Formula 2: Dino on the podium, Ollie comes close

In the final round of the season, Beganovic finished on the podium, his first in this category, while Bearman fought back to claim a fourth and a fifth place.

A week on from a brilliant debut in the category at the Lusail circuit, Dino Beganovic netted his first Formula 2 podium. The Scuderia Ferrari Driver Academy’s 20 year old Swede also impressed on his second outing, finishing third in the Sprint at Yas Marina and then seventh in the Feature Race, in which he suffered with an electrical problem. He was immediately on the pace, qualifying fifth, a prelude to a great sprint race. Dino started from the third row and initially, he got caught up in the chaos amongst those further up the grid, which dropped him to eighth. On lap 9, Beganovic passed Kush Maini and pushed on until he was fifth on lap 20, with a nice move on Amaury Cordeel. Dino then made up two places after the race, when Paul Aron was disqualified following post-race scrutineering and Bearman’s five second penalty was taken into account. “I’m happy with my first podium in the Sprint Race,” commented Dino. “I improved lap after lap and was able to fight with those around me without any problems.”

Feature Race. Beganovic started fifth, soon moving up to third before crossing the finish line in seventh place, despite some electrical problems which affected his car in the second half of the race. “I think even in the Feature Race, my pace was good,” he said. “Unfortunately, in the second stint a technical problem slightly limited our performance, but in the end, I still managed to finish in the points. Being able to take part in the final two Formula 2 rounds was very useful and I enjoyed every single lap. I’d like to thank the DAMS team for this opportunity which will be very valuable going forward.”

Ollie. Yas Marina was Oliver Bearman’s swansong in the category. He was unlucky in qualifying and was only 15th fastest. It meant his weekend started on the backfoot. However, in both races, he clawed his way up the order to finish not far off the podium. His tenacity all the way to the last lap of the season was rewarded with a fourth and fifth place, a testament to the quality of his driving. “I really had fun in the Sprint race,” commented Ollie. “I got a five second penalty for track limits which was a shame as, without that, I’d have finished on the podium. However, I enjoyed having a car that felt very quick right from the first laps. I got a good start and thanks to a strong pace, I was able to really make up a lot of places.” Ollie also charged up the order in the Feature Race, this time finishing fifth. “I’m. happy, another good race,” he concluded. “We lost a bit of time in the early stages, but the pace proved to be very good. I’m proud to have ended my time in Formula 2 with two good races. Obviously, I’d have wanted something more over the course of the whole season, but I think I still made significant progress this year. It’s the end of a long journey with the Prema team and I’d like to express my great thanks to all of them.”