Chennai MRF Challenge: Fittipaldi wins, Schumacher on podium
Championship leader Pietro Fittipaldi took a fine win in the opening race of the MRF Challenge finale as Mick Schumacher finished on the podium at Chennai.
Photo by: MRF Racing
Fittipaldi extended his lead in the championship after picking up a win in the first race of the weekend, keeping Harrison Newey at bay for the 15-lap race.
The Brazilian was unchallenged at the start, but Newey started to close in before he ran out of laps towards the end to make a move on Fittipaldi.
Behind the top two, a battle brewed for the final place on the podium between Alessio Picariello and Mick Schumacher.
The young German lost two places at the start after he was pushed onto the grass but drove a good race to leapfrog Tarun Reddy first and then Picariello to finish third.
"I am pretty happy, for sure. The two guys were a bit quicker than I [was] and so they had gone from the start," said Schumacher after the race.
"I had to pass few people first and also managed to get closer to Tatiana Calderon who was quick, I am pretty happy to be third now.
"Yeah, I would happy to show my tricks on the track, I like this track," he added.
Championship contender Calderon improved from her grid slot of seventh to finish fifth ahead of Indian Reddy, who lost three places during the race.
Aleksanteri Huovinen, Arjun Narendran and Karthik Tharani had off moments in the race as Nerses Isaakyan finished seventh with fellow countrymen Nikita Troitskiy eighth.
Australia's Dylan Young and British driver Max Fewtrell completed the top 10.
Race results:
Pos. |
Driver |
Gap |
---|---|---|
1 |
Pietro Fittipaldi |
- |
2 |
Harrison Newey |
1.714 |
3 |
Mick Schumacher |
15.641 |
4 |
Alessio Picariello |
17.495 |
5 |
Tatiana Calderon |
19.903 |
6 |
Tarun Reddy |
23.368 |
7 |
Nerses Isaakyan |
28.679 |
8 |
Nikita Troitskiy |
29.616 |
9 |
Dylan Young |
32.084 |
10 |
Max Fewtrell |
32.564 |
11 |
Enzo Bortoleto |
34.091 |
12 |
Laura Tillett |
41.973 |
13 |
Karthik Tharani |
55.736 |
14 |
Arjun Narendran |
56.736 |
DNF |
Aleksanteri Huovinen |
8 laps |
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