After claiming his maiden F2 win yesterday, Oliver did it again in the Feature Race to round off a brilliant weekend which has promoted him to fourth in the championship.
It has been an unforgettable weekend in Baku for Oliver Bearman. Over the three days, he took his first Formula 2 pole before securing his first win yesterday. That just left today’s main Feature Race and there was no doubt that he was, by a long way, the class of the field. The brace of victories on a near perfect weekend puts him fourth in the standings on 41 points.
Delight. “What can I say?” asked an emotional Ollie. “We were quickest in all sessions, in free practice, qualifying and the two races. I’d say my season has started here, after I paid the price for my lack of experience in the first three rounds, but I think that’s normal for a rookie. Today, I had good pace and managed the tyres well, which is a crucial factor in this category and that’s something that gives me a lot of confidence. I understood this weekend that we are on the right road and so I’m optimistic as the season now hots up starting in Imola.”
Feature Race. Ollie got the perfect start, leading into the first corner. On lap 4, Theo Pourchaire made the most of the DRS to overtake Bearman, but the Englishman retook the lead with the same move next time round. He then built up a lead of over one second to get out of DRS range and his advantage was big enough to keep the gap over his rival even during the run of pit stops on lap 8. Once on the hard tyres, Bearman was the effective leader, because Ayuma Iwasa and Isaak Hadjar were ahead but yet to pit. He had a two second lead over Pourchaire, who was later passed by Enzo Fittipaldi. Oliver put in fast and consistent laps while looking after the tyres, so that he was able to comfortably manage his lead to the chequered flag. Arthur Leclerc had a busy race having started from 13th place. He fought in the midfield, finishing 11th, just two seconds off the points places.