2017 Yas Marina Feature Race

The 2017 Yas Marina Feature Race, otherwise known as the 2017 Yas Marina Race 1, was the twenty-first and penultimate race of the 2017 FIA Formula Two Championship, staged at the Yas Marina Circuit on the 25 November 2017. The race, held in support of the 2017 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, would see Artem Markelov inherit victory after two of his rivals were disqualified.

Markelov would, however, start the weekend well, sweeping to pole during qualifying ahead of Nyck de Vries. Antonio Fuoco, meanwhile, would share the second row with Oliver Rowland, while new Champion Charles Leclerc claimed sixth.

An excellent start from Markelov duly saw his Russian Time streak into the lead, with de Vries heading the chase in spite of starting on the soft Pirelli tyres. Instead, the big looser off the line was Fuoco from third, who dropped down to eighth behind teammate Leclerc as Luca Ghiotto barged through to fourth.

Tyre wear proved instantly to be the order of the day, with Rowland taking a more conservative approach as the others around him pushed. Indeed, Markelov was pushing his supersoft Pirellis hard to keep de Vries at bay, the Dutchman having no need to conserve his soft tyres early on. By lap seven, however, almost all of the supersoft shod drivers were struggling, prompting Markelov and Rowland to stop at the end of the lap.

After the stops Rowland made what seemed to be a race winning move, diving past Markelov at the end of the back straight using DRS. Out front, meanwhile, de Vries was slowly being caught by Leclerc, and as Rowland and co. picked their way through those who started on softs, the Dutchman slithered wide and gifted the lead to Leclerc.

Not to be deterred de Vries pushed Leclerc hard, with both stopping on lap 24 to hand the lead to Rowland and Markelov. They rejoined in third and fifth respectively, before themselves and Fuoco began to carve into Rowland's lead at over two seconds a lap, although time was running out.

Indeed, Leclerc would push his tyres too hard in his pursuit of victory, losing pace dramatically on the final lap to allow Fuoco into third. Rowland, meanwhile, just kept Markelov at arms length to claim victory and gain a strangle hold on second in the Championship.

After the race, however, it was found that Rowland's skid block had worn too much, making his car illegal when presented for post-race scruitneering. Fuoco was also disqualified for using illegal tyre pressures, meaning Markelov was retroactively declared the winner from Leclerc and Luca Ghiotto.

Background
Formula Two reunited with senior series Formula One for the 2017 season finale, staged, as usual for recent years, at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi. The circuit itself remained unchanged, with no modifications made to the DRS zones in-spite of complaints about overtaking from the F1 crowd. There was, however, a change to the entry list, with freshly crowned Formula 3 Champion Lando Norris replacing Ralph Boschung at Campos Racing.

Into the Championship and victory for Artem Markelov back in the Jerez Sprint had put the Russian racer closer to second place Oliver Rowland, with the pair ending the weekend twelve points apart ahead of the finale in Abu Dhabi. Indeed, there were still four drivers mathematically in the fight for second, with Luca Ghiotto and Nicholas Latifi within 35 points of Rowland. Pre-declared Champion Charles Leclerc, meanwhile, had nothing to fear ahead of the finale, leaving the rest to fight behind him.

In the Teams' Championship it was Prema Racing whom had emerged on top in Jerez, ending the weekend on 347 points, having arrived in third. DAMS, meanwhile, had been the big losers, dropping to third, although they were level with Russian Time in second on 343, with the latter's greater number of wins keeping them ahead. Elsewhere, ART Grand Prix had effectively secured fourth, while Rapax were a safe fifth.

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

Results
The final qualifying result for the are outlined below:
 * * Albon was excluded from the results of qualifying for failing to provide a fuel sample.

Results
The final classification of the is displayed below:
 * Bold indicates a driver started from pole.
 * Italics indicate that a driver set fastest lap.
 * * Rowland was disqualified for having excessive wear on a skid block.
 * † Fuoco was disqualified as his front tyre pressures were below the minimum specified by Pirelli.

Milestones

 * Debut race for Lando Norris.
 * Fifth career victory for Artem Markelov.
 * Russian Time claimed their sixth triumph as an entrant in Formula Two.
 * Also their fifteenth win at GP2/F2 level.

Standings
Victory, combined with the fact that Oliver Rowland had been disqualified, settled the fight for second in the Championship in favour of Artem Markelov, with the Russian ace moving seventeen points clear of the Brit. Rowland could make up that seventeen point gap with a perfect race in the final race, but Markelov's greater number of wins would keep the Russian ahead on count-back. Rowland would therefore be fighting to hold onto third, with Luca Ghiotto in position just eight behind.

In the Teams' Championship it was advantage Russian Time heading into the finale, with the Russian squad eighteen points clear of Prema Racing. Indeed, with 29 points left to fight for it was still a two horse race for the title, with DAMS falling by the wayside in third after Rowland's retroactive reduction. Regardless, Russian Time could seal the inaugural F2 Teams' Championship if either of their drivers finished in the top four, even if Prema scored a one-two and fastest lap.

Only point scoring drivers and teams are shown.