Nikita Mazepin takes first FIA F2 win at Silverstone
Nikitia Mazepin has won the FIA Formula 2 Feature Race at the British Grand Prix, ahead of Guanyu Zhou and Yuki Tsunoda.
Nikita Mazepin celebrates his first FIA Formula 2 victory at Silverstone. (Image: Supplied/Formula Motorsport Limited)
Brazilian Felipe Drugovich started on pole, with local Callum Ilott beside him on the front row.
Ilott fell victim to a technical drama on the formation lap, having to start from the pit lane—leaving the front row wide open to Mick Schumacher, who rocketed to the lead of the race off the start from his third-place grid spot.
Drugovich, on the alternate strategy, fell down to fourth by Lap 2, with Nikita Mazepin and Christian Lundgaard both making their way past in the early stage of the race.
By Lap 3, Mazepin was sizing up Schumacher, before finally seizing the opportunity and taking the lead of the race around the outside of Stowe.
Drugovich, with his hard tyres now up to temperature, was the fastest of the leading pack, biding his time to mount an attack on Lundgaard ahead.
Mick Schumacher surges to an early lead in the FIA F2 Feature Race at Silverstone. (Image: Supplied/Formula Motorsport Limited)
Guanyu Zhou caught Yuki Tsunoda napping on Lap 7, stealing sixth position into Loop corner. This unleashed the Renault Academy driver down the field as he quickly came level with Jack Aitken, slipping past the Briton for fifth place on the following lap.
Mazepin and Schumacher pitted from the lead on Lap 8, returning in 13th and 14th, with Lundgaard into the pits on Lap 9.
The Danish driver emerged ahead of Mazepin, but with cold tyres he was quickly passed by both of the former leaders.
Drugovich held the race lead on the alternate strategy, requiring a gap of at least 30 seconds to maintain the lead after his pit stop.
Behind him, Mazepin was up to eighth, with the gap to the leader already down to 25 seconds.
Schumacher was unable to make the same progress through the pack, and was caught by Lundgaard.
Drugovich finally pitted with 10 laps remaining, emerging down in P12, and the remaining drivers on the alternate strategy, including Guanyu Zhou, completed their stops within the next three laps.
This cleared the track and meant that the race was running in its natural order for the first time, led by Mazepin, Lundgaard, and Schumacher—but the German was falling into the clutches of the chasing pack, losing out to Yuki Tsunoda and Louis Delétraz.
Zhou’s pace and a tidy pit stop meant he returned to the field in eighth, and seemed to immediately bring his tyres to temperature, passing his teammate Callum Ilott, and then besting Jehan Daruvala, Schumacher, Tsunoda, and Delétraz all within a single lap.
The move past Delétraz put Zhou onto the podium, but he wasn’t done yet, catching Lundgaard in record time and blitzing past the Dane for second place.
In a frenetic final few laps, Delétraz was passed by both Tsunoda and Ilott, and the Japanese Red Bull junior driver took the opportunity to leapfrog Lundgaard to snatch the final podium position.
Mazepin was unbeatable, taking his first FIA Formula 2 victory 5.3 seconds ahead of Zhou and Tsunoda.
Mazepin said “I am extremely happy, but it is a little bit difficult to put how I feel into words because it was reasonably unexpected.”
“There was so much going on that I wasn’t really thinking about leading the race.”
“I am extremely happy because it really feels like a nice string of progression and I am very chuffed for the team. They gave me a fantastic car, which helped me to look after those tyres, and make them last the race on a difficult track like Silverstone where tyres are an issue.
“To come away with my first win the Formula 2 Championship after having my first podium last weekend, makes me extremely motivated and extremely happy and I am very much looking forward to the rest of the season.”
Guanyu Zhou, Nikita Mazepin, and Yuki Tsunoda stand on the FIA F2 podium for the Feature Race at Silverstone. (Image: Supplied/Formula Motorsport Limited)
Championship leader Robert Shwartzman narrowly maintained his lead despite finishing down in P14, out of the points-paying positions. With his remarkable fifth-place finish from pit lane, Ilott now sits second on the championship just eight points behind the lead.
Kiwi Marcus Armstrong finished P16.
