Sochi F2: Albon wins and takes second in the points, Norris retires
Alexander Albon took the Sochi F2 feature race victory and second in the points standings, as future McLaren Formula 1 driver Lando Norris retired after a pitstop error
From fifth on the grid, Formula E-bound Albon gained two places at the start and then passed series leader George Russell at Turn 2 for second a few laps later, to run behind polesitter and early leader Nyck de Vries.
The majority of the field, and everyone in the top eight on the grid, started on supersofts, but degradation hit hard with drivers starting to struggle from just five laps into the race.
Artem Markelov in particular excelled of those on softs as he gained 10 places from 19th on the grid in just two laps, and was up to fourth by lap 5.
The Russian then took the lead as the top three pitted on the same lap, and Albon moved ahead of de Vries, who had a sluggish stop.
Markelov rapidly pulled away from those on the same strategy as him, turning a 1.2s gap over Antonio Fuoco to 13.3s in less than 10 laps.
However, the radio in Markelov's car wasn't working and he took his team by surprise when he pitted for his supersofts with nine laps remaining.
A slow stop brought him out in 11th, and he eventually finished 12th having initially moved forward after the stop.
As a result, Albon comfortably returned to the lead by the time all the pitstop cycle was completed, building a comfortable gap over de Vries as the duo had to manage their way through traffic.
De Vries survived an accident with Arjun Maini, but had to give up second to Nicholas Latifi when he had a massive lock up with just three laps to go.
After a brief virtual safety car stint caused by Maximilian Gunther spinning out on track after contact with Markelov, Albon eventually won by 11.3s with Latifi completing a DAMS 1-2.
Russell took fourth and extended his points lead to 30 points over Albon as Norris endured a difficult race.
The McLaren junior had a poor start from second on the grid to drop to the lower half of the top 10.
When he dived into the pits, he missed his pit stall - visiting Trident instead - and then his car was dropped off the jack and the green light to signal that the stop was complete came on.
However, that happened before the front-right wheel was properly fitted, which led to his retirement. He is now 34 points behind Russell in the standings with 63 points left over the last three races. He faces the adversity of starting near the back for Sunday's reversed-grid sprint race.
Norris' team-mate Sergio Sette Camara finished fifth ahead of Fuoco, who was the best of those running on the alternate strategy starting on the soft tyres.
Alessio Lorandi scored his first points in his seventh race in F2 with Roberto Merhi securing reverse-grid pole position in eighth on his first outing for Campos this season.
The top 10 was completed by Honda juniors Nirei Fukuzumi (Arden) and Markelov's Russian Time team-mate Tadasuke Makino, the latter miraculously avoiding a big crash with Luca Ghiotto right after the start, when the duo made contact in the fast Turn 1 right-hander.
While Makino continued, Ghiotto damaged his car and retired in the pits, joining Sean Gelael, who stalled on the formation lap.
Niko Kari also couldn't finish his first ever F2 race despite impressing in the early stages, even passing Fuoco for second before he fell back after the stops.
Feature race result
Pos | Driver | Team | Laps | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Alexander Albon | DAMS | 28 | 54m12.383s |
2 | Nicholas Latifi | DAMS | 28 | 11.307s |
3 | Nyck de Vries | Pertamina Prema Theodore Racing | 28 | 14.259s |
4 | George Russell | ART Grand Prix | 28 | 17.468s |
5 | Sergio Sette Camara | Carlin | 28 | 22.953s |
6 | Antonio Fuoco | Charouz Racing System | 28 | 34.899s |
7 | Alessio Lorandi | Trident | 28 | 39.133s |
8 | Nirei Fukuzumi | BWT Arden | 28 | 43.463s |
9 | Roberto Merhi | Campos Vexatec Racing | 28 | 46.334s |
10 | Tadasuke Makino | RUSSIAN TIME | 28 | 46.461s |
11 | Artem Markelov | RUSSIAN TIME | 28 | 53.455s |
12 | Louis Deletraz | Charouz Racing System | 28 | 56.606s |
13 | Dorian Boccolacci | MP Motorsport | 28 | 1m00.950s |
14 | Jack Aitken | ART Grand Prix | 28 | 1m06.522s |
15 | Arjun Maini | Trident | 27 | 1 Lap |
16 | Maximilian Guenther | BWT Arden | 26 | 2 Laps |
- | Niko Kari | MP Motorsport | 23 | Retirement |
- | Lando Norris | Carlin | 6 | Retirement |
- | Luca Ghiotto | Campos Vexatec Racing | 1 | Retirement |
- | Sean Gelael | Pertamina Prema Theodore Racing | 0 | Not started |
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