Zhou returns to the top step of the podium after a difficult weekend at Silverstone as he was victorious in F2’s Feature Race at the British Grand Prix

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Guanyu Zhou made a great start which saw the UNI-Virtuosi driver make up for an awful showing on Saturday. Dan Ticktum and Oscar Piastri finished second and third with the latter gaining the Championship lead.

The Chinese driver made the most of things at the start and managed the gap to the cars behind the cruise to a trouble-free race win.

Starting Grid

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Oscar Piastri qualified on pole position, over two-tenths ahead of Guanyu Zhou in second and over four-tenths ahead of Richard Verschoor in third.

Brit Dan Ticktum started fourth ahead of Theo Pourchaire in fifth, Felipe Drugovich in sixth, Robert Shwartzman in seventh, Roy Nissany in eighth, Juri Vips in ninth and Christian Lundgaard rounded out the top 10.

Hitech’s Liam Lawson missed out on 10th by over a tenth as the New Zealander lined up in 11th alongside fellow Red Bull Academy driver Jehan Daruvala in 12th.

Then came Lirim Zendeli in 13th, Marcus Armstrong in 14th, Ralph Boschung in 15th, Matteo Nannini in 16th, Bent Visccal in 17th, David Beckmann in 18th, Jack Aitken in 19th, Guilherme Samaia in 20th with Marino Sato and Alessio Deledda on the back row of the grid in 21st and 22nd.

As It Happened

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Just before the race even got underway, Deledda peeled into the pits after the formation lap as the HWA driver started from the pit lane.

Zhou got the better start off the line as the Chinese drivers moved up into the lead of the race into turn one. Ticktum was also on the move he got himself into third ahead of Verschoor.

The two ART drivers gained the most positions and lost the most positions on the opening lap as Lundgaard moved up from 10th to seventh with Pourchaire dropping from fifth down to eighth.

After five laps of great racing, Zhou led the race ahead of Piastri and Ticktum in second and third. Verschoor followed in fourth, Shwartzman in fifth, Drugovich in sixth, Lundgaard in seventh, Pourchaire in eighth, Lawson in ninth and Nissany in 10th.

The front runners started to pit with Ticktum blinking first. He was followed into the pits by Shwartzman as Piastri pitted a lap later and Zhou changing tyres on lap nine.

Lundgaard was one of the drivers that came in early, but the rear left tyre was not fitted properly which resulted in an unsafe release and a 10-second stop/go penalty that dropped the Dane to the back of the field.

The battle for a net second place ensued as Piastri came out of the pits. Ticktum was able to get close to the Australian and made the move on him into Brooklands to steal the position away from the Prema driver.

Beckmann was the next driver that was handed a time penalty after the Charouz man was unsafely released and earned a five-second penalty for his troubles.

At the halfway point of the race, Vips led the race but he was still yet to pit alongside the rest of the top which were made up of Zendeli, Daruvala and Viscaal. The first driver that already made a pit stop, Zhou, followed in fifth with Nannini in sixth, Ticktum in seventh, Piastri in eighth, Verschoor in ninth and Sato in 10th.

Leader Vips made his stop on lap 19 as the alternate strategy drivers came into the pits. The Estonian was able to slot back narrowly behind the points in 11th.

With five laps to go, Zhou returned into the lead ahead of Ticktum in second and Nannini in third. Piastri closely followed in fourth, Verschoor in fifth, Shwartzman in sixth, Drugovich in seventh, Pourchaire in eighth, Vips in ninth and Zendeli in 10th.

Daruvala and Nannini were the final drivers to pit with the former returning out behind Zendeli with the latter dropping all the way down to 18th.

The driver who made the most of the alternate strategy, Vips, moved up into seventh ahead of Pourchaire as the Estonian clawed some points from the Feature Race.

Piastri and Verschoor battled until the very end for the final podium place but it was the Prema that held off the MP Motorsport to finish third.

Zhou was able to win after a very difficult Saturday as the Chinese driver earned his third victory of the season. The UNI-Virtuosi was joined by Ticktum and Piastri on the podium with Verschoor in fourth, Shwartzman in fifth, Drugovich in sixth, Vips in seventh, Pourchaire in eighth, Zendeli in ninth and Daruvala in 10th.

What’s Next?

Oscar Piastri now holds the lead of the F2 Championship as the Australian rookie is only a few points ahead of ex-leader, Guanyu Zhou.

Formula 2 now goes into hibernation once more as Monza will welcome the drivers back for round five of the Championship in eight weeks time.

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