F2 | Spain: Vesti and Bearman give Prema the double

The weekend in Barcelona ended under the banner of Prema, which won both the Sprint Race on Saturday afternoon and the Feature Race on Sunday morning thanks to the successes of Frederick Vesti and Oliver Bearman. The Dane won a race conditioned initially by wet asphalt, while the Ferrari Driver Academy talent achieved success by managing after starting from pole position.

Thus Vesti extends at the head of the standings, bringing his advantage over Theo Pourchaire to eleven points, while Ayumu Iwasa is now third at twenty-eight lengths. Leap forward also for Bearman, now fourth, but forty points behind the leader.

Sprint Race: Vesti prevails after the start in the wet

In the sprint race on Saturday afternoon, Frederik Vesti obtained his second consecutive victory after the Monegasque domination, taking the lead in the first laps in wet conditions and resisting the assaults of his rivals after the Safety Car entered at the end.

Although the race did not start as usual from the grid, but rather behind the safety car due to the rain that had hit the track before the start of the race, Vesti was perfectly able to exploit the situation in his favour. After starting from third place, he immediately gained second position in turn 1, even if Jak Crawford came into contact with the latter who was worsted with a puncture.

A mistake in turn 10 by polesitter, Amaury Cordeel, clearly helped the Prema driver take the lead, but from then on Vesti was unstoppable, building up to a lead of more than five seconds over Victor Martins, who was in second position just over six laps from the end before the safety car entered.

The Safety Car period, caused by the fact that Correa got bogged down at the exit of turn two, prompted all the riders to try to switch to slicks, expecting a restart before the checkered flag, with the group effectively exposed the green flag to two return from the end. Vesti maintained the lead without major problems, even setting the fastest lap of the race in the very last lap.

Frederik Vesti, PREMA Racing

Photo by: Formula Motorsport Ltd

Behind him came a good Theo Pourchaire, who overtook Victor Martins for second place on the penultimate lap. The Frenchman, a Sauber academy driver, had lined up ninth, changed pace decisively after the Safety Car, managing to immediately find temperatures in the tires, first overtaking Hauger in turn one and, subsequently, also his teammate.

Hauger finished fourth, Doohan fifth and Richard Verschoor sixth for Van Amersfoort Racing. Sunday polesitter Oliver Bearman and Iwasa completed the points.

Feature Races: Bearman runs from the pole

After starting from pole, Oliver Bearman took a comfortable victory which represents his third success this season, thus making a good response to the difficult weekend in Monaco. The Prema Racing driver has in fact recovered after a weekend to forget in the Principality, putting his signature on the Spanish Feature Race, which adds up to the two triumphs obtained in Azerbaijan.

It was Prema’s second win of the weekend, with teammate Frederik Vesti taking victory in Saturday’s sprint race. After battling with Enzo Fittipaldi at the start, the Briton was able to break the DRS train on lap six to extend his lead to over a second and a half as Fittipaldi battled ART driver Theo Pourchaire for second place.

Oliver Bearman, PREMA Racing

Photo by: Formula Motorsport Ltd

While most of the field pitted for pit stops, Bearman was able to extend the stint and outlast his rivals, managing his tires well before pitting for the hard tyre. Bearman then easily recovered the position from rivals who had yet to stop and retook the lead on lap 25, when Victor Martins, who had opted for the alternative strategy after starting seventh, made his pit stop.

The alternative strategy, adopted by Martins and Vesti, proved effective, with both drivers making significant progress in the closing stages. Indeed, the Frenchman of the ART made his pit stop on lap 25 and found himself fifth, while Vesti went out ninth before climbing up to sixth place on lap 27, when he passed Pourchaire on the finish straight with the help of the DRS. Fourth place for Iwasa, with Vesti in fifth position ahead of Jack Doohan and Theo Pourchaire. The Dane from Prema maintains the lead of the race with an eleven-point lead over the transalpine from the Sauber Academy.

Brad Benavides had an unlucky day, as he received five different penalties: four for exceeding the track limits, one for not correctly serving the assigned penalty.