2020 Spielberg Feature Race

The 2020 Spielberg Feature Race, formally known as the 2020 Formula 2 Styrian Race 1, was the third race of the 2020 FIA Formula 2 Championship, staged at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Styria, Austria, on 11 July 2020. The race was the third of the season to be held at the Red Bull Ring, after the calendar was hastily rebuilt in the wake of the Covid-19 Pandemic.

Qualifying saw Yuki Tsunoda secure his maiden pole position, edging out Guanyu Zhou by just 0.038s after the Chinese racer was baulked in traffic on his best lap. Behind, Callum Ilott would share the second row with Luca Ghiotto, with a single second covering the entire field bar Guilherme Samaia in 22nd.

Heavy rain would throw the staging of the Spielberg Feature into doubt, with the earlier FIA Formula 3 Championship race abandoned with a few laps to go, while the Formula One qualifying session was delayed by over an hour. Indeed, the officials decided to start the race behind the Safety Car, although after two laps the field were led back into the pitlane and the start delayed due to the conditions.

Once the rain finally eased off the race was officially started behind the Safety Car for a second time, with the field completing four laps before they were released. With that Tsunoda was finally released to claim the lead, although the Japanese racer would have to fend off a challenge from Zhou into the first corner.

After a tentative first lap, which only saw one overtake, Jack Aitken throwing his Carlin past Ghiotto for fourth, the drivers began to get more comfortable with the conditions, meaning fighting began to erupt through the field. Indeed, Danish racer Christian Lundgaard would emerge from the gloom as the star of the early stages, dancing his car up the field with moves on Robert Shwartzman and Ghiotto before getting stuck behind Aitken.

After Lundgaard's antics the race settled, with the majority of the field waiting until the race hit lap 20 to serve their stops. Zhou was the first to stop from the lead pack with teammate Ilott in a lap later, with the rest trickling in over the following few laps.

Race leader Tsunoda, meanwhile, would remain out, seemingly belaying team orders to do so despite the fact that Zhou was clearly faster. It was only when the Japanese racer received a message via the pit board that he finally did stop, the result of a broken radio, resulting in him tumbling to fifth when he rejoined.

However, the second half of the race would be all about the rise of the two Prema drivers, who were both happier on their second set of tyres. Indeed, Shwartzman in particular would prove to be the man to watch, as he slithered his way up from fourth after Tsunoda's stop to the head of the field, before Tsunoda began to draw him in on far fresher tyres.

Tsunoda's strong pace would setup a tense final lap, with the Japanese racer bearing down on Shwartzman as the entered the final tour. Likewise, there would be an intense duel for third as Zhou was under attack from Mick Schumacher in the #20 Prema, although time was running out for the attackers.

Ultimately both Tsunoda and Schumacher would fail to make a move on their rivals, with Shwartzman sweeping across the line to claim a measured maiden victory in only his third F2 race. Tsunoda was a thrilled second ahead of Zhou, with Schumacher finishing the race tucked under the #3 UNI-Virtuosi's rear wing. Ilott was next up ahead of star of the first part of the race Lundgaard, while Marcus Armstrong, Dan Ticktum, Aitken and Sean Gelael secured the remaining points.

Background
Callum Ilott had held the lead in the Championship despite failing to score in the Red Bull Ring Sprint, although his advantage had been cut in half as a result. Indeed, Robert Shwartzman had moved up to second after a strong debut weekend, moving to within four of the Brit, while Felipe Drugovich had streaked up to third after his maiden triumph. Dan Ticktum was next up ahead of Louis Delétraz, with thirteen drivers on the scoresheet after one race meeting.

ART Grand Prix had shuffled to the head of the field as the first race weekend in Austria came to a conclusion, having moved five ahead of UNI-Virtuosi. Indeed, a non-score in the Red Bull Ring Sprint for Virtuosi had dropped them down to second, just four ahead of MP Motorsport after their first victory in almost three years. Prema Racing and DAMS then completed the top five, with nine of the eleven teams having scored on the opening weekend.

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
With track temperatures hovering above 50°C after the Formula One practice session came to a close the F2 field were released onto the circuit, with Yuki Tsunoda heading the field. The Japanese racer, who had topped FP2, would go on to set the first flying lap of the session setting a 1:15.132 with none of those immediately behind him besting his effort. Indeed, it was only Guanyu Zhou who would get ahead of the Japanese racer, although a second run on the same set of super-soft tyres put the Japanese racer back at the top of the field.

As the field swept in for their swap to a fresh set of tyres the two Premas headed out, having held off going onto the track with the rest of the field. The ploy worked for Robert Shwartzman as he immediately jumped into the top five, although Mick Schumacher was half a second down in twelfth as he continued his recovery from an accident in FP1. They duly came in to switch tyres as the rest of the field headed out of the pits for their second runs, with a single second covering the top nineteen.

The final runs would see a lot of drivers lose time due to traffic, with Zhou in particular getting caught out as Tsunoda failed to improve on his 1:14.803 from earlier in the session. Indeed, having set the fastest first sector of the weekend, Zhou would get caught-out by Schumacher as the German racer prepared for his flying lap, and hence failed to improve. His second attempt on the same set of tyres would be an improvement, although both he and teammate Callum Ilott would fail to topple Tsunoda, finishing within a tenth of the Japanese racer.

Elsewhere, Luca Ghiotto would secure fourth, while a late run for Jack Aitken elevated the Brit into fifth ahead of Shwartzman. Jehan Daruvala secured sixth ahead of Christian Lundgaard, while a late run for Schumacher after his mix-up with Zhou saw the German leap into ninth ahead of Felipe Drugovich. Indeed, there would not be many changes to the order in the second half of the session, although there would be just a single second covering Tsunoda on pole and Giuliano Alesi in 21st, while Guilherme Samaia was a half second further behind in last.

Results
The final qualifying result for the are outlined below:
 * * Piquet and Delétraz were both awarded one place grid penalties after their cars were driven from the F2 paddock to the pit lane on an illegal set of tyres (wets).

Race
Heavy rain on Saturday would cause chaos for the entire schedule for the 2020 Styrian Grand Prix, with the FIA Formula 3 Championship race abandoned, while qualifying for Formula One was delayed. That led to concerns that the F2 Feature Race would be pushed back to Sunday, while the Sprint Race would be cancelled due to time constraints with F2, F3, the Porsche Supercup and the Grand Prix to be held. Fortunately a break in the weather would arrive late on Saturday, although the officials still opted to start the race behind the Safety Car.

Report
Rain was falling steadily on the Red Bull Ring as the field was led away by the Safety Car, with Artem Markelov already out of contention having spun and stalled on his way to the grid. Indeed, even behind the SC the drivers would struggle, with the intensity of the rain increasing as they were led onto a second formation lap. After a third lap the conditions were bad enough for the race to be stopped by a red flag, with the field lining up in the pitlane to wait for another break in the weather.

After half an hour of waiting that break finally arrived, with the SC leading the field back up for a fourth formation lap to test the circuit. After that Yuki Tsunoda was finally released to start the race, with the Japanese racer punching out of the final corner to lead the field away. Guanyu Zhou went with him but could not throw a lunge at the rookie for the lead, as behind Jack Aitken fired his Campos down the inside of Luca Ghiotto for fourth.

With conditions still poor there would be very little fighting in the field, with the drivers having to wait until the spray died down as the circuit began to dry. Indeed, it was only at the end of lap five that there would be a change to the order at at the head of the field, with Robert Shwartzman forcing Ghiotto into a mistake at turn nine, resulting in the Italian sliding wide. Ghiotto then came back at the Russian racer and passed him into turn one, before Christian Lundgaard lunged around the outside Shwartzman's #21 Prema at turn three to claim sixth.

A lap later and Lundgaard was attacking Ghiotto for fifth, and a daring move around the outside of the Italian through turns five and six putting him up the field. With that the Dane was off to challenge Aitken for fourth, while Ghiotto was left to fend off the attentions of Shwartzman, who was getting quicker as the circuit continued to dry. Those two were also being caught by Mick Schumacher, who had danced his Prema past Jehan Daruvala for eighth, with several drivers making early stops for fresh tyres.

As the race approached half distance Shwartzman finally managed to make a move on Ghiotto, trying a lunge around the outside of turn three on lap fourteen in a bid to out-traction the #25 Hitech on the exit. That duel would carry on through to the turn four, with the Russian racer managing to undercut the Italian when Ghiotto's car ran wide at the apex. Better traction duly carried the #21 Prema past the #25 Hitech on the exit, although Ghiotto would try to keep his nose alongside Shwartzman on the inside of turn five, but to no avail.

As that battle concluded, Lundgaard continued to harass Aitken for fourth, with lunges into turns one, three and four having been thwarted by the Anglo-Thai racer. The Dane therefore had to get creative, and would use a good run out of turn four to force Aitken to take an alternate line into turns five and six, costing him momentum. That duly allowed Lundgaard to throw his ART down the inside of Aitken entering turn seven, with Aitken having to cede the position through turn eight.

With that the pitstops began, with Aitken the first of the lead group to stop for a fresh set of wet tyres, the circuit simply too wet for slick Pirelli tyres despite visible signs of drying. The rest of the field would make their stops over the following laps, with Schumacher leaping ahead of Ghiotto, only for the Italian to drive right around the outside of the German racer through turn six, Schumacher struggling with cold tyres. As that battle ended Shwartzman came in to serve his stop, and would duly manage to catch and pass Ilott on cold tyres to secure a de jure third on track with several drivers still to stop.

Indeed, there would be a lot of position changes during and immediately after the stops, with Lundgaard initially slipping behind Aitken, only to dive back ahead of the Anglo-Thai racer at turn five. Marcus Armstrong was also on the warpath, dancing inside of Daruvala, while Schumacher managed to muscle his way back past Ghiotto. Out front, meanwhile, Tsunoda continued to run on his original set of tyres, despite the fact that Zhou, Shwartzman, Ilott and Lundgaard were all lapping faster.

Furthermore, Tsunoda appeared to be ignoring Carlin's calls for him to stop, with multiple messages being sent to the Japanese racer as the race moved into the final third. It was only when the #7 Carlin was instructed to pit via the pit-board that Tsunoda finally made his stop with ten laps to go, a legacy of an issue with his radio. Ultimately, however, the damage had been done, with Tsunoda dropping to fifth when he rejoined, with Zhou inheriting the de jure lead.

However, Zhou's time in the metaphorical sun was only to last for half a lap, for Shwartzman had managed to latch onto the back of the #3 UNI-Virtuosi as they both moved past Tsunoda. Shwartzman made his bid for the lead on the outside line for turn three, with the duo then running side-by-side through to turn four, with Shwartzman again taking the outside line. However, Zhou would wash out wide exiting turn four having squeezed Shwartzman in the braking zone, allowing Shwartzman to undercut the Chinese racer with superior traction. Indeed, as they powered through the right-hand flick of turn five the Russian racer was ahead, with Shwartzman instantly pulling away to establish a lead.

Shwartzman would inherit the official lead of the race when Nobuharu Matsushita made his stop in the closing stages, with the Japanese racer duly dropping down to the midfield once he made his stop. Behind, Tsunoda emerged as the fastest car int eh field with his fresh tyres once they were up to temperature, and would lunge down the inside of Ilott to claim third with eight laps to go. Two laps later and the Japanese racer's charge had carried him onto the back of Zhou, with the #7 Carlin again sent diving inside a Virtuosi into turn one to claim second.

With that Tsuonda was off to challenge Shwartzman for the lead, with Zhou's pace dropping as the circuit continued to dry. Behind, Schumacher was another driver on a charge, with successive moves on Aitken and Armstrong leaving him in sixth behind Lundgaard, who was himself moving up to engage Ilott. Unfortunately for Lundgaard his hopes of a podium evaporated when he tried an ambitious lunge around the outside of Ilott at turn six, with a trip across the gravel dumping him back behind Schumacher, who was still six seconds behind the fight with five laps to go.

The final stages of the race would see Schumacher move onto Ilott's tail at an impressive rate, and would go on to challenge his fellow Ferrari Driver Academy member for fourth with two laps to go. The German racer made his bid for the position at turn six, firing the #20 Prema down the inside of the #4 Virtuosi before getting better traction on the exit. Onto the final lap and Schumacher tried to make the same move on Zhou, although a slight twitch when grazing the apex for the #20 Prema allowed Zhou to hang on to the position.

Out front, meanwhile, Shwartzman was able to nurse his tyres well to the chequered flag to claim his maiden F2 victory, Tsuonda having been unable to put together an effective challenge despite having far superior tyres. Zhou duly kept Schumacher at bay out of the final corner to complete the podium, the German having almost drawn alongside the Chinese racer on the sprint to the flag, while Ilott was a frustrated fifth. Lundgaard was an equally annoyed sixth ahead of Armstrong, Dan Ticktum secured the reverse grid pole for the Sprint Race, while Aitken and Sean Gelael claimed the final 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.
 * * Markelov was unable to start the restarted race after spinning off during the original attempt to start the race.

Milestones

 * Maiden pole position for Yuki Tsunoda.
 * Robert Shwartzman secured his first FIA Formula 2 Championship victory.
 * Prema Racing claimed their thirteenth win as an F2 entrant.
 * This was also their 22nd victory at GP2/F2 level.
 * Maiden podium finish for Tsunoda.
 * This was also Tsunoda's first points finish.
 * Tsunoda recorded his first fastest lap.

Standings
Victory propelled Robert Shwartzman to the top of the Championship for the first time in his fledgling F2 career, heading into the Sprint Race with 48 points to his credit. Callum Ilott had swapped places with the Russian racer, slipping eleven behind, while Christian Lundgaard was a further eleven points off in third. Marcus Armstrong and Yuki Tsunoda then completed the top five, with fifteen of the twenty-two drivers having scored in the first three races.

In the Teams' Championship it had been a very good afternoon for Prema Racing in the Feature, as they jumped into the lead of the title hunt on 62 points. UNI-Virtuosi had held station in second, six off the new leaders, while former leaders ART Grand Prix fell to third, another six points behind. MP Motorsport were next up in fourth ahead of DAMS, Carlin had streaked into sixth, while Hitech Grand Prix had been left as the only pointless team.

Only point scoring drivers are shown.