Mercedes Formula 1 junior George Russell won a second consecutive Formula 2 feature race, beating McLaren reserve Lando Norris by five-seconds in an action-packed opener at the Red Bull Ring.
Polesitter Russell led the field after F2’s first ever rolling start on account of the recent stalling issues.
However, with Russell and the rest of the supersoft-shod runners pitting during a lap six safety car, the three drivers starting on the soft tyre – Arjun Maini, Sean Gelael and Artem Markelov – were promoted to the front of the pack.
Russell gradually worked his way back to the front of the pack, inheriting the lead when Markelov made his one and only pitstop of the race with five laps to go.
ART Grand Prix’s Russell eventually won by five seconds. He has slashed Norris’s championship lead to two points, with the McLaren reserve finishing the race in second.
Norris lost ground to Russell during the middle of the 40 lap race, as he was passed by Maximilian Gunther and Roberto Merhi.
Gunther dropped out of the podium fight as he suffered significant rear tyre degradation in the closing stages. Norris regained second from MP Motorsport’s Merhi in the closing stages.
Charouz Racing System’s Antonio Fuoco, who started 13th, charged through the order in the final 10 laps. He passed Merhi on the final tour to grab third place. Merhi ended up fourth.
Alexander Albon passed Sergio Sette Camara late on. The pair finished fifth and sixth respectively, ahead of Tadasuke Makino.
Artem Markelov passed four cars on the final lap, including a switch-back overtake on Nirei Fukuzumi at the final corner, to seal eighth place and reverse grid pole.
The two safety cars – deployed for Ralph Boschung and Jack Aitken’s broken down machines – compromised those who had started on the soft tyre.
Markelov, along with Arjun Maini and Sean Gelael lost significant ground when they eventually pitted for the supersoft tyre in the closing stages.
Gelael and Maini’s 14th and 15th place finishes were in stark contrast to Markelov’s late charge.
Arden International’s Fukuzumi ended up in ninth, while Santino Ferrucci rounded out the top 10.
Gunther dropped out of the points in the closing stages, finishing in 12th place. He is also under investigation for an unsafe release. Emerging alongside Charouz’s Louis Deletraz, Gunther ran over Campos’s left-front wheel-gun.
Deletraz was one of five retirements. He was running in a de facto fifth place before a technical gremlin halted his progress in the final quarter of the race.
Championship contender and McLaren junior Nyck de Vries suffered a puncture in the opening stages, dramatically spearing off of the track and into the escape road at Turn 4. He later retired.
