Bahrain F2: Latifi wins first match and Schumacher seals reverse grid pole – F2

Williams Formula 1 driver Nicholas Latifi took the win in the first match of the Formula 2 season in Bahrain, while Ferrari junior junior Mick Schumacher finished eighth to take the win. pole of the race reversed on the grid.

Luca Ghiotto, a Virtuosi Racing team rider who took the best of Russian Time, was in pole position, but struggled to escape during the training lap, signaling that "I'm going to be in the lead. clutch did not work at all ".

Race start problems were common last year due to a tricky start procedure and, although riders reported that pre-season testing had improved in 2019, in the beginning, Ghiotto himself had skated and took sixth place.

Louis Deletraz de Carlin took the lead, but DAMS rider Latifi saved his tires and, as Deletraz began to struggle, the Canadian became more and more leader in the ninth lap of 32.

Latifii kept his head up until his pit stop on lap 17, but a problem with one of the team's guns cost him about four seconds at the stop and he was apparently out of the field battle in fourth position.

But Latifi progressed dramatically, surpbading the leading trio in three rounds to lead to the 23rd round.

Nyck de Vries was able to climb the rankings with an undercutting strategy after finishing third early, but was caught up late by several drivers, including Ghiotto, who would probably have dominated the race if he had been able to retain the lead of pole.

Ghiotto pbaded from Vries, but could not catch Latifi and had to settle for second place.

Sergio Sette Camara (DAMS) ensured the last place on the podium by overtaking on his side on De Vries on the 27th lap.

The McLaren Junior said: "My engine is a piece of s ** t" on the radio and fell to the 12th place after the spinning at the start, but patiently ran on the podium.

Defending GP3 champion Anthoine Hubert made an incredible start to the series for an Arden team that struggled to qualify for the pre-season trials to finish fourth.

After qualifying in 11th position, Hubert was among the top seven for most of the race and skipped Nobuharu Matsushita and Deletraz in Turn 1 in the finals, before closing De Vries for fourth place.

Deletraz took fifth place ahead of De Vries, while Renault's fifth-ranked and junior rider, Jack Aitken, was seventh in his first race for Campos Racing after going from ART.

Ferrari junior Schumacher – son of Michael, seven-time Formula 1 world champion, and reigning European champion of Formula 3 – lost nearly two seconds to catch Matsushita in the last lap and seal pole position of the race for Prema.

Matsushita held on for ninth place ahead of Guan Yu Zhou, a Renault driver and Virtuosi pilot.

Result – 32 rounds