BAKU: Key points of the supersized F2 weekend

Rodin Motorsport had a stellar weekend as they achieved a 1-2 in qualifying 1 and 2. They went on to concert this into a 1-2 on Friday’s feature race 1. The team accumulated 88 points over the weekend which sits them right behind Invicta racing by 1 point in the constructors standings.

Alex Dunne of Rodin stood on the podium in all three races. He scored 51 points and has cemented himself firmly into championship contention. Martinius Stenshore had great results too and sealed his first Formula 2 pole position in Qualifying 2.

Dunne won feature race 1 however in feature race 2 he received a five second penalty for crossing the line on pit entry. Even though he led the cars over the finish line, he was dropped to third behind Rafa Camara and Nikola Tsolov. Stenshorne finished 4^th.

Speaking of Camara and Tsolov, they both had strong performances. Qualifying 1 saw Camara qualify 5^th with Tsolov in 10^th. Qualifying 2 saw them both improve slightly, with Camara in third and Tsolov in 8^th.

The sprint on Friday was tough for both of them, Tsolov started from the front but slid down to 5^th as he struggled for pace in his Campos.  Cmara started from sixth and had a massive lock up into turn 2, where he collided with Mari Boya. He picked up a 10-second penalty for the collision. On the last lap he was left stranded at turn 1 after another tangle.

Camara started Feature Race 1 11 points behind Tsolov in the championship. He claimed fourth and the lead of the championship as the Bulgarian had a day of woes. Tsolov had a costly slow pitstop and then got caught up in a pile up at turn 3, becoming one of the six subsequent retirees. He was then given a 5 second time penalty for crossing the line on pit entry. Since he was out of the race he could not serve this penalty so he received a 3 place grid drop for Race 2, putting him down in 11th.

Tsolov managed to have a stunning recovery drive though. He pitted much later in the race than others and managed to emerge in the top 5 with fresher tires. He went on a charge to claim third on track, but was promoted to second following Dunne’s penalty. Camara stayed behind Dunne for most of the race and inherited the win after the penalty was applied. This means Camara now has the championship lead by 7 points.

Gabriele Mini did not have such a positive outcome as the other title leaders. He came to Baku third in the standings but leaves in fourth, potentially with any title hope he had vanishing. He qualified poorly in 14^th and 16^th, not even putting himself into a position to capitalise on the reverse sprint grid order.

Mini struggled to overtake. In the sprint he climbed to 10^th but was caught in a collision that dropped him back to 14^th. In Feature race 1, he benefitted from the safety car and finished 6^th. In Feature Race 2, he started 16^th and climbed to 9^th. This is not terrible, however his title rivals all finished on the podium. Mini now sits 44 points away from the lead of the championship. It will be a hard feat if he is to come back now and with his current qualifying form, seems impossible.

DAMS had a stand out weekend. Dino Beganovic stood on the podium multiple times across the weekend. He won the sprint race, which meant he had back-to-back victories from Madrid to Baku. He then came home in 3^rd in Feature Race 1 and 7^th in Feature Race 2. Roman Bilinski scored points in all three races and as a result of their joint efforts, DAMS have moved up to 5^th in the standings.