2021 Bahrain Sprint Race 2

The 2021 Bahrain Sprint Race 2, formally known as the 2021 Sakhir Formula 2 Race 2, was the second race of the 2021 FIA Formula 2 Championship, staged at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir, Southern Governorate, Bahrain, on 27 March 2021. The race would be the second of the race meeting to be staged, just a few hours after the season opening 2021 Bahrain Sprint Race 1 courtesy of F2's new-for-2021 race format.

Jüri Vips would start the race from pole position, having claimed tenth place in the first Sprint Race of the weekend, with Lirim Zendeli starting alongside in second. In contrast Sprint 1 winner Liam Lawson would start down in tenth due to the reverse-grid rule, with those outside of the top ten set to line-up on the grid in the order that they had finished the morning race.

Vips duly converted pole into the lead at the start of the race, with Zendeli stalking him into the first corner but unable to grab the lead. Behind there would be some chaos as Robert Shwartzman and Dan Ticktum tangled, resulting in the duo receiving terminal damage and a Safety Car being required to clear up after the incident.

When the race resumed Vips would initially break clear, taking advantage of a sloppy restart from Zendeli to establish his lead, with Guanyu Zhou sweeping past Zendeli for second. With that Zhou was off to chase Vips, and duly scythed past the Estonian racer for the lead as Zendeli was effectively removed from the race by a misguided lunge from Christian Lundgaard.

With that Zhou was away, storming away from Vips as the Estonian racer came under attack from teammate Lawson, who had swept up the order with Felipe Drugovich. A fight for third would erupt as the race wore on, with Drugovich and Lundgaard both closing in on Lawson as the New Zealander fell away from Vips.

That fight would unfortunately end with Lawson getting spun out of the race, triggering a second SC and an en-masse dive into the pits by the majority of the field. Indeed, only Zhou, Drugovich, Armstrong and Bent Viscaal would stay out, while Lundgaard served his penalty for spinning Zendeli around earlier in the race during his stop.

At the restart those on fresher tyres quickly fought their way through to Zhou's tail, with Vips and Oscar Piastri quickly moving onto the Chinese racer's tail. However, before they could challenge Zhou a third quick-fire SC was thrown for a stranded Alessio Deledda, before Zhou managed to break clear at the restart as Piastri harassed Vips.

However, Vips' race was to be ruined by a mechanical issue, dumping him back down the order and releasing Piastri and a fired up Lundgaard to chase Zhou. At the start of the final lap they would both fire past Zhou into the first corner, before the Australian youth brutally fended off Lundgaard's attempts to pass through turn three. Zhou briefly managed to get back ahead of the Dane as a result, although simply lacked the grip to keep the #9 ART behind over the rest of the final tour.

With that the race was run, with Piastri sweeping across the line to secure his maiden F2 victory, while Lundgaard finished in second, only for his ten second time penalty to relegate him down the field. The Dane was later reinstated after ART proved that he had served his penalty during the second SC period, with Zhou hence classified in third. Jehan Daruvala was next up ahead of Richard Verschoor, Pourchaire and David Beckmann, while Marino Sato claimed the final point after a turbulent race.

Background
There were no changes made to the Bahrain International Circuit ahead of the second Sprint Race of the day, although there would be a significant change in the conditions. Indeed, temperatures were some ten degrees cooler then they had been during the 2021 Bahrain Sprint Race 1, with the sun having set and the heat of the Bahraini day beginning to bleed away from the now floodlit circuit. In contrast there were no late changes to the field ahead of the second Sprint, with Jüri Vips set to start from pole position as a result of the reverse-grid rule.

Morning Master
Liam Lawson had concluded the first morning of the 2021 season at the head of the Championship, with the New Zealander's victory having earned him fifteen points on his debut. Jehan Daruvala and David Beckmann then completed the top three, with Robert Shwartzman, Oscar Piastri, Christian Lundgaard, Guanyu Zhou, Dan Ticktum and Lirim Zendeli completing the scorers after the first race of the season.

In the Teams' Championship it was Hitech Grand Prix who led the way halfway through the opening day, the British squad having claimed a one-point lead after Lawson's triumph. Prema Racing were sat in second to open their title defence, while Carlin, Charouz Racing System and ART Grand Prix completed the top five. UNI-Virtuosi and MP Motorsport then completed the scorers, with the four other teams yet to score.

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

Grid
The grid for the second Sprint Race of the weekend was set via the results of the first Sprint Race, with the top ten finishers reversed as per the new-for-2021 FIA Formula 2 Championship ruleset:


 * * Deledda started the race from the pitlane.

Results
The final classification of the is displayed below:
 * Italics indicate that a driver set fastest lap.
 * * Lungaard was reinstated to second after ART proved that he had served his ten second time penalty for causing a collision with Zendeli during the race.
 * † Carlin were fined €500 for unsafely releasing Daruvala into the path of Nannini during a pitstop.
 * ‡ Drugovich was awarded a ten second time penalty for causing a collision with Lawson.
 * § Vips was handed a five second time penalty for speeding under Virtual Safety Car conditions.

Milestones

 * Maiden victory for Oscar Piastri.
 * Also Piastri's first podium finish.
 * Prema Racing claimed their nineteenth victory as an entrant in Formula 2.
 * Also their 28th win at GP2/F2 level.
 * Maiden points finish for Richard Verschoor and Théo Pourchaire.
 * First fastest lap recorded by Ralph Boschung.

Standings
Victory for Oscar Piastri elevated the Australian youth to the head of the Championship at the conclusion of the opening day, the 2020 Formula 3 Champion having claimed 21 points across the two Bahrain Sprint Races. Jehan Daruvala occupied second, a point off the lead, while Christian Lundgaard had moved up to third after his reinstatement onto the Bahrain Sprint 2 podium. Liam Lawson, meanwhile, had slipped to fourth having started the second Sprint in the lead of the Championship, while David Beckmann rounded out the early top five.

In the Teams' Championship it was Prema Racing who led as the moon rose over Sakhir, the Italian squad having established an eight point lead after two races. Carlin were up to second, a point ahead of ART Grand Prix, while Hitech Grand Prix had slipped to fourth from the lead. Charouz Racing System and UNI-Virtuosi were next up on twelve points apiece, while MP Motorsport and Trident rounded out the scorers.

Only point scoring drivers and teams are shown.