2022 F2 Bahrain Grand Prix Round-up: Verschoor scores Trident’s first win as Pourchaire takes championship lead after Feature Race victory

Formula 2 returned with a bang as the new grid got back into their cockpits and began a fresh new season.

Returning drivers and rookies put their skills on display at the Bahrain Grand Prix as two drivers emerged victorious to pick up more silverware in the top junior category.

Qualifying

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Jack Doohan transitioned to Virtuosi Racing for the 2022 season after his short stint with MP Motorsport at the back end of the previous campaign.

The Formula 3 runner-up claimed his first pole position by utilising an empty race track and setting a 1:40.542 in the process.

Before the drivers could start their laps, the red flag was waved as the DAMS of Ayumu Iwasa grounded to a halt and the rookie was forced to watch the rest of the session from the pit lane.

Jake Hughes took provisional pole position after the first runs were completed by setting a 1:41.469 with Doohan just behind him in second.

The Aussie used track space to his advantage as he eclipsed the Brit’s time by over a second as the drivers re-emerged back onto the track.

Juri Vips came the closest with his first attempt as he moved up to second but was unable to displace the Virtuosi driver.

The second runs saw Pourchaire claim a front row start, however, the Frenchman missed out on pole by a tenth as Doohan clinched his first pole position.

The ART Grand Prix driver remained second with Vips dropping down to third. The Carlin duo of Logan Sargeant and Liam Lawson finished fourth and sixth respectively with Ralph Boschung sandwiched in between them in fifth. Prema’s Jehan Daruvala only found pace for seventh, Hughes finished eighth, Trident’s Richard Verschoor in ninth and Felipe Drugovich in 10th.

Sprint Race

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Starting from reverse grid pole position, Felipe Drugovich got a poor getaway as the lights went out which propelled Verschoor into the lead and the Dutchman never looked back since.

The Trident driver comfortably controlled the race, and as Daruvala and Boschung were squabbling for second, he created a gap between himself and the leading duo to claim his second race win in the category.

From the start, pole sitter Drugovich quickly dropped down the order as Verschoor promoted himself up into first with Boschung in second and Daruvala in third.

Collisions were a common theme between Formula 2 and Formula 3 this weekend as Marcus Armstrong, Pourchaire and Hughes were all forced to retire from the first race of the season.

With that being said, Verschoor controlled all of the restarts and bolted away at every given opportunity to comfortably cross the line in first place.

Behind him, Boschung and Daruvala engaged in a battle for second which the latter came out on top in with the former eventually dropping down to fourth as Lawson claimed the final podium position.

After a poor start, Drugovich was able to claim some points as he finished fifth with Sargeant in sixth, Vips in seventh and Iwasa claiming the final points position. The DAMS driver made up a fantastic 14 places after starting the race in 22nd and last place to finish eighth and secure a point in his first race in Formula 2.

Feature Race

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Pourchaire claimed the first Feature Race victory of the season as the unfortunate Vips endured a long pit stop which saw him dropped down to 12th but the Estonian recovered to finish on the podium.

Pole sitter Doohan and second-placed Pourchaire were overtaken quickly by the Hitech of Vips and the Campos of Boschung as the duo took P1 and P2.

It was all about getting the pit stop correct which unfortunately hampered the Estonian driver, put him outside of the points and took his chance of securing a victory away.

The slow stop for Vips promoted Doohan into the race lead, however, he tangled with Pourchaire and had to replace a broken front wing.

This momentarily put Iwasa up to first before the Japanese driver dived into the pits for a new set of tyres and released Pourchaire into the lead.

The Frenchman held onto the lead as he crossed over the line in first ahead of Lawson in second a Vips in third, who valiantly fought his way onto the podium.

Boschung claimed a second fourth-place finish of the weekend as he overtook Drugovich who finished in fifth. Armstrong followed in sixth with Sargeant in seventh, Nissany in eighth, Hughes in ninth and pole sitter Doohan recovering from a collision to finish in 10th.