2017 Baku Feature Race

The 2017 Baku Feature Race, otherwise known as the 2017 Baku Race 1, was the seventh race of the 2017 FIA Formula Two Championship, staged at the Baku City Circuit on the 24 June 2017. The race would see Championship leader Charles Leclerc claim another dominant victory, becoming the first driver in F2 history to claim maximum points in a Feature Race.

Indeed, Leclerc proved untouchable during qualifying as usual, the Monegasque ace beating second placed Nobuharu Matsushita by over half a second. Nicholas Latifi, meanwhile, would cause a red flag by sliding into the barriers at turn eight, only to rejoin and claim third on the grid.

Leclerc duly aced the start on Saturday, sprinting clear of Latifi as the Canadian elbowed his way past Matsushita into the first corner. The rest of the field made it through without issue, only for Johnny Cecotto, Jr. to crash into the barriers at turn two, all on his own.

The Monegasque racer duly aced the restart to reestablish his lead, leaving Latifi to fend off Nyck de Vries into the first corner. Elsewhere, Antonio Fuoco dropped down the order, before he and Sergio Canamasas came together on lap seven, resulting in the Italian bouncing into the barriers.

Those on supersoft tyres took that as their cue to pit, with Leclerc leading the field in before rejoining in the lead of those that had stopped. A VSC was then called to remove Nabil Jeffri from the wall, as well as pick up the pieces left by Fuoco's earlier bounce.

The restart saw Luca Ghiotto lead the field, with Leclerc sprinting past Ralph Boschung to grab second with the Italian ten seconds clear. However, before Ghiotto could try and build his advantage a second safety car was called, this time to allow Louis Delétraz to be plucked from the barriers.

Leclerc allowed Ghiotto to control the restart, and made no early attempt to pass before the Italian peeled off to complete his stop on lap nineteen. That left the Monegasque with a sizeable lead at the head of the field, with de Vries and Latifi leading the rest of the pack.

With that the race was run, with Leclerc also squeezing in the fastest lap of the race on the final tour to claim maximum points. de Vries and Latifi held on to complete the podium, keeping a charging Oliver Rowland at bay, before the Brit was handed a ten second time penalty post-race for failing to slow under yellow flags.

Background
F2 headed to the Baku City Circuit in Azerbaijan for its fourth pair of races, once again partnering Formula One for the inaugural Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The circuit itself remained unchanged after its debut in 2016, with the DRS zones also unmodified. There was, however, a change to the entry list, with Sergey Sirotkin getting his F2 debut, replacing Alexander Albon after the Thai driver injured himself in training.

Into the Championship and it was status quo at the top of the Championship table after the Monaco Sprint, with neither Charles Leclerc nor Oliver Rowland managing to score, leaving them three points apart. Artem Markelov and Luca Ghiotto had therefore managed to inch closer, moving fourteen and eighteen behind respectively, as had Nobuharu Matsushita in fifth. Elsewhere, race winner Nyck de Vries had moved into the top ten, with no other drivers managing to add their name to the scorers list.

In the Teams Championship it was Russian Time whom emerged at the head of the hunt, leaving Monte Carlo on 116 points. DAMS were still their closest combatants, still on 102, with Prema Racing slipping back after their near-pointless weekend in the Principality. ART Grand Prix were next up with Rapax moving into fifth, while Campos Racing remained as the only pointless team in 2017.

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

Results
The final qualifying result for the are outlined below:
 * * Ghiotto was allowed to start despite failing to set a time within 107% of the fastest time at the stewards' discretion.

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 handed a ten second time penalty for ignoring yellow flags.
 * † Câmara, Gelael and Vișoiu all handed to second time penalties for ignoring yellow flags.
 * ‡ Cecotto would be forced to start from the pitlane in the Sprint Race for speeding in the pitlane.

Milestones

 * Debut race for Sergey Sirotkin in Formula Two.
 * Charles Leclerc claimed his third victory in F2.
 * Leclerc became the first driver to claim a maximum score in an F2 Feature Race.
 * Prema Racing claimed their third F2 victory.
 * Also the Italian squad's twelfth triumph at GP2/F2 level.
 * Maiden points finishes for Ralph Boschung and Sirotkin.

Standings
The maximum score for Charles Leclerc ensured that the Monegasque ace pulled out a sizeable lead in the Championship, heading into the Sprint Race with a 28 point lead. Furthermore, Leclerc also smashed through the 100 point barrier, ending the afternoon with 108 points to his name. Oliver Rowland, was therefore left to lead charge from second, with Artem Markelov his closest challenger.

Russian Time continued to lead the Teams' Championship, moving five points clear of DAMS in second. Elsewhere, Leclerc's maximum score moved Prema Racing past the 100 point mark, keeping them in third, with ART Grand Prix in fourth on 86. Rapax completed the top five, while Ralph Boschung's maiden points finish finally put Campos Racing on the board.

Only point scoring drivers and teams are shown.