2019 Sochi Sprint Race

The 2019 Sochi Sprint Race, formally known as the 2019 Sochi Formula 2 Race 2, was the twenty-first race of the 2019 FIA Formula 2 Championship, staged at the Sochi Autodrom in Sochi, Russia, on 29 September 2019. The race, held in support of the 2019 Russian Grand Prix, would see Luca Ghiotto claim victory in a race that had to be time limited due to an early red flag.

That red flag would come right as the start, as pole sitter Nikita Mazepin clashed with Jack Aitken at the exit of the first chicane. The pair had been squabbling for the lead into the chicane, with Aitken locking up and running wide along with Mazepin, only for Mazepin to sweep right across his path as he attempted to rejoin.

The contact broke Mazepin's left rear suspension, which sent the ART straight into the path of Nobuharu Matsushita. Mazepin and Matsushita duly went shooting into the barriers on the exit of turn two to send debris everywhere, shredding the tec-pro barriers and bringing out the red flag.

Fortunately both Mazepin and Matsushita escaped unharmed, although both would miss the restart of race, which was shortened to fifteen laps due to the time loss. The field was restarted behind the Safety Car, with Ghiotto leading the charge ahead of Callum Ilott, although the Brit was almost instantly passed by freshly crowned Champion Nyck de Vries.

Ghiotto made an early break away at the head of the field, quickly establishing a 2.6 second lead before easing off in a bid to preserve his Pirelli tyres. Once he eased off de Vries was able to quickly demolish his advantage, and duly began to harass the Italian racer for the lead with DRS.

The fight for the lead would ebb and flow, with Ghiotto putting together a defensive masterclass to keep de Vries at bay. Elsewhere, Sérgio Sette Câmara battled up to challenge Ilott for third before his pace faded, while Mick Schumacher and Giuliano Alesi tried to go side-by-side through the final sector, in a battle that ended with terminal damage for the young German racer.

With that the race was run, with Ghiotto's defence holding firm through to the chequered flag as he claimed victory. de Vries was second ahead of Ilott, while Nicholas Latifi and Zhou managed to pass the ailing Câmara in the closing stages. Sean Gelael and Alesi completed the scorers, the latter showing no signs of damage after his wheel-banging with Schumacher.

After the race Mazepin was declared fit and released from Sochi hospital, while Matsushita was kept in overnight for a precautionary scan. He was released the following day with no injuries found.

Background
The Sochi Autodrom was unchanged ahead of the second FIA Formula 2 Championship race of the weekend, with the DRS zones unmodified for the Sprint. There were also no changes to the field or grid order, with Nikita Mazepin set to start on pole position after finishing eighth in the Feature Race.

de Vries Delirium
Pole position combined with victory in the 2019 Sochi Feature Race ensured that Nyck de Vries had done enough to secure the 2019 FIA Formula 2 Championship with three races to spare, having moved 70 points clear. Nicholas Latifi was hence left to fight for second despite doing all he could to deny the Dutchman in the Feature, but had crucially moved fifteen clear of Luca Ghiotto in third. The Italian racer himself had a ten point margin over Sérgio Sette Câmara in fourth, while Jack Aitken remained in the hunt for second in fifth.

DAMS were once again the standout names in the Teams' Championship with three races to go, having moved 60 points clear with a podium and a fifth place in the Sochi Feature. UNI-Virtuosi had hence lost ground in second, while ART Grand Prix had closed in on the British squad, largely due to de Vries' victory. Just 21 points separated the pair as the season entered its final throes, as behind Carlin moved ahead of Campos Racing in the latest edition of their game of leapfrog for fourth.

Entry List
The full entry list for the is displayed below:

Grid
The grid for the second F2 race of the Sochi weekend was arranged according to the results of the Feature Race, with the top eight finishers reversed:

Race
Conditions were still warm and dry at the Sochi Autodrom for the second F2 race of the weekend, with no threat of rain on Sunday morning. Likewise, there were no changes to the grid ahead of the race, with Nikita Mazepin set to start the race from pole position, with Jack Aitken lining up alongside.

Report
It was an even getaway for the front row starters when the lights went out, with Aitken sweeping across to try and slipstream Mazepin on the long drag through turn one into the first chicane. Nobuharu Matsushita went with them and duly got down the inside of Aitken, while behind Sérgio Sette Câmara would fight with Luca Ghiotto. Mazepin would subsequently lock-up and run wide at the chicane on the inside, taking Aitken off with him, while Louis Delétraz made a mess of his braking point and threw his car across the tarmac on the inside before spinning, forcing Sette Câmara to take avoiding action.

Mazepin would quickly scramble back onto the circuit, although he would do so in a very unsafe manner having tried to squeeze between Aitken and the specifically placed bollard that indicated where drivers should rejoin. In his haste to rejoin Mazepin would clip the side of Aitken's car, which spat the #3 ART across the circuit and into Matsushita on the run to turn four. That contact was hard enough to knock the #2 Carlin half a foot into the air, before both he and Mazepin went streaking into the barriers.

Matsushita would hit the tec-pro barriers nose first, with the #2 Carlin briefly disappearing under the force absorbing wall before rebounding back. Mazepin, meanwhile, would be thrown into a series of spins, before hitting the back of Matsushita as the #2 Carlin bounced out of the barriers. That pushed Matsushita's car back into the barriers and destroyed the rear of the Japanese racer's car, while Mazepin had heavy damage to the side of his car.

That incident would trigger a red flag a few moments later, with the tec-pro barriers shredded, while Mazepin and Matsushita were both to be taken to the on-track hospital. Before that, however, Ghiotto would assume the lead ahead of Callum Ilott, while Aitken had slipped to the back of the field with suspension damage after Mazepin's bounce off the #15 Campos. Sette Câmara had also scrambled back onto the circuit safely to run in fifth, while Delétraz, who had ended up facing the wrong way on the inside of turn three, had also limped back for repairs.

Restart
Fortunately both Mazepin and Matsushita would be declared fit after their trip to the medical centre, with neither sustaining any major injuries from the accident. Both would, however, be forced to sit-out the restart of the race, with their cars too heavily damaged to be repaired during the fifteen minute delay. The rest of the now eighteen car field would be able to take the restart, with Aitken and Delétraz both in the fray after repairs.

The race officially resumed at the start of lap two behind the Safety Car, with the race distance reduced to fifteen laps. At the end of the lap Ghiotto would assume the lead, while de Vries would lunge down the inside of Ilott for second into the first chicane on lap three, while Sette Câmara pulled an identical manoeuvre on his teammate Latifi for fourth. However, while Latifi would back down after being dive-bombed by his teammate, Ilott would harass de Vries immediately.

Indeed, Ilott would get a strong exit from the chicane, and duly squeezed down the inside of de Vries into turn four, with the Dutchman leaving just a car width. The pair duly went side-by-side through the sweeping left, with de Vries just hanging on around the outside to hold the position down the inside of turn five. That, however, would compromise his exit out of the corner, forcing him to be ultra defensive into turn six, taking another tight line.

After that de Vries would finally escape from Ilott's immediate vicinity, although the Brit still remained a threat throughout the rest of the lap. Out front, meanwhile, Ghitto would establish a second and a half lead over the fight behind, while Sette Câmara was issued with a five second time penalty for cutting the first chicane at the original start. Ralph Boschung was slapped with the same penalty for a similar incident, while Delétraz was issued with a ten second time penalty for causing a collision.

With that the order began to settle down inside the top ten, with Ghiotto continuing to build a lead, while de Vries escaped from Ilott. Indeed, the only change in the top ten came on lap five, when Mick Schumacher tried an audacious lunge around the outside of Giuliano Alesi into turn thirteen, only for Alesi to hold on down the inside. They hence ran through the next complex of corners side-by-side, with Schumacher bouncing off the side of Alesi through turn fifteen although Alesi kept control on the outside, and hence scrambled ahead through turn sixteen. That compromised Schumacher's exit from the corner and hence allowed Jordan King to get a run on the #9 Prema, with the Brit duly storming down the inside of Schumacher into the penultimate corner to secure tenth.

A couple of laps later and Schumacher seemingly decided to take a gamble, sweeping into the pits for a fresh set of supersoft tyres, despite the fact that they had worn incredibly quickly during the Feature Race. However, after changing the tyres the German racer was told to switch off the engine, with damage found to his suspension after his collision with Alesi. That was hence the end of Schumacher's race, with everyone else sticking with their starting set of medium Pirelli tyres.

Into the closing stages and Ghiotto's lead had steadily withered away under sustained pressure from de Vries, who was dragging the rest of the top six with him as he moved up to challenge the #8 UNI-Virtuosi for the lead. With three laps to go the Dutchman would get a run on Ghiotto on the run to the first chicane, forcing Ghiotto to take the defensive inside line. de Vries hence tried an over-under on the exit to try and get a run on him into turn four, although Ghiotto's exit was strong enough to hold the position.

de Vries' next chance came at the start of the final lap, with de Vries again forcing Ghiotto to take a defensive stance into the first chicane. However, despite being closer to the Italian on exit, the Dutchman would be unable to get the initative exiting the corner, and hence had concede the lead to Ghiotto. That, ultimately, proved to be that for the race lead, as behind King fired past Artem Markelov for ninth after the Russian racer ran wide at the first chicane while defending from the Brit.

Indeed, Ghiotto controlled the rest of the final lap from the front of the field to claim victory, defeating de Vries by seven tenths of a second, although he was very unhappy with his tyres. Ilott completed the podium in third ahead of Latifi, while Zhou jumped ahead of Sette Câmara once the Brazilian's penalty was applied. Sean Gelael and Alesi then completed the scorers, with King having run out of time to catch the Frenchman.

Results
The final classification of the is displayed below:
 * Italics indicate that a driver set fastest lap.
 * * Mazepin awarded a fifteen place grid penalty for the 2019 Yas Marina Feature Race for causing a collision.

Milestones

 * Luca Ghiotto secured his fourth career victory.
 * Also Ghiotto's fifth win at GP2/F2 level.
 * Virtuosi Racing claimed their third win as an entrant.

Standings
Nyck de Vries had extended his title winning advantage in the Sochi Sprint Race, leaving Russia on 266 points and with a safe 72 point lead. Nicholas Latifi, meanwhile, led the charge to finish as runner-up, ten ahead of Luca Ghiotto, with those two set to duel for second at the season finale in Yas Marina. Sérgio Sette Câmara and Jack Aitken were both still in that fight, although they faced a nineteen and 24 point deficit to Ghiotto respectively.

In the Teams' Championship DAMS completed the Russian weekend on the verge of the crown, and could win the title in the Yas Marina Feature race. The French squad left Sochi with a 53 point lead over second placed UNI-Virtuosi, and with 78 points left to fight for only needed a handful of points in the penultimate race to beat the British effort. Behind, ART Grand Prix were mathematically out of the hunt in third, while Carlin had retained fourth ahead of Campos Racing.

Only point scoring drivers are shown.