

As such, Maloney led the race for the following corners but the Carlin driver had suffered a puncture to his rear-right tyre and fell down the order. Maloney returned to the circuit with a used set of supersoft tyres, albeit at the back of the order.

Campos’ Ralph Boschung was soon seen in the run-off area at turn nine as such the safety car was deployed on lap four. It was suspected the Swiss driver had suffered terminal damage after he tagged the wall at the tight castle section.

During the safety car intervention, Maloney who had pitted earlier due to his puncture, returned to the pit lane to retire with suspected suspension damage. But the Barbadian driver later returned to the circuit albeit five laps down.

The safety car was soon recalled back to the pit lane at the end of lap five. The pack was then led by Hauger who left it until the entry line to the pit lane before he put his foot to the floor. As such the Norweigan driver was able to maintain his track position into the opening corner.

On lap 10, the championship leader, Ayumu Iwasa was seen trundling around the Baku City Circuit with his DRS flap wide open. The Japanese driver soon returned to the pit lane and retired out of the race.

The race was once again neutralised as the safety car was deployed when Roy Nissany collided with the barrier on the exit of turn 15, on the same numbered lap. The Israeli driver locked up into the downhill corner and clattered his front-right suspension against the barrier.

After the track marshals extracted the stranded Charouz car from the circuit and repaired the tyre barrier in an acceptable condition, the race soon got back underway at the end of lap 18 – led by Hauger.

Hauger decided to bolt down the pit straight slightly earlier than he did on his previous attempt, but the Norweigan – and Martins behind – couldn’t make the corner. Both drivers quickly found the barrier on the exit of turn one while Jehan Daruvala couldn’t avoid going underneath the stranded ART of Martins.

Dams’ Arthur Leclerc, ART’s Theo Pourchaire and Virtuosi’s Jack Doohan joined in the carnage to retire from the race.

After the opening corner carnage, Prema obtained a provisional one-two finish with Frederik Vesti out in front of Oliver Bearman.

However, the race changed hands once again on the exit of turn four. Vesti opted to defend the inside line into turn four which compromised his exit speed and allowed Bearman, with better traction from the racing line, to slip by before the safety car was deployed for a final time.

In the end, the race was not resumed.

Podium:

1. Oliver Bearman, Prema
2. Frederik Vesti, Prema
3. Jak Crawford, Hitech

That’s it for the article: Azerbaijan GP: Bearman walks to F2 win after chaotic final restart!

What do you think of the six-car retirement at the final restart? Let us know in the comments!

Read more Formula Two here:

• F2 Saudi Arabia GP: Iwasa controls sprint race after early move
• F2 Bahrain Feature Race: Pourchaire dominates first feature race of 2023
• F2 2023 Bahrain: Boschung secures maiden win comfortably ahead of Hauger
• 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

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Kamron Kent

Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.

I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.

Kamron Kent

Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.