2018 Barcelona Sprint Race

The 2018 Catalunya Race 2, otherwise known as the 2018 Barcelona Sprint Race, was the sixth race of the 2018 FIA Formula Two Championship, staged at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on 13 May 2018. The race would be noted as the first real world test of the new "Halo" cockpit protection device, after a collision between Tadasuke Makino and Nirei Fukuzumi.

Artem Markelov would start the Sprint Race from pole after finishing eighth in the Feature, with all twenty drivers starting on medium compound Pirelli tyres. However, pole would be as good as it got for Markelov, as a poor start saw him drop down the order into the first corner.

The resulting shuffle in positions saw Jack Aitken claim an early lead ahead of Sérgio Sette Câmara, with the Brit dancing his ART on the partially damp circuit on the opening lap. The result was a 3.3 second lead over the Brazilian at the end of the opening tour, before Nyck de Vries spun out of the race at turn ten, causing a Virtual Safety Car.

Aitken duly aced the resulting restart to extend his lead, while Câmara slipped wide at turn ten to allow Alexander Albon and Lando Norris to slip past. However, the Brit's then 11.9 second lead was about to be eradicated, as Makino and Fukuzumi had their historic crash.

Indeed, the two Japanese racers would come together at turn three on lap four, with Fukuzumi's BWT Arden getting flicked over the top of Makino's Russian Time. The back of the Arden then bounced across the top of Makino's Halo device, with the latter claiming that the device had saved his life as both escaped unharmed.

After the wreckage was swept aside under a full safety car, Aitken made another perfect getaway, sprinting clear of Albon and Norris before they crossed the start/finish line. Those two would respond well, however, and Aitken's lead never grew back to the heights that it had reached before the full safety car.

A second VSC was called soon after the safety car restart, for Câmara ground to a halt with a mechanical failure. Aitken again perfected the restart only to get chased back down, before a third VSC was required to remove Ralph Boschung from the track after he had a terminal puncture.

The race restarted for the fourth and final time with three laps to go, with Aitken once more initially breaking clear before getting reeled back in. However, time would run out before Albon could make a move, meaning it was the British rookie who claimed victory ahead of the Thai veteran. Norris was next ahead of George Russell, while Luca Ghiotto, Sean Gelael, Antonio Fuoco and Nicholas Latifi completed the scorers list.

Background
The Sprint Race in Barcelona would take place on an unmodified Circuit de Barcelona in the morning of Sunday, 13 May 2018. Indeed, the only change between the two races, other than time, would be conditions, for overnight rain had dampened the circuit, although the worst of the water had been cleared off the circuit by the GP3 Series race. In terms of the grid for the Barcelona Sprint, Artem Markelov was drawn in pole position, while Louis Delétraz was relegated to the back of the field after barging Sean Gelael out of the Feature Race.

In terms of the Championship standings, victory in the Feature Race had pulled George Russell into the top three, although the Brit was still eighteen points shy of his table topping compatriot Lando Norris. Indeed, Norris' lead over the rest of the field had effectively grown once again, with the F2 rookie outscoring second placed Alexander Albon. Elsewhere, Luca Ghiotto had shot up into eleventh after his major point score of the season, while Delétraz and Roy Nissany were still yet to score.

In the Teams' Championship it was still advantage Carlin ahead of the Sprint, the British squad having ended the Feature Race 36 points clear of second placed ART Grand Prix. The latter effort themselves had displaced rivals DAMS courtesy of Russell's victory, as both pulled clear of Pertamina Prema and Russian Time in fourth and fifth. Charouz Racing System were next ahead of BWT Arden, while Campos Racing had pulled ahead of MP Motorsport on count-back.

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

Grid
The grid for the sixth race of the 2018 campaign was formed from the finishing positions of the Feature Race, with the top eight reversed as per-FIA Formula Two rules.


 * * Delétraz was handed a five place grid penalty for causing a collision during the Feature Race.

Race
It was a dull grey and, ultimately, damp Sunday morning in Barcelona ahead of the second F2 race of the weekend, with overnight rain ensuring that the circuit was green for the start at least. However, with the GP3 Series and Porsche Supercup running ahead of the F2 race, everyone in the F2 field would opt to start on slick, medium compound, Pirelli tyres, rather than the wets. With that decision made, Artem Markelov would lead the field around on the formation lap, the Russian racer starting from pole as a result of the Feature Race.

Report
For the first time in 2018 there would be no stallers at the start of the race, with Markelov making an initially good start from pole. However, fellow front row starter Jack Aitken would get a better run into the first corner, and duly dived inside the Russian, who then hit a damp patch of tarmac on the wide line. That fact allowed a lunging Sérgio Sette Câmara and Luca Ghiotto to sneak through, with Câmara ultimately securing second into turn three.

It was an all out dogfight during the first lap, with Markelov losing an additional position to Alexander Albon turn three, before Nyck de Vries gambled on a dive into turn four. Indeed, the Dutchman would hit the damp inside kerb and get spat across the circuit in the gravel, but managed to keep going. A few yards further on and Roberto Merhi sent himself into a half spin on the run to turn five having got onto the grass on the exit of turn four, although the Spaniard miraculously managed to avoid the pack as he came across the apex of the left hander.

Towards the end of the opening lap Ghiotto would get mugged by Albon into turn seven, while Lando Norris sneaked past the Italian through turn nine. Out front, meanwhile, Aitken completed the opening tour with a huge 3.3 second lead, with Câmara now in the sights of the group behind Albon. The rest of the field slithered around in their wake, with Markelov heading another pack of cars in sixth.

The second lap saw more struggles for Markelov, who lost out after defending from Antonio Fuoco into the damp turn ten hairpin, causing both to run wide. That opened the door for George Russell to pass the pair of them, moments before de Vries skated to a stop in the gravel after a sudden loss of pressure in his tyres. That brought out a Virtual Safety Car, meaning Aitken's now seven second lead would be preserved for the time being.

The young Brit duly aced the restart to pull even further clear, with Câmara dropping down behind Albon, Norris and Ghiotto. However, moments after Markelov lost yet another position, complaining of a lack of visibility, as full safety car was called for after contact lower down the field.

The source of this issue would be F2's two Japanese racers, Nirei Fukuzumi and Tadasuke Makino, were found nestled in the barriers at turn four. Replays showed that Fukuzumi had locked up on the brakes into the right hander, and duly slid into the side of his compatriot's Russian Time. Momentum and wheel-to-wheel contact then carried the back of Fukuzumi's car up onto the side of Makino, with the rear-end bouncing off of the Halo device mounted on Makino's car. The pair then skated, relatively harmlessly, into the gravel, with Makino later remarking that the Halo had, as planned, saved his life.

After the two Japanese racers climbed out of their cockpits and the cars dragged away the race resumed, with Aitken once again blasting clear at the front of the field. Albon led the anti-Aitken chase in second, which was now joined by Russell in sixth, while Câmara soon dropped out with an electrical issue on lap thirteen. That, unsurprisingly, caused another VSC, for Câmara had rolled to a halt on the run to turn four.

Another faultless restart followed by Aitken, with the Brit pulling two and a half seconds clear before lap twenty. Albon and Norris went with him, while Ghiotto lost time having to defend from Russell, only for the Mercedes F1 youngster to dive inside of him into turn one on lap twenty. Behind, Ralph Boschung would try to copy the move on Santino Ferrucci a lap later, only to lock up so badly that the Swiss racer punctured his front left tyre.

Boschung's mistake caused another VSC appearance after he littered the circuit with ruined tyre, meaning there were just three laps to run when the race resumed. Aitken would ace his fourth restart of the race to extend his lead, although a mistake on the penultimate lap allowed Albon to halve the gap to just over a second. That allowed Albon to plot a move on the final lap as, further back, his DAMS teammate Nicholas Latifi had to put up a furious rear-guard against Markelov for eighth.

Ultimately, however, Aitken would not make another mistake, meaning the Brit went flashing past the start/finish line at the end of lap 26 to claim a maiden victory, with Albon still a second behind. Norris was a solid third, a further second or so back, while Russell set the fastest lap on the final tour to secure fourth. Ghiotto was next ahead of Sean Gelael and Fuoco, while Latifi's defensive driving paid off against Markelov to earn him the final point in eighth.

Results
The final classification of the is displayed below:
 * Italics indicate that a driver set fastest lap.

Milestones

 * Maiden victory for Jack Aitken in Formula Two.
 * ART Grand Prix claimed their fifth victory as an entrant in F2.
 * Also the French squad's 53rd win at GP2/F2 level.

Standings
A second podium finish of the weekend allowed Lando Norris to hold onto his Championship lead after the Barcelona Sprint Race, for second placed Alexander Albon had only taken two points out of his lead. Indeed, the Brit's advantage remained a healthy thirteen points over the Thai racer, while George Russell held on in third, five off Albon's 67 point tally. Nyck de Vries and Sérgio Sette Câmara were next but slipping away, while victory had put Jack Aitken into the top six ahead of F2 veteran Artem Markelov.

Norris' podium finish had kept Carlin ticking over in the Teams' Championship in Barcelona, although their advantage was cut at the head of the field. Indeed, the double score for ART Grand Prix had seen them leap back ahead of rivals DAMS for second, with the former now 21 points behind the British rookies. DAMS themselves were sat on 88 points, eighteen behind ART, while Pertamina Prema and Russian Time had lost further ground.

Only point scoring drivers and teams are shown.