F2 Talk: Experience Shines in Bahrain as Season gets Underway

It was the establishment who stamped their authority on the opening FIA Formula 2 Championship round from the Bahrain International Circuit. A win apiece for Nicholas Latifi and Luca Ghiotto sees the two top the championship, with the latter holding a 2 point lead.

Ghiotto’s success was also dream start for his new UNI-Vituosi Racing team, who take over the old Russian Time marquee. The Italian did not have a smooth weekend, but leaves Bahrain as the early favourite for the title after twice battling his back from adversity.

Meanwhile Latifi’s and teammate Sergio Sette Camara’s double podium gives DAMS a comfortable early lead in the team championship.

Saturday was all about Nicholas Latifi’s return to form. A doged 2018 had scuppered any title chances, but it was clear that despite missing the chance to test for Williams Racing team the Canadian was determined to finally find some luck in 2019.

His pitstop, DAMS second of the year, had been poor. However; this proved to be his only fault on Saturday. A conservative first stint in which he let Louie Deletraz wreck his tyres in attempting to build a gap ensured he out in clear air while his rivals bolted on new tyres. The free air and shorter run on the soft tyres meant he emerged in fourth closely behind the leading trio.

Three laps was all it took to reclaim the lead, taking Deletraz, then Nobuharu Matsushita and finally Nyck de Vries into the first turn on consecutive laps. From there he didn’t look back, managing the gap to a late charging Luca Ghiotto.

Coming into the season, many know that anything less than the title would not be enough for Ghiotto if he wanted to salvage anything from his ailing F1 chances, in now his fourth season. If this truly is the case, the Italian could have done little wrong on Saturday.

Qualifying on pole, the UNI-Virtuosi Racing driver was leading his new team to territories unknown, though a clutch problem meant he was swamped at the start. A lesser driver would have faded into the points, but not Ghiotto, holding sixth, he managed his tyres, the last of the front-runners to pit – which was slow due to the clutch – ensuring he had the speed in the closing laps to sail past the opposition.

Late pitstops proved to be a common factor of the top four, with fourth place rookie Antoine Hubert joining Latifi and Ghiotto on their late run strategy, despite only being eighth during the opening stint. Even third place Sergio Sette Camara held onto his tyres longer than the gung-ho Deletraz, De Vries and Matsushita, who finished fifth, sixth and ninth respectively.

Jack Aitken, who had been in contention for a top five finish during the early stint also fell back, with Mick Schumacher took an impressive eighth on debut, after Matsushita dropped almost half a minute in the closing five laps, due to excessive tyre wear.

Schumacher, as a result, got to start on pole for race two.

Mick took full opportunity, holding the lead on the opening lap as the drivers behind squabbled for track space behind.

Contact for Aitken, De Vries and Deletraz into turn 5, scuppered their chance of a podium. With all three now experienced F2 racers, the sloppy first lap standards will not go down well for their chances. Especially De Vries who not only has the pressure of his fans, but also the McLaren team, who will expect a big result as the pre-championship favourite.

The incident allowed the top three from Saturday to weave their way through, with Sette Camara now leading the group towards Schumacher. The German held on for the first four laps, but could do nothing about the charging Ghiotto as the DAMS followed through in quick succession.

From there, Ghiotto built up his lead, though, like 2017 it was clear the Medium tyres would not last until the end of the race. Back then, a certain Carles Leclerc had pitted, only to work his way back to the lead, overtaking Ghiotto on the final lap. This time it was the Italian who returned the strategy, the day after Leclerc had taken his maiden F1 pole.

Coming into the pits on lap 13, he had another 12 to catch the DAMS back up, with Sette Camara holding off Latifi. The Brazilian became audibly annoyed on the radio as the team told him the gap to Ghiotto, clearly more concerned about the advancing Latifi, looking for a double win. The challenge from Latifi soon subsided, but the threat from Ghiotto became ever more real.

By lap 21, the UNI-Virtuosi Racing driver was on their back, overtaking Latifi into the first corner before taking the lead from Camara even before the last sector. From there, Ghiotto focused on building the gap, taking the championship lead by two points over Latifi. With Camara also on the podium for both races, the top three have clearly emerged, but who they will be joined by for the rest of the season is yet to be seen.

After Hubert’s run to fourth on Saturday, the rookie standout from Sunday proved to be Guan Yu Zhou. The Chinese driver secured the final point in race one despite starting seventeenth and again scythed through the order to finish fourth on Sunday, the best of the rookies. While teammate Ghiotto stole the limelight, a quiet run could make Zhou a formidable driver later in the season.

Deletraz picked up his another fifth place ahead of Schumacher, who spent much of the race, tussling with the Carlin driver and Nyck de Vries behind. The Dutchman had picked up fastest lap with Jordan King securing the final point despite starting seventeenth and making contact with Juan Manuel Correa during the running.

Tyre Management Proves to be Valuable Skill

For long running fans of F1, the idea that the top five after the second corner remained the top five at the end of the race may not seem like that strange a concept, but at the weekend, F2 proved this certainly wouldn’t be the case. Ghiotto’s poor start meant that Deletraz led into the first corner, but other than race winner Latifi, all of the top five after turn 2 suffered later in the race. Deletraz and De Vries would hang on for top six finishes, but in the final lap, Aitken seemed more concerned with the charging Schumacher as he hung on to seventh, while Matsushita had the worst run of all, dropping to ninth.

The fact all other front runners struggled seems a great testament to the work Nicholas Latifi put in. The Canadian is well-known for being easy on his tyres and with an opportunity at Williams potentially available next year, this might be; right time, right place for the 23 year old.

Unlike many of his compatriots his career up until this point has not been stellar. His win on Saturday may have been his third in F2, but was only his fourth in any form of single-seaters since he graduated from karting in 2012. Often been touted as the typical pay driver who fills up a spot in the big teams, is this too little too late, or does F1 have room for another cash-lined Canadian.

Rookies Show Strong Potential

Mick Schumacher will be another driver with a lot of attention on his performance this season. The European F3 champion has the career momentum behind him, but seemed cautious in the second race, accepting his disadvantage to the leaders rather than attempting to challenge them.

On the other end of the scale, Hubert also had a quiet qualifying. Starting the first race outside the top ten not much was expected from the GP3 champion. Hubert though showed maturity beyond his standing, holding onto his tyres as long as Laitfi and Ghiotto, ensuring he was fourth on debut. The result is made more notable considering that, unlike Schumacher with Prema, Hubert does not benefit from the same experience of success with MP Motorpsort. This outperforming of his car will be noted by many of the top teams.

Despite the occasional rookie success, experience remained the name of the game. Including GP2 races entered, seven of the top eight most experienced drivers on the grid all scored points with Latifi and Ghiotto the first and third most experienced drivers topping the championship table. The only outlier; the second most experienced driver; Sean Galael, whose Feature race was ended early due to a DRS failure.

Nationalities is another big factor this season. After the opening round, ten different countries occupy the top ten, including representatives from Switzerland, Brazil and Japan, who despite their presence in F1 in previous years are currently lacking drivers to wave the flag for them. This diversity in culture could be more notable for the sport in the years to come as F1’s top six nationalities (UK, USA, Italy, France Germany, Brazil) make up just half of the grid.

The next round is in Baku, on 27th / 28th April.