Prema driver Charles Leclerc took victory in dramatic style in the Formula 2 sprint race in Bahrain after a brave strategy gamble.
The Ferrari junior enjoyed a strong start to move from fifth to third on the opening lap, before an early safety car to clear Norman Nato’s damaged car after contact with Oliver Rowland.
When racing resumed, Leclerc quickly displaced Alexander Albon around the outside at Turn 4 and the French racer then took the lead from Luca Ghiotto on lap nine.
Artem Markelov started on soft tyres and was challenging at the front when he pitted on the next lap for fresh medium tyres, an unusual strategy for a sprint race.
Prema were clearly keeping an eye on his pace, with drivers expected to struggle making it to the end on the medium tyres. So, the team opted for “plan B” with Leclerc.
He opened up a strong lead before pitting with eight laps remaining for soft tyres, emerging in 14th place and quickly starting to claw back ground – he was four seconds per lap quicker than the leaders at one point.
He latched onto the battling frontrunners Ghiotto and Rowland with one lap to go, moving up to second on the main straight before displacing Ghiotto at Turn 4 after the Russian Time driver ran deep into the corner.
Leclerc stormed to his first F2 win in his debut weekend, with Ghiotto hanging onto second and Rowland in third to complete the podium.
Nicholas Latifi was fourth, with Jordan King in fifth after a feisty drive and Nyck de Vries in sixth. Albon slipped to seventh.
Markelov’s strategy did not work quite as well as Leclerc’s but he rallied back to eighth and the final point. Johnny Cecotto and Antonio Fuoco – who lost ground late on – rounded out the top 10.
