F2 | Bahrain: double from Maloney, first point for Antonelli

After the tests, Maloney arrived in Bahrain recharged and ready to confirm the good things seen in the pre-season tests. Even though pole position was not achieved in qualifying, in the race it was a solo effort by the young driver who recently graduated from the Sauber Academy.

A performance of absolute importance which led him to win both the Sprint and the Feature Race, with a haul of 36 points, with an advantage of already 12 points over another protagonist of the weekend, the rookie Pepe Martì, author of a good second place in the long race.

Good debut also for Gabriel Bortoleto with Invicta, author of the pole after the sanction given to his teammate Maini for a technical infringement, but also the protagonist of a contact in the opening stages of the Feature Race. Despite a few episodes, Sakhir was a solid weekend for the Brazilian, who is now looking at the rest of the championship with more confidence.

The same cannot be said at Prema. The Italian team did not shine in the first weekend with the new single-seater, remaining for a long time in the less noble areas of the standings both in qualifying and in the sprint race on Friday, where they also completed an additional pit stop. Only Saturday's race offered some more satisfaction, with the first point won by Andrea Kimi Antonelli with some good battles at the end after the intervention of the Safety Car. The Italian was also the protagonist of a nice overtaking on teammate Oliver Bearman, who had a disappointing weekend between subpar performances and contact with his rivals.

Game 1: Maloney opens the season

In the first race of the weekend, Maloney took a five-second lead with a race that heated up in the final stages, when the softer tires began to wear off, allowing those who had chosen an alternative strategy to remake yourself and enter the fight.

Jak Crawford started perfectly from the reverse pole position for the sprint, while behind him both Victor Martins and Zak Osullivan were able to climb back towards the top of the standings, also overtaking Taylor Barnard, who started in the top positions.

After a brief intervention by the Virtual Safety Car on the second lap to allow Amaury Cordeel's Hitech to recover, Maloney's comeback began, moving from eighth on the grid to second during the sixth lap.

On lap eight, the Rodin driver took the lead with a nice overtaking start in turn four, but then consolidated only at the entrance to the 6-7 chicane thanks to better traction on the exit. On lap fourteen, O'Sullivan began his comeback using the harder tyres, while those who had opted for the softer compound began to struggle.

Oliver Bearman, Prema Racing

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

In fact, as the laps went by, Isack Hadjar began to experience increasingly evident difficulties, something that his teammate Pepe Martì also took advantage of, who had started the race outside the top 10. On the last lap, O'Sullivan managed to recover to seventh place, with Bortoleto sixth on his debut in the category.

Crawford and Marti also took to the podium together with Maloney, with a convincing performance. Paul Aron also did well, ahead of the Brazilian from the McLaren Academy.

Prema was in difficulty, so much so that both Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Oliver Bearman returned to the pits to fit the soft tire with an additional stop, betting on the intervention of the Safety Car to try to recover some positions. The Italian started to move up the order, but without actually getting close to the points zone.

Game 2: double from Maloney, first point for Antonelli

For Maloney it was an absolute protagonist weekend because, after the success in the sprint race moved to Friday, the young Rodin driver also imposed himself in the long race on Saturday, confirming the good impressions that had been observed in the mid-term tests February.

Maloney chose a strategy opposite to the competition, deciding to start with the soft tires and then switch to the harder compound, still maintaining his advantage after the interruption due to the Safety Car entering the track.

The race opened immediately with an accident at the start between Gabriel Bortoleto, poleman after the exclusion of Maini due to a technical irregularity, and Isack Hadjar, who came into contact after a bad start from the front row. The two collided at the first corner after being immediately overtaken by Maloney, who thus began to build the foundations of his victory.

Isack Hadjar, Campos Racing, and Enzo Fittipaldi, Van Amersfoort Racing.

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

While most of the field managed to avoid Hadjar's car, which was sent into a spin by the Brazilian from Invicta, Enzo Fittipaldi was unable to follow an alternative trajectory. The Brazilian then hit the belly area of ​​Hadjar's car, causing the safety car to intervene. Both drivers retired after the contact, while Bortoleto, who had damaged his front wing as a result of the accident, was given a 10-second penalty.

Also taking advantage of the situation were Williams Academy driver Zak O'Sullivan and MP Motorsport driver Dennis Hauger, who thus moved up to second and third in the opening fray, both on hard tyres. After the Safety Car returned to the pits, Crawford began working his way up the field on the soft tyre, passing Hauger in Turn 10 for fourth place. Also moving up the field was Pepe Marti who, after starting from the sixth row, got rid of O'Sullivan, thus returning to the front.

At the end of lap ten, Martins was the first driver to pit for the mandatory pit stop, switching to softer tires with 22 laps still to complete, dropping him to the rear.

Another episode that characterized the race was the contact between Amaury Cordeel and Oliver Bearman, who immediately ended up in the rear thanks to a negative qualification for Prema and a technical problem before the start, which pushed the Englishman to return to the pit lane for turn the car back on again. While Cordeel was forced to retire, Bearman lost a front wing plate due to contact, adding further difficulties to a far from easy day.

The pitstop phase continued to provide twists and turns, with Crawford retiring during his stop. Initially it seemed that the American had a small problem and that he could restart but, despite the intervention of the technicians, the American from the Aston Martin academy was unable to return to the track. Moments before leaders Maloney and Marti pitted, Martins retired from the race with a loss of power, causing the Safety Car to deploy.

And Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Prema Racing, Kush Maini, Invicta Racing, Roman Stanek, Trident

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

Making the most of the situation generated by the Safety Car was Kush Maini, who had initially taken pole position on Thursday before being disqualified for a technical infringement. By fitting the soft tyre, he returned to the track in eleventh position, but in the final laps he was able to recover up to seventh place.

When the Safety Car returned to the pits, the track left room for numerous duels, including a wonderful overtaking by Antonelli on his teammate on the outside of turn four, although it should be noted that the Briton was in difficulty also due to the damage to the front wing.

At the front, Maloney took the lead on the hard tyres, while behind him Marti managed to move up to second place using the DRS with a few laps to go. Four laps from the checkered flag, Aron also managed to overtake O'Sullivan, thus climbing into the podium area.

Good fifth place for Bortoleto, as well as the ninth place for the debutant Miyata. First point for Antonelli in tenth position, who undoubtedly benefited from the Safety Car, but was the protagonist of a solid comeback despite a very difficult weekend for Prema due to difficulties in managing the setup.