Oliver Bearman has backed up yesterday’s Formula 2 Sprint win after easing to victory in the Feature race in Azerbaijan.
He headed Enzo Fittipaldi to the chequered flag with Theo Pourchaire rounding out the podium.
Bearman led the field into the first corner, Fittipaldi holding on to second from Pourchaire.
It was a far cleaner start than in Saturday’s Sprint, all making it through the opening sequence without drama.
An early battle for second allowed Bearman to inch clear before Pourchaire used DRS to steal the place on approach to Turn 3 on Lap 2.
He quickly chased down Bearman ahead and seized the race lead into Turn 1 as they began Lap 3.
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The pair swapped back next time by; another DRS-assisted overtake as the pole man reclaimed top spot.
The pit window opened at the end of Lap 6, Frederik Vesti taking into the lane at the first opportunity.
Jehan Daruvala followed him in, as did Arthur Leclerc and Jack Doohan.
It left the Australian running last of the 22 runners on track, 2.7s down on Ralph Boschung ahead.
Bearman boxed from the lead as he started Lap 9, his stop coinciding with a mistake from Brad Benavides, who ran long at Turn 15 to draw the yellow flags.
The Virtual Safety Car was deployed on Lap 10 when Benavides retired at Turn 4.
He’d run deep before his flick spin saw him clout the barrier to end his race.
It was a brief interruption and green flag running was soon resumed.
Out front, it was a processional affair with Bearman with a small but decisive lead over Pourchaire and Fittipaldi, all of whom had served their compulsory stops.
Daruvala had a near miss in the pack as he attacked Jak Crawford into Turn 1 only to skate long and narrowly avoid the tyre barrier.
He dropped a spot in the process, Zane Maloney having pounced on the error to take 12th on Lap 14, and was slapped with a time penalty for an unsafe rejoin.
The order at the front remained unchanged for the balance of the 29-lap encounter, aside from Isack Hadjar and Ayumu Iwasa who both stopped far later than the bulk of the field, with Bearman winning from Fittipaldi and Pourchaire.
There was a brief scrap for the final podium place inside the final five laps.
Struggling for grip, Pourchaire was defenceless to Fittipaldi’s advances as he seized the place.
It was an impressive weekend for Bearman, who became the first driver in Formula 2 history to top every session throughout the event.
Doohan endured another nightmare weekend, trailing home in 16th to leave Baku without points.
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