F2 Spain: Bearman takes comfortable win from pole

The Prema Racing driver bounced back after a tricky weekend last time out in Monaco to take another victory, having secured a clean sweep the previous round in Baku.

It marked Prema's second win of the weekend, with team-mate Frederik Vesti taking victory in Saturday's sprint race.

Fighting off a challenge from Enzo Fittipaldi (Rodin Carlin) at the start, Bearman was able to break the DRS chain by lap six to hold a 1.6s lead as Fittipaldi fought ART driver Theo Pourchaire for second.

As the field cycled through pitstops, Bearman was able to hold out later than his rivals as he managed his tyres well before stopping for the hard compound on lap 13 and emerging in 12th.

He cut through those ahead who were yet to stop with ease, and took back control on lap 25 as Victor Martins, running on the alternate strategy having started seventh, pitted from the lead.

Bearman led by 4.4s from Fittipaldi by lap 30, with another six seconds to Ayumu Iwasa (DAMS), before Martins took advantage of his soft tyres to secure third with two laps remaining.

Iwasa had a strong start, with Fittipaldi almost attempting a move on Bearman at Turn 1 before running wide and heading around the bollard.

Fittipaldi and Pourchaire tussled for second, while Iwasa attempted to get in on the top three but settled for fourth, as Doohan fell back to fifth.

The stops began on lap six, with Campos Racing driver Ralph Boschung the first to take new tyres.

Pourchaire and Iwasa stopped three laps later for hards, with the pair emerging in 17th and 18th.

Bearman was 1.2s clear by lap 10, with a further 5.2s back to Invicta Virtuosi driver Doohan, before Fittipaldi, Doohan and MP Motorsport's Dennis Hauger all stopped.

Fittipaldi led those who had stopped from Pourchaire and Iwasa, and despite the Frenchman's best attempts, he was unable to pass the Red Bull junior.

Bearman stopped on lap 13, emerging 12th to easily maintain his lead ahead of Fittipaldi, Pourchaire and Iwasa.

The Brazilian had closed on the leader by lap 15, with the Briton still finding temperature in his tyres, but Bearman used traffic to his advantage and put several of those yet-to-stop between himself and Fittipaldi.

As the stoppers made their way through those yet to pit, Iwasa and Doohan made it past Pourchaire, with the Frenchman struggling on his hard tyres.

Bearman had a 2.7s gap to Fittipaldi by lap 21, with the traffic playing into his hands, while his team-mate Vesti, running on the alternate strategy, pitted for softs a few laps later.

The alternate strategy, run by Martins and Vesti, proved to work well, with both drivers making strong progress in the closing stages.

Martins pitted from the lead on lap 25, emerging in fifth, while Vesti had come out ninth before making his way up to sixth by lap 27 as he passed Pourchaire on the start-finish straight with the help of DRS.

Martins passed Doohan the following tour before Vesti followed suit around the outside of Turn 10 and the pair closed on the top three.

A fight for third ensued, with Iwasa and Martins tussling for several laps before the Frenchman took the final podium spot on lap 35 with the help of DRS.

Iwasa settled for fourth, with Vesti in fifth having lined up eighth. Doohan and Pourchaire were sixth and seventh, with Hauger, Arthur Leclerc (DAMS) and Richard Verschoor (VAR) rounding off the top 10.

Cla	Driver	Team	Gap
1	Oliver Bearman	Prema Powerteam
2	Enzo Fittipaldi	Rodin Carlin	2.800
3	Victor Martins	ART Grand Prix	3.400
4	Ayumu Iwasa	DAMS	9.000
5	Frederik Vesti	Prema Powerteam	9.600
6	Jack Doohan	Invicta Virtuosi Racing	17.000
7	Theo Pourchaire	ART Grand Prix	20.400
8	Dennis Hauger	MP Motorsport	21.200
9	Arthur Leclerc	DAMS	21.800
10	Richard Verschoor	Van Amersfoort Racing	34.600
11	Juan Manuel Correa	Van Amersfoort Racing	42.000
12	Roman Staněk	Trident	42.800
13	Jak Crawford	Hitech Pulse-Eight	43.400
14	Jehan Daruvala	MP Motorsport	45.500
15	Ralph Boschung	Campos Racing	58.200
16	Zane Maloney	Rodin Carlin	1'00.600
17	Kush Maini	Campos Racing	1'02.600
18	Roy Nissany	PHM Racing by Charouz	1'04.200
19	Amaury Cordeel	Invicta Virtuosi Racing	1'21.000
20	Isack Hadjar	Hitech Pulse-Eight
21	Clement Novalak	Trident
22	Brad Benavides	PHM Racing by Charouz
View full results

Cla	Driver	Team	Gap
1	Oliver Bearman	Prema Powerteam
2	Enzo Fittipaldi	Rodin Carlin	2.800
3	Victor Martins	ART Grand Prix	3.400
4	Ayumu Iwasa	DAMS	9.000
5	Frederik Vesti	Prema Powerteam	9.600
6	Jack Doohan	Invicta Virtuosi Racing	17.000
7	Theo Pourchaire	ART Grand Prix	20.400
8	Dennis Hauger	MP Motorsport	21.200
9	Arthur Leclerc	DAMS	21.800
10	Richard Verschoor	Van Amersfoort Racing	34.600
11	Juan Manuel Correa	Van Amersfoort Racing	42.000
12	Roman Staněk	Trident	42.800
13	Jak Crawford	Hitech Pulse-Eight	43.400
14	Jehan Daruvala	MP Motorsport	45.500
15	Ralph Boschung	Campos Racing	58.200
16	Zane Maloney	Rodin Carlin	1'00.600
17	Kush Maini	Campos Racing	1'02.600
18	Roy Nissany	PHM Racing by Charouz	1'04.200
19	Amaury Cordeel	Invicta Virtuosi Racing	1'21.000
20	Isack Hadjar	Hitech Pulse-Eight
21	Clement Novalak	Trident
22	Brad Benavides	PHM Racing by Charouz
View full results