Dan Ticktum wins in FIA Formula 2 at Sochi in changing conditions
Dan Ticktum has won the first race of the FIA Formula 2 weekend at Sochi as drivers tip-toed around the circuit in difficult conditions.
Dan Ticktum celebrates his race victory on the FIA Formula 2 podium at Sochi. (CarlinRacing/Twitter)
Ticktum lead the rolling start as the field began the reverse-grid opening race of the weekend, holding a confident lead ahead of Juri Vips and Liam Lawson on the treacherous circuit after two formation laps behind the safety car.
After torrential rain earlier in the day, Vips and Lawson cautiously followed Ticktum on the one dry racing line.
The difficult conditions had been tested before the race had even begun, with teammates Felipe Drugovich and Guanyu Zhou both falling foul of the conditions and retiring after incidents on the way to the grid.
Bent Viscaal was the first to retire during the race, spinning out on lap five and bringing out the virtual safety car.
The field sprung into action at the restart, with Oscar Piastri making an attempt at an overtake from eighth.
With a touch of moisture on his tryes, Piastri was a sitting duck, and fell to twelfth behind Christian Lundgaard, Jehan Daruvala, Marcus Armstrong, and Richard Verschoor.
Piastri's woes were neutralised when Liam Lawson, holding the final podium position, slid off the track with cold brakes and found himself in the barriers.
It was on for young and old after a long virtual safety car period when Ralph Boschung was slow to react to the green light.
Theo Pourchaire pulled alongside Boschung with much quicker reaction times, but it was Jehan Daruvala who was able to take the biggest advantage, moving past both drivers into fifth.
Dan Ticktum, Juri Vips, and Robert Shwartzman celebrate on the podium at Sochi. (Carlinracing/Twitter)
At the front, Robert Shwartzman ran wide from third and Jake Hughes saw his first podium finish of the season flash before his eyes before the 2019 FIA Formula 3 champion was able to regain the position.
With DRS not enabled and rain lights still activated, the field was hesitant to make any desperate passes, and the running order remained steady.
Daruvala proved just how difficult the track conditions remained, dropping to twelfth after spinning off the track.
Ticktum took the chequered flag more than four seconds ahead of Vips, with Shwartzman completing the podium.
Piastri finished out of the points in ninth, gaining no advantage from Zhou's misfortune.
The Australian leads the championship on 153 points ahead of Zhou on 134 points, but it was Shwartzman and Ticktum who made the biggest gains in the standings, now third and fourth on 123 and 119 points respectively.
Kiwi Marcus Armstrong finished eleventh.
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