Measured performances lands Bearman F2 win

A measured performance from Oliver Bearman saw the Prema driver take a comfortable victory in the Formula 2 Feature race in Spain.

He pitted early and managed his tyres well to hold on as those who stopped late charged through the pack in the closing laps.

Enxo Fittipaldi held on to second while Victor Martins stormed to third, his cause aided by a late stop and fresh tyres.

Bearman remained headed the pack from pole, having survived the early attmepts of both Fittipaldi and Iwasa into the opening corner to relieve him of the position.

From challenging for the lead, Iwasa was fifth by the end of the opening lap, losing out to Theo Pourchaire and Jack Doohan, who had a slow getaway.

It was then Dennis Hauger who challenged the Japanese driver as he struggled in the opening laps to run with the race leaders.

A more robust defence was offered, forcing Hauger the long way around at Turn 1 as they commenced Lap 3 to maintain the place.

The pair had slipped 1.4s away from Doohan ahead, who’d gone around the outside at Turn 10 on the opening lap to reclaim one of the places he lost off the line.

The Australian looked to be conserving his tyres; capable of matching the race leaders sector times but appearing to keep something in reserve.

That saw him fall outside of DRS range of Pourchaire ahead, the top four all gradually breaking apart – Bearman 1.9s clear or Fittipaldi after six laps.

Conditions had improved from the rain that greeted the F2 field for the Sprint race, encouraging the field to push on.

That saw a raft of drivers pinged for track limits, primarily at Turn 13, with Frederik Vesti being handed a black and white flag for persistent transgressions early in proceedings.

Pourchaire and Iwasa started the pit sequence on Lap 10, stopping from third and fifth respectively.

The early call was an attempt to use the undercut to gain track position and forced Rodin Carlin to react with Fittipaldi.

Doohan also stopped, feeding out narrowly ahead of Iwasa who pounced at Turn 2 with his warmer rubber.

Fittipaldi held on to his net second place, though Pourchaire had gained ground to harry the Red Bull backed driver.

The Frenchman attacked at Turn 1 but out-braked himself on Lap 13, pinching the left-front in the process to allow his Brazilian rival some breathing space.

Bearman finally pulled into the pits on Lap 13, having held a 36.6s advantage over Fittipaldi on the way in.

He rejoined as the first of the runners to have stopped, a net race lead ahead of Fittipaldi, Pourchaire, Iwasa, and Doohan.

The race was then bisected between those who had and had not stopped, with the early front runners having to move through the tail of those who’d remained out.

That afforded opportunities for progress, with the gaps between Fittipaldi, Pourchaire, Iwasa, and Doohan ebbing and flowing as they encountered the slower cars – having to pass each for position.

Bearman was having an easier job of it to establish a small but useful gap over his pursuers.

Pourchaire lost out, slipping behind Iwasa and then Doohan in rapid succession as he navigated his way around the likes of Brad Benevides and Kush Maini in Lap 18.

The field was washed when the other half of the pack pitted, taking to the lane with around a dozen laps to go.

While those who’d left it late, like championship leader Vesti, lost track position in the process, he enjoyed a strong tyre advantage.

That saw him rejoin ninth before quickly rising to sixth, which became fifth when he swept around the outside of Doohan at Turn 10.

Ahead, Victor Martins was on the same strategy and making similar progress – the pair lapping in the 1:29s bracket, almost a second faster than those ahead.

It was the surperior strategy; the tyre drop off experienced by those who’d pitted early brought their pace inline with those who’d stayed out, mitigating that delta.

Those who’d started on the hard tyres were able to extent that opening stint, maintaining enough contact with the front of the race to then begin reeling it in following their stops.

Vesti was the aggressor, chasing down Martins ahead as they together closed on Iwasa.

With five laps remaining, the trio ran nose to tail, Iwasa a lame duck against the fresh booted pair behind.

Their progress was delayed by Martin, who busied himself defending from Vesti which allowed Iwasa to maintain the place despite running more than a second slower than his rivals were capable of.

Martins finally made the move as they started Lap 35, though Vesti found it rather more difficult to get by.

That allowed Martins to jump clear into a near unassailable third; he gained 2.5s in a lap.

Iwasa fought hard to hold fourth, Vesti finding an opening on the brakes and instead looking to go the long way around as he had done on Doohan.

There was no route through, the Red Bull junior in fourth positioning his car perfectly to hold on despite the relative tyre disadvantage.

Bearman out front hun on to win, followed by Fittipaldi who was just 0.6s clear of Martins at the flag.

Then was Iwasa, 5.5s back, and Vesti little more than a car length behind.

Doohan was sixth at the flag, 7.4s away from Vesti and 17s down on Bearman.