Nurburgring GP2: Marcus Ericsson finally takes first win with DAMS
Marcus Ericsson won his first GP2 Series race of the season, and the third of his career, at the Nurburgring on Saturday afternoon
Despite setting two pole positions this year, DAMS driver Ericsson had scored just one point in a race, but finally it all came good for him in Germany.
He won by 7.8 seconds over James Calado of ART.
Starting on the medium-compound tyre, Ericsson took the lead on the opening lap but the race was quickly neutralised by a safety car after Kevin Ceccon was launched into a roll after clipping Daniel Abt and Nat Berthon, and then piled into the back of the stalled Adrian Quaife-Hobbs. All were unhurt.
At the restart, Ericsson pulled well clear, leading by over 3s when he made his mandatory pitstop.
Team-mate Stephane Richelmi, who started from pole, lost his chance of second place when his front jackman fell over in his pitstop, and he slipped down the order behind Felipe Nasr, Calado and Robin Frijns.
Calado passed Nasr and closed to gap to Ericsson to 4s, but his tyres went off in the closing stages so he settled for second.
Nasr went backwards, tumbling down the lap chart to finish ninth as his decision to stop for new medium-compound tyres (having started on super-softs) at the first opportunity came back to bite him.
The battle for third was nothing short of sensational. Points leader Stefano Coletti claimed it after charging through from 13th on the grid.
He banged wheels with a very defensive Frijns at the chicane on the final lap, the two then making nose-to-tail contact at the last corner.
As Frijns lost momentum, allowing Coletti to escape for the final spot on the podium, Fabio Leimer and Richelmi also steamed past him. The quartet were covered by just two tenths at the finish line.
Jon Lancaster and Tom Dillmann finished seventh and eighth respectively, so Dillmann will take reversed-grid pole for Sunday's sprint race. His feature effort was compromised when he stalled after his pitstop.
Results - 32 laps: Pos Driver Team Time/Gap 1. Marcus Ericsson DAMS 1h00m16.988s 2. James Calado ART +7.860s 3. Stefano Coletti Rapax +14.915s 4. Fabio Leimer Racing Engineering +15.061s 5. Stephane Richelmi DAMS +15.119s 6. Robin Frijns Hilmer +15.272s 7. Jon Lancaster Hilmer +17.156s 8. Tom Dillmann Russian Time +17.823s 9. Felipe Nasr Carlin +24.265s 10. Johnny Cecotto Jr Arden +24.333s 11. Alexander Rossi Caterham +26.797s 12. Sergio Canamasas Caterham +27.221s 13. Sam Bird Russian Time +31.518s 14. Simon Trummer Rapax +31.592s 15. Daniel de Jong MP +33.904s 16. Mitch Evans Arden +34.142s 17. Nathanel Berthon Trident +36.142s 18. Rio Haryanto Addax +43.318s 19. Fabrizio Crestani Lazarus +45.117s 20. Rene Binder Lazarus +45.498s 21. Daniel Abt ART +58.723s 22. Julian Leal Racing Engineering +59.186s 23. Jake Rosenzweig Addax +1m08.725s 24. Jolyon Palmer Carlin +1m42.868s Retirements: Adrian Quaife-Hobbs MP 0 laps Kevin Ceccon Trident 0 laps
Previous article
Nurburgring GP2: Richelmi grabs maiden GP2 pole position
Next article
Nurburgring GP2: Jon Lancaster resists James Calado for second win
About this article
| Series | FIA F2 |
| Author | Charles Bradley |
Was Formula 2’s radical format switch a success?
Going into the 2021 Formula 2 season the biggest talking point wasn’t about any drivers or teams, but the new race weekend format. Created partly out of financial necessity but also to spice up the action, the Bahrain opener provided a snapshot of the positives and negatives to come
Why 2021 is make-or-break for the driver F1 needs
He was tipped for glory in FIA Formula 2 last year, but was hampered by reliability woes at inopportune moments. Guanyu Zhou knows he won't get too many more chances if he is to become China's first F1 driver, with fierce competition within the ranks of Alpine's junior stable
How Schumacher Jr earned his Haas F1 chance
Michael Schumacher may have won seven Formula 1 titles, but he didn't even compete for a crown at the second tier. Son Mick put that right in 2020, and proved to Ferrari that he was deserving of a shot at motorsport's elite category in 2021
The quintet giving Ferrari a tough decision to make
The Ferrari Driver Academy earned a podium sweep in the first Formula 2 race of the new decade in Austria last weekend. The battle between 'the FDA five' is set to be one of the major subplots of the season, but who has the best F1 prospects for 2021?
The Williams junior determined to prove Red Bull wrong
Dropped by his team in Japan and by Red Bull, Dan Ticktum's single-seater career seemed to be over last summer. But now he's on the Formula 2 grid with the reigning champion team, and he's a new protege of Williams. How did that happen?
The controversial weekend that ended an American's dream in Europe
OPINION: In the latest in our series of features looking back the recently concluded 2010s, we recall one of the many sagas of the 2018 Formula 2 season, which featured unusual fines and an unsavoury clash between team-mates
The year Leclerc fully revealed his star status
In the latest feature in our series looking back on the 2010s, we revisit Charles Leclerc's sensational Formula 2 season - where he strode among on-track highs and lows, as well as tragedy away from motorsport, to earn a place on the Formula 1 grid
Why F1 is no longer ignoring its feeder series
After the MotoGP-style Formula 1 support ladder was fully united for 2019, Bruno Michel and Ross Brawn share their views on the current state of Formula 2 and FIA Formula 3 and explain why investment at junior levels should boost the top tier
