 2021 Jeddah Race 3
| ||
|---|---|---|
 The Jeddah Corniche Circuit debuted in 2021. | ||
| Race Information | ||
| Date | 5 December 2021 | |
| No. | 113 (20 of 2021) | |
| Event | Formula 1 STC Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2021
| |
| Location | Jeddah Corniche Circuit Jeddah, Mecca, Saudi Arabia | |
| Format | 170 km / 60 minute (Feature Race) | |
| Lap length | 6.174 km (3.836 mi) | |
| Distance | 5 laps / 30.870 km (19.182 mi) | |
| Qualifying Result | ||
| Pole Sitter |  Oscar Piastri
| |
| Team |  Prema Racing
| |
| Time | 1:40.878 | |
| Fastest Lap | ||
| Driver | Oscar Piastri
| |
| Team | Prema Racing
| |
| Time | 1:45.326 on lap 5 | |
| Race Result | ||
| First | Second | Third |
| Oscar Piastri
|
 Robert Shwartzman
|
 Ralph Boschung
|
| Winner Team | Prema Racing
| |
| Time | 47:09.339 | |
| Race Guide | ||
| Previous | Next | |
| 2021 Jeddah Sprint Race 2
|
 2021 Yas Marina Sprint Race 1
| |
The 2021 Jeddah Feature Race, formally known as the 2021 Jeddah Formula 2 Race 3, was the twentieth race of the 2021 FIA Formula 2 Championship staged at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in Jeddah, Mecca, Saudi Arabia on 5 December 2021.[1] The race was won from pole position by Oscar Piastri, having only lasted five laps due to two crashes that brought out red flags on one of F2's most bizarre days.[2]
Indeed, Piastri was the man to beat in qualifying, as the Australian's late season form continued as he claimed a fourth straight pole position.[3] His Prema Racing teammate Robert Shwartzman would line-up in second, knowing he had to outscore the Australian youth if he was to maintain his bid for the title, while Théo Pourchaire and Christian Lundgaard shared the second row for ART Grand Prix.[3]
The start of the race saw Piastri jet into the lead ahead of teammate Shwartzman, while Lundgaard made a poor getaway and Pourchaire stalled in third place.[2] Most of the field would make it past the stranded #10 ART, until an unsighted Enzo Fittipaldi drove right into the back of the Frenchman.[2] Pourchaire was launched into the air by the sheer force of the accident, while Fittipaldi ended up with his car in the pitwall.[2]
The severity of the accident and need for outside assistance to extract the drivers caused the race to be red flagged instantly, with Pourchaire and Fittipaldi both taken to hospital.[2] After 40 minutes the race was resumed behind the Safety Car, albeit shortened to 20 minutes and with half-points to be awarded, and with the mandatory pitstop still required.[2]
Piastri duly managed to fend off teammate Shwartzman at the restart, while Boschung was up to third having battled past Guanyu Zhou and Felipe Drugovich before the initial red flag.[2] It was largely grid order behind, although Dan Ticktum was able to dive down the inside of teammate Jehan Daruvala for tenth while Logan Sargeant had to wait until turn thirteen to complete a move on Roy Nissany.[2]
After four laps the field began to pit, with Piastri the first to dive in with most of the top ten coming in behind as a yellow flag was thrown in sector three.[2] Shwartzman was hence handed the lead, aiming to overcut his teammate, although it was all made immaterial when the red flags reappeared as the incident at turn 22 had blocked the circuit.[2]
The cause was Olli Caldwell, who had got out of shape on the kerbs at turn 22 and spun across the circuit, right into the path of Guilherme Samaia.[2] Both drivers hit the wall and were out on the spot, although with the cars stuck in the fastest part of the circuit there was no choice but to halt the race.[2]
With that the results were declared, with Piastri the winner ahead of Shwartzman and Boschung, the results being taken as the field had completed lap five before the red flag.[2] It meant that Piastri was just one more podium finish away from the title, while the one-two for Prema meant they were declared as the Teams' Champions with a whole round to spare.[2]
After the race it was revealed that Pourchaire was fine and declared fit to race at the season ending round in Abu Dhabi, while Fittipaldi suffered a broken heel and was unable to compete at Yas Marina.[4]
Background[]
There were no changes to the Jeddah Corniche Circuit for the final race of the weekend, which would be staged ahead of the inaugural Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.[1] The start time would be delayed, however, after track repairs were required due to damage to barriers sustained in an earlier support race.[2] Furthermore, there were no changes to the entry for the final race of the weekend, with all twenty-two drivers and cars having survived the Sprint Races without too much damage.[5]
Piastri Pusher[]
Oscar Piastri had continued his march to the 2021 Championship with his fourth win of the campaign in the Second Jeddah Sprint, which had left the Australian pilot on 196 points for the season. That in-turn meant that Piastri held a 43 point lead over teammate and closest challenger Robert Shwartzman in second, while Guanyu Zhou was a further ten behind in third. It also meant that Piastri could claim the title with three races to spare in the Feature Race, if he won the Feature and saw Shwartzman finish lower than seventh.
In the Teams' Championship Prema Racing were in the same position as their lead driver, with the Italian squad able to take the crown in the Feature Race. Indeed, their tally of 349 points to second placed Carlin's 235 was more than the 107 points available to Teams in the final round at Yas Marina, meaning they had to avoid being outscored by the British squad in the Feature Race by more than six points to secure the title. Carlin, meanwhile, were holding a relatively secure hold on second, 25 points ahead of UNI-Virtuosi in third.
Entry List[]
The full entry list for the 2021 Jeddah Feature Race is displayed below:
- * Placeholder liveries are show for the second drivers in each team.
Practice[]
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.[3] 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.[3] There was also a free choice of tyres, although drivers could not exceed their allocation of either compound of Pirelli tyres.[3]
Report[]
The session began under the lights in Jeddah, with Théo Pourchaire leading the field out of the pitlane at the start, the entire field taking to the circuit on supersoft Pirellis.[3] The first runs came immediately after the out-laps, with Ralph Boschung setting the initial pace mid-pack, recording a 1:42.155, before Robert Shwartzman bounded across the line to break into the 1:41.000s with teammate Oscar Piastri in tow.[3] The field then set about completing a cool-down lap to recondition their tyres, before all launching onto a second run a couple of minutes later.[3]
That exchange saw Pourchaire hit the front of the field, only for Shwartzman to respond instantly with a 1:41.355 a few moments later.[3] Piastri would drop to third having only found a few thousandths, while Guanyu Zhou and Dan Ticktum, the other pretenders to the throne, found themselves hovering at the back of the top ten.[3] With that the field all cruised back to the pits for fresh tyres, with the field duly returning to the fray with just under ten minutes left on the clock.[3]
The first entries on fresh rubber saw Zhou improve to third, as Shwartzman, Pourchaire and Piastri all failed to better their earlier efforts.[3] It was a different story on the second runs, however, with Piastri suddenly jumping to the top with a 1:40.878, while Shwartzman slipped to second on a 1:41.043.[3] Pourchaire and Lundgaard trailed them for ART Grand Prix, although three and four tenths off of Piastri's effort, while Felipe Drugovich was last man across the line to claim fifth ahead of his UNI-Virtuosi teammate Zhou.[3]
After the session it was announced that Alessio Deledda would be able to start the Feature Race, as well as the Sprints, after the Italian racer was forced to miss qualifying due to damage sustained in practice.[7]
Results[]
The final qualifying result for the 2021 Jeddah Feature Race are outlined below:
| 2021 Jeddah Feature Race Qualifying Result | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pos. | No. | Name | Team | Time | Gap | Ave. Speed | Grid |
| 1st | 2 | Oscar Piastri
|
Prema Racing
|
1:40.878 | — | 220.329 km/h | 1 |
| 2nd | 1 | Robert Shwartzman
|
Prema Racing
|
1:41.043 | +0.165s | 219.969 km/h | 2 |
| 3rd | 10 |  Théo Pourchaire
|
ART Grand Prix
|
1:41.218 | +0.340s | 219.589 km/h | 3 |
| 4th | 9 |  Christian Lundgaard
|
ART Grand Prix
|
1:41.297 | +0.419s | 219.418 km/h | 4 |
| 5th | 4 |  Felipe Drugovich
|
 UNI-Virtuosi
|
1:41.302 | +0.424s | 219.407 km/h | 5 |
| 6th | 3 |  Guanyu Zhou
|
UNI-Virtuosi
|
1:41.350 | +0.472s | 219.303 km/h | 6 |
| 7th | 21 | Ralph Boschung
|
 Campos Racing
|
1:41.532 | +0.654s | 218.910 km/h | 7 |
| 8th | 8 |  Jüri Vips
|
Hitech Grand Prix
|
1:41.610 | +0.732s | 218.742 km/h | 8 |
| 9th | 17 |  Marcus Armstrong
|
DAMS
|
1:41.618 | +0.740s | 218.725 km/h | 9 |
| 10th | 7 | Liam Lawson
|
Hitech Grand Prix
|
1:41.619 | +0.741s | 218.722 km/h | 10 |
| 11th | 6 |  Jehan Daruvala
|
Carlin
|
1:41.861 | +0.983s | 218.203 km/h | 11 |
| 12th* | 12 | Clément Novalak
|
 MP Motorsport
|
1:41.890 | +1.012s | 218.141 km/h | 15* |
| 13th | 5 | Dan Ticktum
|
Carlin
|
1:41.960 | +1.082s | 217.991 km/h | 12 |
| 14th | 24 | Bent Viscaal
|
Trident
|
1:41.972 | +1.094s | 217.965 km/h | 13 |
| 15th | 16 |  Roy Nissany
|
DAMS
|
1:42.076 | +1.198s | 217.743 km/h | 14 |
| 16th | 11 | Jack Doohan
|
MP Motorsport
|
1:42.114 | +1.236s | 217.662 km/h | 16 |
| 17th | 25 |  Marino Sato
|
Trident
|
1:42.466 | +1.588s | 216.914 km/h | 17 |
| 18th | 14 | Enzo Fittipaldi
|
 Charouz Racing System
|
1:42.870 | +1.992s | 216.062 km/h | 18 |
| 19th | 20 | Olli Caldwell
|
Campos Racing
|
1:42.919 | +2.041s | 215.960 km/h | 19 |
| 20th | 15 | Guilherme Samaia
|
Charouz Racing System
|
1:43.422 | +2.544s | 214.909 km/h | 20 |
| 21st | 22 |  Logan Sargeant
|
 HWA Racelab
|
1:43.481 | +2.603s | 214.787 km/h | 21 |
| 107% Time: 1:47.939[8] | |||||||
| NC† | 23 | Alessio Deledda
|
HWA Racelab
|
22† | |||
| Source:[8] | |||||||
- * Novalak served a three pace grid penalty for causing a collision in the 2021 Jeddah Sprint Race 2.[9]
- † Deledda was allowed to start the race from the back of the grid after failing to set a time during qualifying.[7]
Grid[]
| Pos. | Pos. | |
|---|---|---|
| Driver | Driver | |
| ______________ | ||
| Row 1 | ______________ | 1 |
| 2 | Oscar Piastri | |
| Robert Shwartzman | ______________ | |
| Row 2 | ______________ | 3 |
| 4 | Théo Pourchaire | |
| Christian Lundgaard | ______________ | |
| Row 3 | ______________ | 5 |
| 6 | Felipe Drugovich | |
| Guanyu Zhou | ______________ | |
| Row 4 | ______________ | 7 |
| 8 | Ralph Boschung | |
| Jüri Vips | ______________ | |
| Row 5 | ______________ | 9 |
| 10 | Marcus Armstrong | |
| Liam Lawson | ______________ | |
| Row 6 | ______________ | 11 |
| 12 | Jehan Daruvala | |
| Dan Ticktum | ______________ | |
| Row 7 | ______________ | 13 |
| 14 | Bent Viscaal | |
| Roy Nissany | ______________ | |
| Row 8 | ______________ | 15 |
| 16 | Clément Novalak | |
| Jack Doohan | ______________ | |
| Row 9 | ______________ | 17 |
| 18 | Marino Sato | |
| Enzo Fittipaldi | ______________ | |
| Row 10 | ______________ | 19 |
| 20 | Olli Caldwell | |
| Guilherme Samaia | ______________ | |
| Row 11 | ______________ | 21 |
| 22 | Logan Sargeant | |
| Alessio Deledda | ______________ |
Race[]
Report[]
Results[]
The final classification of the 2021 Jeddah Feature Race is displayed below:
| 2021 Jeddah Feature Race Race Result | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pos. | No. | Name | Team | Laps | Race Time* | Strat. | Fastest lap | Pts. |
| 1st | 2 | Oscar Piastri
|
Prema Racing
|
5 | 47:09.339 | 
|
1:45.326 | 17.5 |
| 2nd | 1 | Robert Shwartzman
|
Prema Racing
|
5 | +1.148s |
|
1:45.461 | 9 |
| 3rd | 21 | Ralph Boschung
|
Campos Racing
|
5 | +2.757s |
|
1:45.728 | 7.5 |
| 4th | 3 | Guanyu Zhou
|
UNI-Virtuosi
|
5 | +3.020s |
|
1:45.815 | 6 |
| 5th | 4 | Felipe Drugovich
|
UNI-Virtuosi
|
5 | +4.407s |
|
1:46.424 | 5 |
| 6th | 8 | Jüri Vips
|
Hitech Grand Prix
|
5 | +4.871s |
|
1:45.815 | 4 |
| 7th | 9 | Christian Lundgaard
|
ART Grand Prix
|
5 | +6.069s | 
|
1:46.019 | 3 |
| 8th | 17 | Marcus Armstrong
|
DAMS
|
5 | +6.178s |
|
1:46.624 | 2 |
| 9th | 7 | Liam Lawson
|
Hitech Grand Prix
|
5 | +6.547s |
|
1:45.797 | 1 |
| 10th | 5 | Dan Ticktum
|
Carlin
|
5 | +9.434s |
|
1:47.244 | 0.5 |
| 11th | 6 | Jehan Daruvala
|
Carlin
|
5 | +9.593s |
|
1:47.026 | |
| 12th | 24 | Bent Viscaal
|
Trident
|
5 | +10.177s |
|
1:46.985 | |
| 13th | 11 | Jack Doohan
|
MP Motorsport
|
5 | +10.445s |
|
1:46.538 | |
| 14th | 22 | Logan Sargeant
|
HWA Racelab
|
5 | +12.359s |
|
1:46.921 | |
| 15th | 16 | Roy Nissany
|
DAMS
|
5 | +12.740s |
|
1:46.154 | |
| 16th | 20 | Olli Caldwell
|
Campos Racing
|
5 | +13.736s |
|
1:46.438 | |
| 17th | 15 | Guilherme Samaia
|
Charouz Racing System
|
5 | +15.494s |
|
1:47.008 | |
| 18th | 25 | Marino Sato
|
Trident
|
5 | +16.871s |
|
1:48.004 | |
| 19th | 12 | Clément Novalak
|
MP Motorsport
|
5 | +17.134s |
|
1:47.374 | |
| 20th | 23 | Alessio Deledda
|
HWA Racelab
|
5 | +20.776s |
|
1:48.825 | |
| Ret | 10 | Théo Pourchaire
|
ART Grand Prix
|
0 | Collision |
|
— | |
| Ret | 14 | Enzo Fittipaldi
|
Charouz Racing System
|
0 | Collision |
|
— | |
| Source:[8] | ||||||||
- Bold indicates a driver started from pole.
- Italics indicate that a driver set fastest lap.
- * The race was originally scheduled for 28 laps.[1] The results were declared as the timesheet was completed at the end of the fifth lap, the last lap before the red flag.[8]
Milestones[]
- Prema Racing declared as the 2021 FIA Formula 2 Championship for Teams Champions.
- Prema secured their second F2 title and third at GP2/F2 level.
- Fourth straight pole position for Oscar Piastri.
- Piastri became only the second driver after Charles Leclerc to claim four straight pole positions.
- Fifth victory for Piastri.
- Prema claimed their 25th victory as a Formula 2 entrant.
- Also Prema's 33rd win at GP2/F2 level.
Standings[]
Oscar Piastri was on the verge of the Championship title, the Australian racer having moved onto 213.5 points for the campaign after his fifth victory. That left Piastri with a 51.5 lead over teammate Robert Shwartzman, meaning he could win the title in the 2021 Yas Marina Sprint Race 1 if he finished in sixth, regardless of what Shwartzman could do. Furthermore, Shwartzman was now the only driver who could deny Piastri the title, with third placed Guanyu Zhou needing a perfect weekend in Yas Marina and see Piastri fail to register a single point.
Prema Racing were the 2021 FIA Formula 2 Championship Champions with a round to spare after the final battle of Jeddah, the Italian squad having claimed 375.5 points after twenty races. That left them 140 points clear of Carlin in second, and with only 107 points left to fight for in Yas Marina, the Italian squad were too far away to be challenged. Carlin were hence left in a scrap for second, with UNI-Virtuosi 14.5 points behind in third, and Hitech Grand Prix in fourth 26.5 away.
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Only point scoring drivers are shown.
References[]
Images and Videos:
References:
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 'FIA Formula 2 Championship 2021 season provisional calendar announced', fiaformula2.com, (FIA Formula 2, 10/11/2020), https://www.fiaformula2.com/Latest/1lFF2lrhzJbOeFTnd2hPE4/fia-formula-2-championship-2021-season-provisional-calendar-announced, (Accessed 11/11/2020)
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 'Piastri takes half-point win in red flagged Feature Race, following multiple incidents', fiaformula2.com, (FIA Formula 2, 05/12/2021), https://www.fiaformula2.com/Latest/5Q4tXJn5fhig4bCnto8nml/piastri-takes-half-point-win-in-red-flagged-feature-race-following-multiple, (Accessed 06/04/2022)
- ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 'QUALIFYING: Piastri takes historic fourth successive pole in Jeddah', fiaformula2.com, (FIA Formula 2, 03/12/2021), https://www.fiaformula2.com/Latest/7Kb51TsANM3KmBnNwZLVaI/qualifying-piastri-takes-historic-fourth-successive-pole-in-jeddah, (Accessed 03/04/2022)
- ↑ 'Update 07/12/21: Statement: Incident During FIA Formula 2 Feature Race, Jeddah', fiaformula2.com, (FIA Formula 2, 06/04/2022), https://www.fiaformula2.com/Latest/6WL8eTCX97wxat5fPodugT/update-07-12-21-statement-incident-during-fia-formula-2-feature-race-jeddah, (Accessed 06/04/2022)
- ↑ 'SPRINT RACE 2: Piastri closes in on the title with victory over Viscaal in Jeddah', fiaformula2.com, (FIA Formula 2, 04/12/2021), https://www.fiaformula2.com/Latest/5wRq6hIsWVJiz1uo3efW9N/sprint-race-2-piastri-closes-in-on-the-title-with-victory-over-viscaal-in, (Accessed 04/04/2022)
- ↑ Archived, 'Teams and Drivers', fiaformula2.com, (FIA Formula 2, 2021), https://web.archive.org/web/20210816222954/https://www.fiaformula2.com/Teams-and-Drivers, (Accessed 27/03/2022) - Original
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 'Deledda given permission to start from the back of the grid', fiaformula2.com, (FIA Formula 2, 03/12/2021), https://www.fiaformula2.com/Latest/2oPIkwjkteeZnrG7bzHfVN/deledda-given-permission-to-start-from-the-back-of-the-grid-2, (Accessed 06/04/2022)
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedResults - ↑ 'Novalak penalised following Sprint Race 2 Lap 1 incident', fiaformula2.com, (FIA Formula 2, 04/12/2021), https://www.fiaformula2.com/Latest/3Bnjt5Mf4JfD9li5210HKl/novalak-penalised-following-sprint-race-2-lap-1-incident, (Accessed 04/04/2022)