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(Motorsport-Total.com) – Mick Schumacher (Prema) was only able to partially use an assist from rival Callum Ilott (Virtuosi) in the Formula 2 sprint race at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sachir on Sunday. Ilott was left without points after a collision in which Schumacher almost got involved.
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Mick Schumacher was almost acquitted by Callum Ilott Focus
For his part, Schumacher only finished seventh and only increased his lead in the overall standings by two points. The victory went to Schumacher’s teammate Robert Schwarzman, who won ahead of compatriot Nikita Masepin (Hitech) and Swiss Louis Deletraz (Charouz).
The two title rivals crashed almost on lap 8 after the restart after a safety car phase. Schumacher, who was in fifth place directly ahead of Ilott at this point, braked on the approach to Turn 10. Ilott wanted to take advantage of this error, but braked too late and lost control of his car.
Ilott clears Daruvala and brushes Schumacher
At the top of the curve, Ilott rammed into Jehan Daruvala’s (Carlin) car, which spun and was eliminated from the race. Ilott damaged the front wing in the collision, while Schumacher escaped the collision with some luck undamaged despite a slight touch to the left front wheel. Due to the repair stop and a driving penalty for causing the collision, Ilott ran out of points.
But even Schumacher almost left empty-handed. Due to braking and a previous tough duel with Masepin, his tires had suffered and his lap times increased. After Pedro Piquet (Charouz) and Guanyu Zhou (Virtuosi) had overtaken the German, he was only sixth and was pressured by Christian Lundgaard (ART).
But then Schumacher was lucky that Lundgaard was attacked by Saturday’s winner Felipe Drugovich (MP Motorsport). The two got into a duel that gave Schumacher some air.
In the final phase of the race it was Deletraz’s turn, who had started from position 16 and had gone to the pits to change tires during the safety car phase. The Swiss burst onto the field on cooler tires and passed Schumacher on lap 20 of 23, which was only seventh.
Schumachers is fighting a losing battle with degraded tires
After Piquet rolled without propulsion on the penultimate lap, Schumacher briefly returned to sixth, but on the last lap of the race Lundgaard managed an overtaking maneuver before turn eleven. In the end, Schumacher only had two points, which means that the championship is still exciting. Schumacher and Ilott now separate 14 points in the championship standings.
Mathematically, Schwarzman can also become champion, who drove from pole position to an undisputed victory on Sunday and thus triumphed for the fourth time this Formula 2 season. “We have to be honest: the chances are slim,” said the Russian, but in view of the deficit of 46 points. “Unfortunately, we were very unlucky this year. But I am happy with this victory. It means a lot to me.”
Maespin, who once again showed a fierce career and defeated not only Schumacher at the start but also Marcus Armstrong (ART) in the fight for second place, could arithmetically claim the title next week with 43 points behind. “If I didn’t believe in that, I wouldn’t be here!” He says.
“I knew we had a slim chance of catching Robert. We showed Prema how fast we can be today. But I had to work really hard to get there at the beginning. With this kind of tire wear, you barely make it past the race. My reserves they had I finished at the beginning of the race ”, Masepin sums up his career.
Deletraz tire poker is on
After the fifth podium in this Formula 2 season, there was also joy in Deletraz, whose tire poker went up. “From 16th place we were the only ones who played poker with the middle. We did it last night and it worked wonderfully,” said the Swiss. “I think I would have won with one more lap.”
Armstrong finally crossed the finish line in fourth place, followed by Zhou, Lundgaard, Schumacher and Drugovich. Roy Nissany (Trident) and Artjom Markelow (HWA) rounded out the top 10.
Yuki Tsunoda (Carlin) withdrew from the title race on Sunday. On the first lap, the Japanese was touched by Armstrong while in second position at Turn 1 and suffered a puncture in the process. After the unscheduled pit stop, Red Bull and Honda Junior only crossed the finish line in 15th place.
The Formula 2 title decision will be made next weekend at the season finale, which will also take place in Sachir. But then the shorter and faster outer circuit of the Bahrain International Circuit will be used.
