Red Bull Ring GP2: Rio Haryanto denies Stoffel Vandoorne double win
Rio Haryanto denied Stoffel Vandoorne a double GP2 victory at the Red Bull Ring by holding off the McLaren junior to win the sprint race
Haryanto took the lead at the start after pole-position starter Nick Yelloly bogged down off the line.
The Campos Racing driver had the inside line into the first corner, with Yelloly sandwiched between him and the fast-starting Alexander Rossi.
Yelloly and Rossi made contact in the Turn 1-squeeze, with the American sliding onto the asphalt runoff and Yelloly retiring to the pits at the end of the lap.
That left Haryanto up front ahead of the Russian Time machine driven by Artem Markelov.
Markelov pressured Haryanto until halfway through the race, when he made a late dive into the Turn 3 right-hander.
But it was too late, with Markelov carrying too much speed into the corner and sliding into the gravel, clipping Haryanto's front wing and damaging it.
That put Vandoorne, who had climbed to third at the start from eighth on the grid, onto the tail of the leader.
But while Haryanto wasn't the fastest driver on the track - a fact emphasised by the fact that Alex Lynn, who had stalled on the grid and got going almost a lap down, pulled away in front of the lead group - he was quick when it mattered.
He kept Vandoorne at arm's length out of the final corner and through the two DRS zones, with the Belgian never seriously mounting a challenge.
Nobuharu Matsushita followed ART team-mate Vandoorne home in third place, with Sergey Sirotkin fourth ahead of Mitch Evans and Pierre Gasly.
Jordan King climbed from 12th on the grid to take seventh ahead of Markelov, with Rossi missing out on the top-eight points positions after recovering to ninth place.
RESULT - 28 LAPS:
| Pos | Driver | Team | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rio Haryanto | Campos Racing | 35m57.944s |
| 2 | Stoffel Vandoorne | ART Grand Prix | 0.450s |
| 3 | Nobuharu Matsushita | ART Grand Prix | 0.905s |
| 4 | Sergey Sirotkin | Rapax | 1.368s |
| 5 | Mitch Evans | RUSSIAN TIME | 3.395s |
| 6 | Pierre Gasly | DAMS | 6.362s |
| 7 | Jordan King | Racing Engineering | 6.722s |
| 8 | Alexander Rossi | Racing Engineering | 7.929s |
| 9 | Robert Visoiu | Rapax | 19.389s |
| 10 | Raffaele Marciello | Trident | 19.942s |
| 11 | Arthur Pic | Campos Racing | 22.034s |
| 12 | Daniel de Jong | MP Motorsport | 31.108s |
| 13 | Norman Nato | Arden International | 31.730s |
| 14 | Rene Binder | Trident | 34.330s |
| 15 | Richie Stanaway | Status Grand Prix | 36.352s |
| 16 | Marco Sorensen | Carlin | 37.945s |
| 17 | Nathanael Berthon | Daiko Team Lazarus | 40.651s |
| 18 | Simon Trummer | Hilmer Motorsport | 42.119s |
| 19 | Marlon Stockinger | Status Grand Prix | 59.175s |
| 20 | Alex Lynn | DAMS | 1m04.756s |
| 21 | Andre Negrao | Arden International | 1m14.124s |
| 22 | Julian Leal | Carlin | 1 Lap |
| - | Artem Markelov | RUSSIAN TIME | Disqualified |
| - | Nick Yelloly | Hilmer Motorsport | Retirement |
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS:
| Pos | Driver | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stoffel Vandoorne | 155 |
| 2 | Alexander Rossi | 79 |
| 3 | Rio Haryanto | 70 |
| 4 | Sergey Sirotkin | 46 |
| 5 | Alex Lynn | 42 |
| 6 | Mitch Evans | 35 |
| 7 | Nobuharu Matsushita | 29 |
| 8 | Raffaele Marciello | 24 |
| 9 | Julian Leal | 24 |
| 10 | Sergio Canamasas | 23 |
| 11 | Richie Stanaway | 22 |
| 12 | Arthur Pic | 21 |
| 13 | Pierre Gasly | 20 |
| 14 | Jordan King | 18 |
| 15 | Nathanael Berthon | 16 |
| 16 | Artem Markelov | 16 |
| 17 | Robert Visoiu | 12 |
| 18 | Nick Yelloly | 7 |
| 19 | Norman Nato | 6 |
| 20 | Andre Negrao | 3 |
| 21 | Daniel de Jong | 0 |
| 22 | Rene Binder | 0 |
| 23 | Marlon Stockinger | 0 |
| 24 | Zoel Amberg | 0 |
| 25 | Marco Sorensen | 0 |
| 26 | Simon Trummer | 0 |
| 27 | Johnny Cecotto Jr. | 0 |
Previous article
Red Bull Ring GP2: McLaren ace Vandoorne wins another feature race
Next article
FR3.5 leader Oliver Rowland to make GP2 debut at Silverstone
How F2 and F3's flawed format changes could prove shortlived
After a chaotic 2020, marred by the coronavirus pandemic, the FIA brought in radical changes to Formula 2 and 3. But less than 12 months later, there are talks of them being reversed after all did not go to plan…
The Red Bull F1 junior aiming to defy geographical odds
It's a long way from Pukekohe New Zealand to Milton Keynes, but Red Bull's Kiwi protege Liam Lawson has defied plenty of odds to reach the rung below F1. He's endured disappointment since winning on his F2 debut in Bahrain, but is determined to turn his season around and prove himself worthy of a place in F1
How Red Bull's next F1 hopeful turned around his season
Having impressed in Formula 3, Juri Vips looked to be next cab off the rank in Red Bull's prestigious Junior Team before his 2020 schedule was dealt a heavy blow by the COVID-19 pandemic. After a tough start to life in Formula 2, Vips is showing signs of a recovery - could he be the first Estonian to reach Formula 1?
The making of an F1 hopeful re-writing the F2 record books
He'd marked himself out as a star of the future in last year's FIA Formula 3 championship, but 17-year-old Theo Pourchaire underlined his credentials by winning his first Formula 2 race in the Monaco feature. Sauber junior status gives him a clear route to the top, but with wisdom beyond his years, he's not getting caught up in his own hype
The 10 greatest F2 races contested by F1 drivers
Formula 2 used to be about more than providing a stepping stone to F1. For three decades it often provided another setting for the world’s best to fight it out. Autosport picks out the very best races
The F1 hopeful living two lives to keep his dream alive
Having lost his backing from Red Bull, Richard Verschoor has had to graft to continue his ascent up the single-seater ladder. An impressive Formula 2 debut in Bahrain, despite the lateness of his deal, shows his unorthodox approach is paying dividends
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
