F2 | Sprint Race | Azerbaijan GP | Beganovic rockets to maiden F2 victory - Motorsport

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Dino Beganovic stormed to his maiden F2 victory as Hitech makes it a 1-2 at the F2 Azerbaijan GP. After a frantic Qualifying, Jak Crawford snatched pole position on the streets of Baku. As usual, the top in positions are reversed for the sprint race making the battle for a podium unpredictable.

As Friday was riddled with penalties post-Qualifying, Rafael Villagomez takes reverse grid pole. Joining him on the first row is Ferrari Academy Driver, Dino Beganovic. Sebastian Montoya and on his debut in F2, Martinius Stenshorne, line up on the second row. Behind them, Red Bull junior, Pepe Marti and Luke Browning compose the third row. Next is McLaren Junior Alex Dunne, joined by PREMA’s Gabriele Mini. The top ten is rounded out by Championship leader, Leo Fornaroli and feature race polesitter, Jak Crawford.

Notably, Roman Staněk lines up P17, despite grabbing P9 during the Qualifying session. The Czech driver received a five-place grid penalty for both races, and had his fastest lap time erased for causing a collision and red flag. Similarly, Victor Martins got his lap time deleted as he caused another red flag, dropping him to P12. Arvid Lindblad starts far back in P21 as he serves his grid penalties from Monza.

Green lights at Baku

When the green lights went out and the pack was ready to go, it got off to a quick start around the challenging Baku streets. With no compulsory pit stop, and the championship narrow, the sprint was bound to be exciting.

Montoya had a wonderful launch off the line, keeping his lead but with Dino Beganovic lurking closely behind the lead could change at any moment.

Already at the very start off the line, two incidents immediately happened. It looked to be a terrible start for Red Bull as three of their juniors were involved in the incidents. Marti spun around after contact with Villagomez. Goethe got hit by Bennett.

The day quickly turned sour for polesitter, Villagomez, as he heads three wide into Turn 2 with Goethe and Stenshorne. A bit ahead, Marti suffered contact. The Red Bull juniors suffering contact, spinning around, and being forced out of the race. The incidents led to a premature ending for Marti, Lindblad, Goethe, and Villagomez.

Stenshorne in his F2 debut got off to a strong start, avoiding the damage from the incidents and soaring by into third. Meanwhile, Beganovic seized the opportunity to storm by Montoya and take the lead.

Restart and more retirements

As the cars were cleared from the track, and the saftey car went in, Beganovic was ready to lead the field through the restart. Lap 4 got off to a slow start as the Ferrari Academy Driver took his time to push the gas. Once he pulled off, the drivers were eager to battle.

Luke Browning made a bold attempt to go down the outside of Stenshorne, but did not manage to successfully finish the move as he waits for another opportunity. Sprint leader, Beganovic, created a one second gap to second already on Lap 5, pushing to extend his lead and secure the sprint victory.

Further back, Maini ran into the back off Cordeel as the latter brakes late into the corner. The DAMS driver staggered back to the pits for a front wing change. Despite the change, the driver was forced to retire in the pits. Making it the fourth DNF of the Sprint thus far. Meanwhile, the other Alpine junior made a fine move on Fornaroli as the DRS enabled and he soared into sixth.

Stenshorne continued to demonstrate solid overtaking skills on his F2 debut as he makes a wonderful move on Montoya into second. However, the Norwegian driver’s wonderful debut comes to a premature end as he slowed down, tumbling down the order. The TRIDENT driver suffered a mechanical issue taking him from a potential podium finish, to a retirement.

While he has created a nearly 5 second gap to Montoya in second, the Virtual Safety Car can potentially damage the Hitech’s driver amazing effort. As Stenshorne parked at the side of the track, the marshals worked to green light the track as soon as possible.

Safety car drama continues

While it looked to be a virtual safety car, the stewards forced to make it a full safety car as a result of not being able to clear the TRIDENT fast enough. More trouble came on Lap 12, as light drizzle begun just as the safety car was ending.

Beganovic took a cautious approach to the restart, waiting patiently to launch off. As he attempted to escape the field, Dunne made a ambitious move down on the inside of Browning, successfully grabbing third from the Hitech driver. Further back, Miyata and Verschoor both tumbled down the line. Notably, Montoya was noted for a safety car infringement, which is set to be investigated after the race.

Mini seized the opportunity to fight his way through the pack, but failed to notice Dunne’s refusal to give up his place. The McLaren junior got his elbows out to defend fourth place ahead of Mini. On Lap 16, Dunne was not able to defend anymore as Mini storms past him to take fourth.

Luke Browning stormed down the inside of Montoya on Lap 18, grabbing second place behind his teammate in the lead. The points would be crucial for Browning as he lies second in the fight for the F2 title.

Leap to the chequered flag

With only a couple laps to go, the pressure to perform was on. Van Hoepens suffered an unfortunate sprint as he dropped further down to 17th.

In the front, Jak Crawford made great progress as the feature race polesitter fights his way to fourth past Mini. The DAMS driver found himself outside of the DRS, just over a second behind Dunne in third. Meanwhile, Montoya’s day continues to worsen as he tumbled down the order to thirteenth. Fire could be seen coming from the PREMA car as he continued to drive around the Baku circuit.

With two laps to go, it looked to be a Hitech 1-2 for the first time in five years. With a 5.8 second lead, Beganovic continued to pull further away from the field, eager to get his maiden victory.

The hectic sprint race came with a drama until the very end. Verschoor sneaked sixth from Mini just before the finish line. Notably, Lindblad had a strong recovery drive making it into P10.

It concluded with fantastic effort from both drivers making it a Hitech 1-2. Dino Beganovic rocketed to his maiden victory in F2, with a dominant 6 second gap.

Provisional Sprint Race Results: