Pourchiare romps to F2 Feature race win in Bahrain

Theo Pourchaire opened his account in the 2023 FIA Formula 2 Championship with victory in the Bahrain Feature race.

The Frenchman qualified on pole on Friday before logging bonus points for fastest lap en route to fifth in Saturday’s Sprint encounter.

It was only the bonus point that eluded him on Sunday as he banked 27 (25 for the win and two for qualifying) to overtake Ralph Boschung at the head of the F2 title race.

Saturday’s winner, Boschung climbed from eighth on the grid – the reverse pole – to second.

Completing the podium was rookie Zane Maloney who now sits third in the drivers’ standings.

Pourchaire headed the field from pole for the opening 11 laps, ceding top spot only when he pitted, at which point Boschung took over our front.

Contact a t Turn 4 on the opening lap saw Richard Verschoor, Roman Stanek, Victor Martins, and Frederik Vesti all involved, the latter three forced out of the race as a result.

It triggered the Safety Car, with Oliver Bearman climbing to fourth after starting 12th.

The field was released on Lap 4, pour heading Maini, Boschung, and Bearman.

The pit sequence started on lap 11 when Arthur Leclerc boxed, followed by Jack Doohan and Jehan Daruvala.

Once the pit sequence had shaken out, Pourchaire enjoyed a 12.6s advantage over Boschung who had Leclerc and Kush Maini for company, while Bearman was also lurking.

The Brit ultimately asked too much of his tyres and eventually fell to 14th at the flag, his times dropping two seconds a lap once Maloney found a way through .on Lap 27.

That left Maloney fourth, the Barbadian taking third just two laps from the flag.

Doohan endured a difficult weekend, largely attributable be a poor decision by the team when it came to the timing of his final run in qualifying.

The Aussie never set a representative lap as he encountered traffic, leaving him 17th for both races.

A penalty for a pit lane infringement in the Feature meant he could do no better than 16th, though did for a time run as high as 11th in the opening laps.

The second round of the Formula 2 championship heads to Jeddah in support of the Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix on March 17-19.

Results: Formula 2 Feature Race, Bahrain

Car 14 – 5 second time penalty applied as per in-race Stewards’ decision – Pit lane procedure violation
Car 2 – 5 second time penalty applied as per in-race Stewards’ decision – Speeding in the pit lane