2023 Sakhir Formula 2 round
The 2023 Sakhir FIA Formula 2 round was a motor racing event held between 3 and 5 March 2023 at the Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir, Bahrain. It was the first race of the 2023 FIA Formula 2 Championship and was held in support of the 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix.
| Round details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Round 1 of 14 in the 2023 FIA Formula 2 Championship. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Layout of the Bahrain International Circuit | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Bahrain International Circuit Sakhir, Bahrain | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Course | Permament racing facility 5.412 km (3.363 mi) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sprint Race | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Feature Race | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Background
Team changes
German Formula 4 team PHM Racing took over the entry and assets of Charouz Racing System at the end of the 2022 season, and runs in cooperation with the Czech squad under the PHM Racing by Charouz moniker.[1]
Driver changes
As the category's sporting regulations state, reigning Drivers' Champion Felipe Drugovich was unable to defend the title and therefore left the series. This year's championship also saw the return of American driver Juan Manuel Correa, who returned to the series after his heavy accident at the 2019 Spa-Francorchamps Formula 2 round in which Anthoine Hubert lost his life.[2]
Weekend report
ART Grand Prix's Théo Pourchaire, who became vice-champion the previous season, already showed during Qualifying on Friday afternoon, that he was the man to beat in that year's championship as he took pole position by a significant margin of 0.751 seconds of teammate and fellow frenchman Victor Martins, who is also the reigning F3 drivers' champion.[3] The Sauber Academy driver would go on to win the Feature Race in dominant fashion, winning nearly 20 seconds ahead of Ralph Boschung, who became a first-time F2 race winner after winning the Sprint Race the previous day, and rookie driver Zane Maloney, who finished third.[4][5]
As the championship round concluded, Pourchaire led the standings with 32 points ahead of Boschung (28) and Maloney (15), as Campos Racing led the Teams' Championship for the first time in Formula 2, scoring a total of 42 points at this weekend. Reigning Teams' Champion MP Motorsport only managed to score 11 points throughout the weekend as both of its drivers, Dennis Hauger and Jehan Daruvala, failed to score any points in the Feature Race, finishing the weekend in 6th in the Teams' standings.
Classification
Qualifying
Notes
- ^1 – Frederik Vesti has been handed a three-place grid drop for impeding Arthur Leclerc during Qualifying, demoting him to ninth place for Saturday's Sprint race.[7]
Sprint race
Notes
- ^1 – Richard Verschoor retired, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.
Feature Race
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Entrant | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 |  Théo Pourchaire |
ART Grand Prix | 32 | 1:01:10.926 | 1 | 25 (2) |
| 2 | 25 | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Ralph Boschung |
Campos Racing | 32 | +19.666 | 10 | 18 |
| 3 | 3 |  Zane Maloney |
Rodin Carlin | 32 | +31.587 | 18 | 15 |
| 4 | 24 |  Kush Maini |
Campos Racing | 32 | +38.789 | 6 | 12 |
| 5 | 22 |  Richard Verschoor |
Van Amersfoort Racing | 32 | +43.082 | 3 | 10 (1) |
| 6 | 12 |  Arthur Leclerc |
DAMS | 32 | +44.342 | 8 | 8 |
| 7 | 10 | Isack Hadjar |
Hitech Pulse-Eight | 32 | +46.456 | 14 | 6 |
| 8 | 11 |  Ayumu Iwasa |
DAMS | 32 | +50.815 | 7 | 4 |
| 9 | 4 |  Enzo Fittipaldi |
Rodin Carlin | 32 | +51.396 | 13 | 2 |
| 10 | 23 |  Juan Manuel Correa |
Van Amersfoort Racing | 32 | +51.837 | 16 | 1 |
| 11 | 16 |  Roy Nissany |
PHM Racing by Charouz | 32 | +52.939 | 21 | |
| 12 | 9 | Jak Crawford |
Hitech Pulse-Eight | 32 | +53.329 | 19 | |
| 13 | 21 | Clément Novalak |
Trident | 32 | +53.953 | 22 | |
| 14 | 8 |  Oliver Bearman |
Prema Racing | 32 | +59.739 | 12 | |
| 15 | 15 | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Amaury Cordeel |
Invicta Virtuosi Racing | 32 | +1:00.968 | 15 | |
| 16 | 14 | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Jack Doohan |
Invicta Virtuosi Racing | 32 | +1:05.2041 | 17 | |
| 17 | 2 | Jehan Daruvala |
MP Motorsport | 32 | +1:06.463 | 11 | |
| 18 | 17 | Brad Benavides |
PHM Racing by Charouz | 32 | +1:33.235 | 20 | |
| DNF | 1 |  Dennis Hauger |
MP Motorsport | 16 | Engine | 4 | |
| DNF | 6 | Victor Martins |
ART Grand Prix | 1 | Collision damage | 2 | |
| DNF | 7 |  Frederik Vesti |
Prema Racing | 1 | Collision damage | 5 | |
| DNF | 20 |  Roman Staněk |
Trident | 0 | Collision | 9 | |
| Fastest lap set by Richard Verschoor: 1:47.321 (lap 18) | |||||||
| Source:[6][8] | |||||||
Standings after the event
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- Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
References
- Wood, Ida (28 November 2022). "PHM Racing to enter F2 and F3 in 2023 with Charouz deal". Formula Scout. Retrieved 28 November 2022.
- "Juan Manuel Correa to make full-time return with Van Amersfoort Racing in 2023". FIA_F2® - The Official F2® Website. Retrieved 20 December 2022.
- "QUALIFYING: Pourchaire in class of one in Sakhir". FIA_F2® - The Official F2® Website. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
- "SPRINT RACE: Boschung cruises to maiden F2 win in Sakhir thriller". FIA_F2® - The Official F2® Website. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
- "FEATURE RACE: Pourchaire dominant as podium fight goes to final lap". FIA_F2® - The Official F2® Website. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
- "Formula 2 2023 Result for Round 1 : Sakhir, Bahrain 3–5 March 2023". FIA_F2® - The Official F2® Website. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
- "Frederik Vesti handed grid drop following Qualifying". FIA_F2® - The Official F2® Website. 3 March 2023. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
- "FEATURE RACE CLASSIFICATIONS". fia.com. Retrieved 5 March 2023.