The season finale is upon us as Piastri looks to seal the Formula 2 World Championship in Abu Dhabi

0

Embed from Getty Images

Oscar Piastri will be looking to finally claim the F2 title as the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi plays host to the final round of the 2021 FIA Formula 2 season.

This race will be a goodbye for a few of the drivers but also a chance to impress future employers as they show their skills on track one final time this campaign.

We already know that Oscar Piastri (Alpine Reserve Driver), Dan Ticktum (Formula E), Guanyu Zhou (Alfa Romeo Driver) and Christian Lundgaard (IndyCar) have announced their departures at the end of the season as they all move on to new challenges elsewhere.

Last time out in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, there were more stoppages in the racing than actual on-track action as all three races saw at least one incident that brought out the Safety Car.

In the first Sprint Race, it was Marcus Armstrong who secured his first-ever victory in Formula 2. The DAMS driver kept his cool after two restarts and beat pole-sitter, Liam Lawson, to the win.

The second race of the weekend saw Piastri claim his fourth win of the season after he overtook Jehan Daruvala before the Safety Car came out. The Indian driver, who got a five-second time penalty, was relegated down the order which allowed Bent Viscaal to finish second with Robert Shwartzman in third.

During the Feature Race, a big accident occurred at the start of the race as Enzo Fittipaldi smashed into the back of Theo Pourchaire’s stranded ART. Both drivers endured some injuries with the former breaking his heel and majorly cutting his eyebrow.

However, after a stop-start race, Piastri took to the top step of the podium for the second time during the weekend as the race was red-flagged a handful of laps later.

Prema Racing also sealed the constructors’ championship as Shwartzman finished the race in second with Ralph Boschung in third place, his first-ever podium in Formula 2.

Moving onto this weekend’s action at the Yas Marina Circuit, the first time Formula 2 visited the Abu Dhabi track was back in 2017.

Artem Markelov qualified on pole position for the Feature Race and went on to win the race by a commanding advantage of 16 seconds. Charles Leclerc finished the race in second with Luca Ghiotto rounding out the rostrum in third.

The Sprint Race saw the now Ferrari driver Leclerc emerge victorious as he claimed the 2017 Formula 2 title. Alex Albon and Nicholas Latifi joined the Monegasque on the podium as the season drew to a close.

F2 has not raced in Abu Dhabi since 2019 after Covid-19 restrictions saw the event called off last year. The 2019 edition saw two different race winners as Sergio Sette Camara capitalised on pole position to win the Feature Race with Ghiotto victorious in the Sprint Race.

Ahead of the final round of the season, Jake Hughes will replace Logan Sargeant at HWA Racelab with Richard Verschoor filling in for the injured Enzo Fittipaldi at Charouz Racing System.

Piastri only needs a handful of points from the first Sprint Race to be announced Formula 2 champion. The Aussie will be looking to secure his third successive title after victories in Formula 3 (2020) and Formula Renault Eurocup (2019).

Follow us on Twitter @ProstInt

Share.

About Author

EFL/EPL and F1 writer. @AdrianKitaMedia on Twitter for any comments regarding my pieces on Prost International.

Comments are closed.