2020 Anniversary Feature Race

The 2020 Anniversary Feature Race, otherwise known as the 2020 FIA Formula 2 Anniversary Race 1, was the ninth race of the 2020 FIA Formula 2 Championship, staged at the Silverstone Circuit in Silverstone, Northamptonshire, UK on 8 August 2020. The race, which was staged in support of the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix, was the third of the season to be held at Silverstone.

Callum Ilott was the man to beat in qualifying, with the Brit becoming the first driver to claim a second pole position in 2020 with a 1:39.062. Indeed, the Brit would require a late effort to overhaul Christian Lundgaard who had topped the session throughout, while Sean Gelael spun late on to deny any further revisions to the order.

The start of the race saw Ilott ace his getaway, storming into the lead unopposed through the kink of turn one. Behind, Lundgaard was caught off guard by Dan Ticktum as the #2 DAMS vaulted into second, only to slide off track at Chapel.

Ticktum hence dropped to fourth, although quick fire moves from Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin soon dumped him down to sixth, with the German and Russian racers having started on the hard compound Pirelli tyres. As a result they were initially unable to match the pace of race leader Ilott, although the Brit soon peeled off to replace his soft Pirellis for hards on lap eight.

With that the race entered a stalemate, with those on fresh hards nursing their tyres, while those who started on hards were likewise having to keep a careful eye on their rubber. Indeed, Ilott would be slow to match Schumacher's pace out front, although after moving past Artem Markelov, Giuliano Alesi and Roy Nissany the #4 UNI-Virtuosi pilot was able to chip a tenth or so a lap out of the German race leader.

Others, however, would struggle with the harder rubber, with Lundgaard notably losing time to Jack Aitken and Ticktum having jumped the latter in the pits, with all three showing blistering before half-distance. Regardless, Schumacher would rejoin from his lap 21 pit stop behind Ticktum to hand the lead to Mazepin, before the Russian racer served his stop a lap later.

With that Ilott was restored to a comfortable lead, while Mazepin sat right on Schumacher's tail in eighth on fresh soft tyres. The Russian racer duly screamed past both Schumacher and Yuki Tsunoda to claim fifth after they both cleared Ticktum, before hunting down and passing Louis Delétraz on the final lap.

Out front, meanwhile, Ilott calmly swept across the line to secure victory on home soil, as well as claim the lead in the Championship with 102 points. Lundgaard trailed him across the line in second ahead of Aitken, while Mazepin claimed fourth ahead of Delétraz. Tsunoda kept Schumacher at bay to retain sixth, Robert Shwartzman claimed reverse grid pole with eighth, while Guanyu Zhou and Felipe Drugovich picked up the final two points.

During and after the race there would be some controversy surrounding comments made by Ticktum over the radio during the race, with the British racer stating "Next time that ***** tries a kamikaze move like that I’m going to crash with him!".

Background
The fifth race weekend of the 2020 FIA Formula 2 Championship would be staged at the familiar Silverstone Circuit, a week after the completion of the British Grand Prix weekend. Once again supporting the FIA Formula One World Championship, the second set of races at Silverstone would be named the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix, marking the platinum jubilee of the first F1 race, staged at Silverstone on 13 May 1950. Otherwise, both the field and Silverstone circuit would be unchanged for its second race weekend, despite retroactively denied rumours that the meeting would use an alternate or even reversed layout for the meeting.

British Bruisers
There had been no changes to the top of the Drivers' Championship after the conclusion of the British Grand Prix weekend, with Robert Shwartzman remaining in the lead of the hunt with 81 points, despite failing to score. Callum Ilott had likewise held onto second having also failed to claim points in the Silverstone Sprint, while Christian Lundgaard had gained a lot of ground in third, closing to within four of Ilott. Nikita Mazepin was next up in fourth ahead of Sprint Race winner Dan Ticktum, with four drivers still yet to score in 2020.

UNI-Virtuosi had concluded their home race weekend at the head of the field, holding a two point lead over Prema Racing. ART Grand Prix were next up in third, having become the latest team to break through the 100 point barrier, and hence sat 21 points off the lead. Another eighteen point gap followed before Hitech Grand Prix appeared in fourth, while DAMS had moved back up to fifth.

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

Qualifying
Qualifying used the well established format for the FIA Formula 2 Championship, with a thirty minute session on Friday afternoon ahead of the Feature Race on Saturday. All 22 drivers would venture onto the circuit during the session, and were allowed to complete as many laps as they could to set their qualifying time. There was also a free choice of tyres, although drivers could not exceed their allocation of either compound of Pirelli tyres.

Report
Temperatures were hovering over 28°C as the field headed onto the circuit, albeit with clouds hovering overhead, with the entire field using the soft compound of Pirelli tyres. Jehan Daruvala was the first man onto the circuit, with the majority of the drivers heading out straight behind the Indian racer. Daruvala duly set the first flying lap of the session, although it was Christian Lundgaard who headed the charge after the first wave of times.

After their first flying laps the field would, as one, take a slow lap, before trying for a second time on their original set of softs. This time Louis Delétraz would manage to secure the lead, although Lundgaard would also improve to get back ahead of the Swiss racer. Delétraz would subsequently slip behind Jack Aitken, Luca Ghiotto and Nikita Mazepin, before the field swept back into the pits for fresh tyres.

Once again Daruvala would lead the field out of the pits, although with track temperatures dropping there were concerns that there would be no improvements. That was instantly proved when Daruvala failed to improve, only for Callum Ilott to leap to the top of the timesheets. Indeed, it was a deceptively strong lap for the Brit, who rebounded from a poor opening sector with two outright fastest sectors to claim a 1:39.062.

The only other driver to improve by a significant margin would be Dan Ticktum, who leapt up to fourth behind Ilott, Lundgaard and Aitken. With that the drivers would again take a lap to cool their tyres before attempting another flying lap, with several drivers improving in the first sector. Ultimately, however, there would be no new fastest laps, as a spin for Sean Gelael in the second sector triggered a yellow flag, preventing any improvements.

Results
The final qualifying result for the are outlined below:

Race
It was a very warm afternoon at the Silverstone Circuit for the Anniversary Feature, with track temperatures spiking at almost 40°C as the field assembled on the grid. Yet, there was no threat of rain and no late changes to the grid, meaning Callum Ilott would start the race with the majority of the field starting on the soft compound Pirelli tyres.

Report
Ilott duly launched off of pole position cleanly to secure the lead unopposed into turn one, while behind Christian Lundgaard got too much wheel spin in second. That allowed Dan Ticktum to dart past the Dane instantly to grab second, while Jack Aitken stormed around the outside of the #6 ART through the first corner to claim third. Lundgaard would, however, manage to get revenge on the brakes into turn four to reclaim the position while, at the back of the field, Pedro Piquet stalled and was left stranded on the grid.

Down the Wellington Straight towards Brooklands for the first time and Ticktum had managed to tuck his car right under Ilott's tail, although the #4 UNI-Virtuosi managed to thwart any attempted lunge from the #2 DAMS. Behind, the Lundgaard/Aitken squabble had a similar outcome, the Dane holding off the Anglo-Korean racer, with the rest making it through without issue. That was, until Aitken's teammate Guilherme Samaia made his way through Luffield, locking up while fighting with Giuliano Alesi and skating into the gravel.

The rest of the opening tour became a tale of civil war at Hitech Grand Prix for sixth, with Luca Ghiotto and Nikita Mazepin running side-by-side through the first two sectors. Indeed, the pair were still squabbling into Stowe towards the end of the lap, with Mazepin managing to run teammate Ghiotto out wide on the exit. That ploy worked for Mazepin as Ghiotto had to rejoin in the #24 car's wake, although it would also allow Louis Delétraz to sweep right around the outside of the Italian to claim seventh.

Onto the second lap and Piquet's car had been cleared long before the leaders reached the start/finish straight, meaning there would be no interruptions. Ilott was therefore able to begin building up his lead in a bid to escape Ticktum, while the #2 DAMS worked on establishing his own margin over Lundgaard. Lundgaard, in contrast, still had Aitken crawling all over his tail, while title pretender Robert Shwartzman came under attack from Felipe Drugovich, although the Russian racer successfully fended off the Brazilian racer into Brooklands.

Indeed, Shwartzman's defence of the inside line into the left-hander cost Drugovich enough momentum that Guanyu Zhou was able to sweep past the #15 MP Motorsport for tenth on the outside of the corner. Drugovich tried to retaliate on the run past the old pits, although he was on the outside of Zhou into the right hand kink of Copse and had to back off the throttle. That loss of momentum would hence allow Yuki Tsunoda to attack the Brazilian racer, with the Japanese youth literally throwing his car around Drugovich on the run to Maggots/Becketts.

Back with the lead fight and Ticktum was falling away from Ilott, while Lundgaard was closing in on the #2 DAMS having escaped from Aitken. The Dane's increasing pressure quickly showed on Ticktum, as the Brit ran wide through Chapel and drifted onto the grass. Lundgaard instantly fired past to claim second as Ticktum scrambled back onto the circuit at the start of the Hangar Straight, with Aitken likewise darting past the compromised DAMS.

A lap and a half later and Mick Schumacher, the lead driver on the hard and alternate strategy, was attacking Ticktum for fourth, with the German racer almost securing the position with an over-under through turns three and four. Ticktum held on but compromised his run onto the Wellington Straight, and hence was powerless to prevent his old F3 rival drafting past into Brooklands a few moments later. That left Mazepin, similarly on the alternate strategy, on the #2 DAMS' tail, with the pair running side-by-side through Copse and Maggots before the Russian finally get ahead.

Behind that fight Ghiotto would make a mistake at Chapel and run off track, allowing both Shwartzman and Zhou through down the Hangar Straight. Zhou would then get a run on the #21 Prema of Shwartzman into Stowe, although the Russian racer managed to grab the inside line into the right hand curve and held onto eighth as a result. They soon drafted onto the back of Ticktum, who was now waiting until lap seven to make his compulsory switch to the hard tyres as his softs were running out quickly.

Lundgaard duly opened the pit window on lap seven, with Aitken, Ticktum, Tsunoda, Ghiotto, Nobuharu Matsushita and Marcus Armstrong all joining him, while Ilott stayed out. Ilott would only manage one more lap on the softs before making his stop, and would duly rejoin ahead of Lundgaard with enough margin to lead those drivers that had stopped. That hence left Schumacher in command on the race ahead of Mazepin, with Shwartzman, Zhou, Drugovich, Jehan Daruvala, Roy Nissany, Alesi and Artem Markelov all on the alternate hard-soft strategy.

With that the race settled down, with Ilott leading the stoppers through the pack of non-stoppers, while trying to maintain their tyres. Indeed, Ilott would seem to have the edge over everyone, with quick fire moves on Markelov, Nissany and Alesi allowing him to break clear of Lundgaard, while the Dane still had Aitken glued to his tail. Ticktum, meanwhile, would be passed by Delétraz into Vale after they passed Markelov, with Ticktum beginning to fall away from the lead group of stoppers shortly after half distance.

That move from Delétraz was not appreciated by Ticktum, who instantly launched into a tirade on the radio against the Swiss racer's actions. Indeed, immediately after Delétraz's half look at Stowe after the pair fired past Markelov, Ticktum declared: “Next time that ***** tries a kamikaze move like that I’m going to crash with him! I’m never going to give him that much respect ever again.” That earned Ticktum a warning for his radio comments, although it had no impact on his race as he slipped behind Tsunoda

Out front, meanwhile, Schumacher's pace was wavering, forcing the #20 Prema to come in at the end of lap 21 with Ilott having closed to within fifteen seconds of the lead in fifth. That handed the lead to Mazepin as the German racer rejoined in tenth behind Ticktum, with Shwartzman and Zhou likewise staying out with the #24 Hitech. However, while the latter duo would come in at the end of lap 22 and rejoin either side of eleventh placed Matsushita, Mazepin would gamble on completing an additional lap.

As Mazepin swept into the pits Schumacher made an audacious move on Ticktum for seventh, the German racer using his superior soft tyre grip to lunge past the #2 DAMS through Maggots/Becketts and into Chapel. That soon became sixth as Mazepin rejoined in the wake of Ticktum's struggling DAMS, while Ilott reclaimed the lead. Mazepin would soon elbow his way past Ticktum for seventh on his out-lap, while Shwartzman bravely lunged around the outside of Ticktum through Stowe to claim eighth.

With five laps to go Mazepin began his bid for the podium, lining up a move on Schumacher down the Hangar Straight and into Stowe with the aid of DRS. Indeed, he would first have to overcome a questionable squeeze from Schumacher as he tried to snatch the inside line into the sweeping right, with the #24 Hitech briefly putting two wheels on the grass as he pulled alongside the #20 Prema. Regardless, Mazepin was through to sixth and off to chase Tsunoda, sweeping past the Japanese racer into turn three, before lunging down the inside of Delétraz into Brooklands on the final tour for fourth.

Out front, meanwhile, there was no stopping Ilott, who dominated the second half of the race to win the race at a canter, eight seconds clear of Lundgaard and Aitken. Mazepin ran out of time to catch the latter duo and so settled for fourth ahead of Delétraz, who had Tsunoda tucked under his rear wing as they crossed the line. The two Premas were next up in seventh and eighth, Schumacher ahead of Shwartzman, while Zhou and Drugovich claimed the remaining points.

Results
The final classification of the is displayed below:
 * Bold indicates a driver started from pole.
 * Italics indicate that a driver set fastest lap.
 * * Daruvala recorded the fastest lap of the race (1:42.228), but was unable to claim the bonus points as he finished outside of the top ten.

Milestones

 * Second victory for Callum Ilott.
 * UNI-Virtuosi secured their sixth victory as an entrant in Formula 2.
 * Jack Aitken claimed his tenth podium finish.
 * Fifth fastest lap recorded by Guanyu Zhou.

Standings
Victory in the Anniversary Feature left Callum Ilott at the head of the Championship with nine races completed, the Brit heading into the Anniversary Sprint with a fifteen point lead. Second was occupied by Christian Lundgaard, while former leader Robert Shwartzman slipped to third, seventeen off the new leader. Nikita Mazepin and Dan Ticktum then completed the top five, with no new names added to the score sheet after the Feature.

In the Teams' Championship there had been very little change at the head of the hunt, with UNI-Virtuosi enhancing their advantage to a reasonable 25 points. Prema Racing had retained second but lost ground to those around them, with ART Grand Prix having closed to within fifteen of the Italian effort. Hitech Grand Prix were next up ahead of Carlin, while reigning Champions DAMS had slipped back to sixth, and were almost 100 points off the lead.

Only point scoring drivers are shown.