2020 Barcelona Sprint Race

The 2020 Barcelona Sprint Race, otherwise known formally as the 2020 Catalunya Race 2, was the twelfth round of the 2020 FIA Formula 2 Championship staged at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on 16 August 2020. The race, held in support of the Formula 1 Aramco Gran Premio de España 2020, would see Felipe Drugovich sweep to a dominant victory after snatching the lead at the start.

Ahead of the race it was announced that Sean Gelael would miss the race and several of the following rounds, after sustaining a fractured vertebra. A collision between the Indonesian racer and Jack Aitken on the final lap of the Barcelona Feature Race had seen the #1 DAMS get launched into the air, before slamming down onto the floor.

With the field reduced to 21 drivers the Sprint Race would get underway, with Luca Ghiotto starting on pole position, only to get instantly passed by Drugovich. Indeed, the Brazilian would snatch the inside line into the first corner to claim the lead, while Ghiotto fended off a lunge from Mick Schumacher as the German tried to drive right between the pair, only to slip behind Callum Ilott.

The order at the head of the field settled quickly, leaving most of the action in the early stages to be found in the midfield, with Robert Shwartzman defending from Louis Delétraz. Indeed, their fight was so intense that they failed to notice an incoming Nikita Mazepin, who swept past the pair of them on successive laps, dragging Christian Lundgaard along with him.

Out front, meanwhile, Drugovich had established an eight second lead, while Ghiotto was coming under increasing pressure from Ilott and Schumacher behind. Indeed, it was only when the Italian cleaned up his tyres that he was able to break clear of the two Ferrari Driver Academy drivers, which allowed Schumacher to pass the #4 UNI-Virtuosi with the aid of DRS.

Ilott's pace faded badly after that, with the Brit slipping back behind Yuki Tsunoda, who had already passed the Brit's teammate Guanyu Zhou. Zhou would subsequently become one of a handful of drivers to opt into making a late change for soft tyres, with Jack Aitken and Dan Ticktum also stopping.

Out front, meanwhile, Drugovich nursed his tyres beautifully to claim an impressive second victory of the campaign, still some eight seconds clear of the resurgent Ghiotto. Schumacher then completed the podium ahead of Tsunoda, while a late move for Feature winner Nobuharu Matsushita carried the Japanese racer to fifth ahead of Mazepin. Pedro Piquet was next up to claim his maiden points finish, while Lundgaard finished eighth on the road but received a time penalty and so dropped back behind Ilott.

Background
There were no changes made to the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya ahead of the Barcelona Sprint Race, which would mark the halfway point in the 2020 FIA Formula 2 Championship, despite the fact that the final two rounds had not been announced. There was, however, a change to the entry list, with Sean Gelael ruled out for the foreseeable future after his contact with Jack Aitken on the final lap of the Feature Race left him with a fractured vertebra. DAMS would hence only field one car in the Sprint race, with the field reduced to 21 cars as a result, as Luca Ghiotto would start from pole position after finishing eighth in the Feature.

Catalan Contingencies
Callum Ilott had retained the lead of the Championship as the sixth Feature Race of the campaign came to its conclusion, and would hence head into the Sprint with a seventeen point margin. Behind, Robert Shwartzman had moved back ahead of Christian Lundgaard to claim second after his podium finish, while the Dane slipped 33 points behind in third after a non-score. Guanyu Zhou, meanwhile, had streaked up the order to fourth ahead of Yuki Tsunoda, while race winner Nobuharu Matsushita had moved up to eleventh.

In the Teams' Championship UNI-Virtuosi had inched further ahead of closest rivals Prema Racing, establishing a 24 points lead over the Italian effort. Prema themselves had likewise opened up their margin to the team behind, with ART Grand Prix having slipped 51 points back as a result of the Barcelona Feature. Elsewhere, Hitech Grand Prix and Carlin had retained their top five status, while MP Motorsport were the day's big winners as they climbed up to sixth from eighth.

Entry List
The full entry list for the is displayed below:
 * * Placeholder liveries are show for the second drivers in each team.

Grid
The grid for the Sprint Race was formed from the finishing positions from the Feature Race, with the top eight reversed as per-FIA Formula 2 Championship rules:

Race
Conditions were dry and warm for the Barcelona Sprint Race on Sunday morning, with a low threat of rain for the 120 km race. In contrast, there had been some minor turbulence to the starting grid, with Sean Gelael withdrawn from the race after sustain back injuries in the Feature Race, meaning the #1 DAMS would be absent from the grid. That would not have an impact on the front of the grid however, with Luca Ghiotto starting from pole position as expected.

Report
Unfortunately for Ghiotto he would get a poor initial launch, meaning he instantly sipped behind fellow front row started Felipe Drugovich, who shot through to claim the lead. Instead, Ghiotto found himself fighting with a fast starting Mick Schumacher into the first corner, although the German racer was more cautious on the down the inside of the right hander and hence ceded second. That decision would also cost the #20 Prema third as Callum Ilott danced his #4 UNI-Virtuosi around the outside of Schumacher, while behind there would be no major issues.

Fighting unsurprisingly continued throughout the opening tour, with Robert Shwartzman bravely driving right around the outside of Guanyu Zhou through turn three to claim sixth. Shwartzman then sent the #21 Prema lunging down the inside of Yuki Tsunoda for fifth through turn four, with that move costing the #7 Carlin enough momentum that Zhou managed to follow him through at turn six. Elsewhere, Dan Ticktum was making up for a poor start having slipped from ninth to fifteenth, fighting his way back up to thirteenth, while up front Drugovich set about building a lead.

Indeed, after the opening tour the race would quickly settle down, with Drugovich recording a succession of fastest laps as he broke away at the head of the field. Behind, Ghiotto would likewise escape from Ilott, while Ilott similarly established a healthy two second margin over fellow Ferrari Driver Academy member Schumacher in fourth. Behind, Shwartzman's strong start was undermined by a mistake that allowed Zhou and Tsunoda to re-pass him, before Nobuharu Matsushita fired past the #21 Prema into turn one on lap four to claim seventh.

There would be more fighting further down the field, with Louis Delétraz putting up a very aggressive defence from Nikita Mazepin into turn one at the start of lap nine, moving across to the inside of the circuit. Yet, with the aid of DRS Mazepin would beat the Swiss racer to the inside line, and hence was able to elbow his way past the #11 Charouz into turn one, despite having a brief brush with the grass. The left him in ninth and sent him scampering off after Shwartzman, while Delétraz spent the rest of the lap defending from Christian Lundgaard.

As the race approached half-distance tyre wear became a major concern, with several cars including both of Virtuosis showing heavy graining on their front-left tyres. Yet, that would not stop Ilott from reeling Ghiotto back in at the head of the field, with the #4 Virtuosi also dragging Schumacher onto the #25 Hitech's tail. On lap fourteen the Brit made his first bid for second, ducking from the inside to the outside of the entry to turn one before Ghiotto ran him out wide.

Behind them, Mazepin would catch and pass Shwartzman with ease into turn one, a simple lunge down the inside of turn one getting him into eighth. A couple of laps later and Tsunoda would blast past Zhou with ease down the start/finish straight, with Matsushita left right on the #3 Virtuosi's tail as a result. Elsewhere, Roy Nissany made an impressive move down the inside Marcus Armstrong at the final chicane stick to claim sixteenth, before leading the New Zealander past a struggling Jack Aitken into turn one a few moments later.

After failing to get ahead of Ghiotto, Ilott would slip into the sights of Schumacher, who duly lined up a move on the #4 Virtuosi down the start/finish straight with six laps to go. Indeed, there was little Ilott could do to deny the #20 Prema, with the German racer sweeping around the outside of the Brit before they entered turn one as Ilott took the defensive inside line. They had, however, both been caught by Tsunoda as a result of their fight, who duly danced around the outside of Ilott turn four to claim fourth.

Behind them Zhou was having to put up a ferocious defence from Matsushita, locking up the front-left as he took the inside line to fend off the #14 MP Motorsport. That would keep Zhou ahead of Matsushita, although a compromised run through turns two and three hence meant he was powerless to prevent the Japanese racer darting past on the run to turn four. Another front left lock-up and Zhou's race was done, with a flat spot on his front left developing into a slow puncture in that moment as Mazepin swept past.

Into the closing stages Pedro Piquet was making a late charge up the order, with a simple lunge down the inside of turn one on Lundgaard carrying the #12 Charouz into eighth. Nissany too was steadily climbing up the field, pulling a smart move on Artem Markelov for eleventh, while Shwartzman had slipped down to sixteenth ahead of Zhou as both made stops for fresh softs. Those two hence began lighting up the timing screens as they began climbing back up the order, although they were too far from the back of Piquet to seriously threaten the points.

Onto the start of the penultimate tour and Matsushita was on the back of Ilott, and duly sold the #4 Virtuosi a dummy into turn one to sweep around the outside of Ilott for fifth. Ilott then had to defend from Mazepin into turn four, and would manage to claim the inside line for the right hander, only to wash out wide. That, remarkably, gave him the inside line for turn five, although a simple lack of traction on the exit of the left-hander meant Mazepin would simply drag past on the run to turn six. Ilott's fall would continue at the start of the final lap, with Piquet charging past to claim seventh with a simple lunge into turn one.

Out front, meanwhile, there would be no stopping Drugovich, who cruised through the closing stages to claim victory, almost ten seconds clear of Ghiotto in second. Schumacher would complete the podium in a comfortable third ahead of Tsunoda, while Matsushita claimed fifth ahead of Mazepin. Piquet trailed them to claim his maiden F2 points finish, while Lundgaard made a late lunge down the inside of Ilott for eighth through turn thirteen, although he ran off track on the exit and did not hand the position back.

Post-Race
Soon after the race there was a late change to the finishing order, with Lundgaard deemed to have left the track and gained an advantage with his late lunge on Ilott. As a result, and in-spite of replays showing that Ilott had left very little space, the Dane was handed a five second time penalty, dumping him back to eleventh and restoring Ilott into eighth.

Results
The final classification of the is displayed below:
 * Bold indicates a driver started from pole.
 * Italics indicate that a driver set fastest lap.
 * * Lungaard was awarded a five second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining a lasting advantage on the final lap.
 * † Alesi recorded the fastest lap of the race, but was ineligible to claim the bonus points as he failed to finish inside the top ten.

Milestones

 * Second career victory for Felipe Drugovich.
 * MP Motorsport claimed their fourth FIA Formula 2 Championship victory as an entrant.
 * Fifth podium finish for Mick Schumacher.
 * Maiden points finish for Pedro Piquet.

Standings
Callum Ilott would end the first half of the condensed 2020 season with a reasonable lead in the Championship, having scored 121 point across the first twelve rounds. Robert Shwartzman was his closest challenger in second, sat eighteen behind, while Christian Lundgaard held third on 87 points. Yuki Tsunoda was next up, five off the Dane in fourth, while Mick Schumacher rounded out a top five dominated by Ferrari Driver Academy members.

In the Teams' Championship it was UNI-Virtuosi who led the charge heading into the second half of the season, having claimed 197 points in the first six rounds. Prema Racing were next up in second, fifteen behind the British squad, while ART Grand Prix were a distant third on 121. Hitech Grand Prix and MP Motorsport then rounded out the top five, with all eleven teams having scored in the first half of the campaign.

Only point scoring drivers are shown.