 2021 Yas Island Race 2
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|---|---|---|
 The Yas Marina Circuit was given a few tweaks for 2021. | ||
| Race Information | ||
| Date | 11 December 2021 | |
| No. | 115 (22 of 2021) | |
| Event | 2021 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
| |
| Location | Yas Marina Circuit Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates | |
| Format | 120 km / 45 minute (Sprint Race) | |
| Lap length | 5.281 km (3.281 mi) | |
| Distance | 23 laps / 121.463 km (75.474 mi) | |
| Fastest Lap | ||
| Driver |  Roy Nissany
| |
| Team |  DAMS
| |
| Time | 1:37.445 on lap 23 | |
| Race Result | ||
| First | Second | Third |
 Guanyu Zhou
|
 Robert Shwartzman
|
 Ralph Boschung
|
| Winner Team |  UNI-Virtuosi Racing
| |
| Time | 43:27.096 | |
| Race Guide | ||
| Previous | Next | |
| 2021 Yas Marina Sprint Race 1
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2021 Yas Marina Feature Race
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The 2021 Yas Marina Sprint Race 2, formally known as the 2021 Yas Island Formula 2 Race 2, was the twenty-second and penultimate race of the 2021 FIA Formula 2 Championship on 11 December 2021 at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.[1] The race would see Guanyu Zhou secure a measured victory, after race leader Marcus Armstrong retired mid-race with an engine failure.[2]
Armstrong had been handed pole position for the final Sprint Race of the weekend, having finished in tenth behind Ralph Boschung in the 2021 Yas Marina Sprint Race 1.[3] Zhou, meanwhile, would start the race alongside Théo Pourchaire, while Oscar Piastri started from eighth having claimed the Championship title in the earlier race.[3]
The start saw Armstrong streak into the lead from pole unopposed, with Zhou preventing Boschung from challenging by threatening a lunge into turn one, although the Chinese racer opted against it.[2] Behind, however, it was a free for all to claim fourth, with Piastri and Robert Shwartzman going either side of Liam Lawson, having almost been pushed into the wall by Pourchaire.[2]
Lawson would emerge behind Shwartzman but ahead of Piastri, who would earn himself a penalty by throwing his car down the inside of the New Zealander into turn five and forcing Lawson off track.[2] Those two then got involved in a six car fight on the brakes for the chicane, which briefly saw four drivers enter the corner side-by-side before Jack Doohan bailed and took to the escape road.[2]
The fighting carried on behind the top five at a furious rate, allowing that quintet, headed by Armstrong and featuring Zhou, Boschung, Shwartzman and Dan Ticktum to break clear.[2] That was until the Safety Car was called out to allow Alessio Deledda to be removed from the track at turn nine, after he had been tackled out of the race by Olli Caldwell.[2]
At the restart Armstrong broke away with Zhou and Boschung in tow, while Shwartzman dropped Ticktum to secure his hold on third.[2] In the midfield, meanwhile, Piastri continued his eventful afternoon by lunging past Roy Nissany and Jüri Vips into the chicane in one fell swoop, before the trio came together at turn nine and ended the Australian race facing backwards.[2]
After a second SC to remove Vips and Piastri the race resumed, although as soon as the field entered turn one the Virtual Safety Car was required, for Armstrong had suffered an engine failure and was out.[2] Zhou inherited the lead immediately and would jet clear at the restart, while behind Shwartzman would mug Boschung as soon as the race resumed to grab second.[2]
The closing stages were about the fights in the lower end of the top-ten, with Doohan putting his skills on display in a ferocious fight with Lawson and Nissany for the final point.[2] After two failed moved the Australian rookie finally pulled off a move to grab eighth from Nissany, whose challenge would later end after contact with Christian Lundgaard, while Felipe Drugovich did what he couldn't in the first Sprint and drove right around the outside of Jehan Daruvala for fifth.[2]
With that the race was run, with Zhou lamenting a lost fight with Armstrong as he cruised to victory ahead of Shwartzman, meaning their duel to finish as runner-up to Piastri headed into the Feature Race.[2] Boschung completed the podium ahead of Ticktum and Drugovich, Lawson mugged Daruvala late on for sixth, while Doohan rounded out the scorers.[2]
Background[]
The modified Yas Marina Circuit was unchanged for the second race of the weekend, which was to be the fifteenth and final Sprint Race to be conducted in the 2021 campaign.[1] The grid would be set off of the results of the 2021 Yas Marina Sprint Race 1, with the reverse-grid rule shuffling Marcus Armstrong to pole position with Ralph Boschung alongside.[3]
An Australian Ace[]
With two races to spare Oscar Piastri was declared as the 2021 FIA Formula 2 Championship Champion, the Australian rookie having secured 223.5 points in 21 races. Teammate Robert Shwartzman would hence have to settle for second, with victory in the Second Sprint, and Guanyu Zhou failing to score, enough for the Russian pilot to seal the position before the final race. Zhou, meanwhile, faced a late fight for third with Dan Ticktum, while Théo Pourchaire was a distant contender for the top three in fifth.
Prema Racing had seen their title winning margin reduced after the first fight in Yas Marina, although the damage had only been minimal. Indeed, Carlin had managed to cut a single point out of Prema's advantage as they sought to secure second, the British squad having moved onto 254.5 points after Jehan Daruvala's victory. UNI-Virtuosi had slipped 20.5 behind but remained a significant threat with two races to go, while Hitech Grand Prix were also in contention in fourth.
Entry List[]
The full entry list for the 2021 Yas Marina Sprint Race 2 is displayed below:
- * Placeholder liveries are show for the second drivers in each team.
Grid[]
The grid for the second Sprint Race of the weekend was set by reversing the top ten results from the Opening Sprint Race of the weekend, as per FIA Formula 2 Championship rules.[3]
| Pos. | Pos. | |
|---|---|---|
| Driver | Driver | |
| ______________ | ||
| Row 1 | ______________ | 1 |
| 2 | Marcus Armstrong | |
| Ralph Boschung | ______________ | |
| Row 2 | ______________ | 3 |
| 4 | Guanyu Zhou | |
| Théo Pourchaire | ______________ | |
| Row 3 | ______________ | 5 |
| 6 | Dan Ticktum | |
| Liam Lawson | ______________ | |
| Row 4 | ______________ | 7 |
| 8 | Robert Shwartzman | |
| Oscar Piastri | ______________ | |
| Row 5 | ______________ | 9 |
| 10 | Felipe Drugovich | |
| Jehan Daruvala | ______________ | |
| Row 6 | ______________ | 11 |
| 12 | Jack Doohan | |
| Jüri Vips | ______________ | |
| Row 7 | ______________ | 13 |
| 14 | Bent Viscaal | |
| Roy Nissany | ______________ | |
| Row 8 | ______________ | 15 |
| 16 | Christian Lundgaard | |
| Guilherme Samaia | ______________ | |
| Row 9 | ______________ | 17 |
| 18 | Clément Novalak | |
| Alessio Deledda | ______________ | |
| Row 10 | ______________ | 19 |
| 20 | Marino Sato | |
| Olli Caldwell | ______________ | |
| Row 11 | ______________ | 21 |
| 22 | Jake Hughes | |
| Richard Verschoor | ______________ |
Race[]
Report[]
Results[]
The final classification of the 2021 Yas Marina Sprint Race 2 is displayed below:
| 2021 Yas Marina Sprint Race 2 Race Result | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pos. | No. | Name | Team | Laps | Race Time | Strat. | Fastest lap | Pts. |
| 1st | 3 | Guanyu Zhou
|
UNI-Virtuosi
|
23 | 43:27.096 | 
|
1:37.823 | 15 |
| 2nd | 1 | Robert Shwartzman
|
 Prema Racing
|
23 | +3.413s |
|
1:38.412 | 12 |
| 3rd | 21 | Ralph Boschung
|
 Campos Racing
|
23 | +9.772s |
|
1:38.700 | 10 |
| 4th | 5 | Dan Ticktum
|
Carlin
|
23 | +14.296s |
|
1:38.875 | 8 |
| 5th | 4 |  Felipe Drugovich
|
UNI-Virtuosi
|
23 | +14.501s |
|
1:39.094 | 6 |
| 6th | 7 |  Liam Lawson
|
Hitech Grand Prix
|
23 | +17.088s |
|
1:39.077 | 4 |
| 7th | 6 |  Jehan Daruvala
|
Carlin
|
23 | +19.839s |
|
1:38.985 | 2 |
| 8th | 11 |  Jack Doohan
|
 MP Motorsport
|
23 | +21.086s |
|
1:39.330 | 1 |
| 9th | 10 | Théo Pourchaire
|
ART Grand Prix
|
23 | +21.942s |
|
1:39.451 | |
| 10th | 24 | Bent Viscaal
|
Trident
|
23 | +22.722s |
|
1:39.359 | |
| 11th | 14 | Richard Verschoor
|
 Charouz Racing System
|
23 | +25.881s |
|
1:39.640 | |
| 12th | 15 | Guilherme Samaia
|
Charouz Racing System
|
23 | +30.899s |
|
1:39.627 | |
| 13th | 22 | Jake Hughes
|
 HWA Racelab
|
23 | +31.463s |
|
1:39.933 | |
| 14th | 12 | Clément Novalak
|
MP Motorsport
|
23 | +31.867s |
|
1:39.925 | |
| 15th | 20 | Olli Caldwell
|
Campos Racing
|
23 | +32.236s |
|
1:39.974 | |
| 16th | 25 |  Marino Sato
|
Trident
|
23 | +37.022s |
|
1:40.006 | |
| 17th | 16 | Roy Nissany
|
DAMS
|
23 | +1:06.754 | -
|
1:37.445 | |
| 18th | 9 |  Christian Lundgaard
|
ART Grand Prix
|
22 | +1 Lap | -
|
1:38.261 | |
| Ret | 17 | Marcus Armstrong
|
DAMS
|
10 | Engine |
|
1:49.670 | |
| Ret | 8 |  Jüri Vips
|
Hitech Grand Prix
|
6 | Collision |
|
1:39.575 | |
| Ret | 2 | Oscar Piastri
|
Prema Racing
|
6 | Collision |
|
1:39.675 | |
| Ret* | 23 | Alessio Deledda
|
HWA Racelab
|
2 | Collision |
|
1:44.541 | |
| Source:[5] | ||||||||
- Italics indicate that a driver set fastest lap.
- * Deledda was handed a three place grid penalty for causing a collision with Caldwell.[6]
Milestones[]
- Fifth victory for Guanyu Zhou.
- UNI-Virtuosi Racing claimed their twelfth win.
Standings[]
A fourth non-score for Oscar Piastri was immaterial to the Championship, with the Australian racer having already claimed the title earlier in the day. The fight for second, meanwhile, would role into the final race of the season, with Robert Shwartzman holding the position, seventeen ahead of Guanyu Zhou with a maximum 27 available. Elsewhere, Dan Ticktum had effectively secured fourth ahead of Théo Pourchaire, while Ralph Boschung had climbed into the top ten after his podium finish.
In the Teams' Championship Prema Racing had seen their title winning lead increase by two, with the Italian effort having moved onto 405.5 points for the campaign. Carlin, meanwhile, would start the final race of the season in second position, 9.5 points ahead of UNI-Virtuosi, with the two British squads in a now private duel to claim the runner-up spot. Hitech Grand Prix, meanwhile, were guaranteed fourth ahead of ART Grand Prix, while HWA Racelab would need a major score to avoid propping up the table.
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Only point scoring drivers are shown.
References[]
Images and Videos:
References:
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 '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 'SPRINT RACE 2: Zhou beats Shwartzman to victory in manic second race at Yas Marina', fiaformula2.com, (FIA Formula 2, 11/12/2021), https://www.fiaformula2.com/Latest/33YWGdNfQRgiv5ljzCuJjf/sprint-race-2-zhou-beats-shwartzman-to-victory-in-manic-second-race-at-yas, (Accessed 08/04/2022)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 'SPRINT RACE 1: Piastri crowned F2 champion as Daruvala wins on track in Yas Marina', fiaformula2.com, (FIA Formula 2, 11/12/2021), https://www.fiaformula2.com/Latest/2y78sTecfS0DIwxyUZIb6m/sprint-race-1-piastri-crowned-f2-champion-as-daruvala-wins-on-track-in-yas, (Accessed 07/04/2021)
- ↑ 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
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedResults - ↑ 'Deledda served with a three-place grid drop for the Feature Race', fiaformula2.com, (FIA Formula 2, 11/12/2021), https://www.fiaformula2.com/Latest/2cCpnpqtgVqYpkgqy8MJ47/deledda-served-with-a-three-place-grid-drop-for-the-feature-race, (Accessed 08/04/2022)