Once again, modern safety standards saved the day in a Formula 2 race. At the F2 sprint race in the Russian Grand Prix, Jack Aitken and Luca Ghiotto were involved in a massive crash in the early stages of the race. Thankfully, both drivers emerged unhurt from the incident.
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On Lap 8 of the Sochi sprint race, Ghiotto steamed past Aitken on the long back straight, in what appeared to be a move done and dusted. However, Aitken cleverly positioned his car to get the better exit in Turn 2, resulting in a much better drive out of the tricky right-hander.
Ghiotto, Aitken involved in scary F2 shunt
As a result, Aitken held the inside line following a successful cutback, with Ghiotto on the dirtier, outside line. The long winding left-hander after Turn 2 has been the scene of multiple incidents, even in Formula 1.
With marbles scattered offline, overtaking on the outside becomes treacherous and tricky. Ghiotto learned that lesson the hard way in a botched move near turn 3. The Italian attempted to cut across Aitken from outside but was sent crashing into the barriers.
The Anglo-Korean driver appeared to understeer into Ghiotto, resulting in both cars smashing into the barriers. Thankfully, both drivers walked away from the scene of the accident. Unfortunately, Ghiotto’s Hitech car was up in flames mere minutes after the crash.
The FIA has made it official that the sprint race won’t be restarted. UNI Virtuosi’s Guanyu Zhou wins the Sochi race, followed by Hitech’s Nikita Mazepin. Championship leader Mick Schumacher occupies the final podium spot following a superb start.
Despite a bizarre race ending, Mick Schumacher left Russia as the F2 Championship leader, effectively extending his race lead. The German driver scored half the points for his efforts in the sprint race.
F2 now heads to Bahrain as the final location for the F2 Championship showdown. With the last race set to be held on the highly talked about “outer layout”, fans could be in for a spectacular finish to the F2 season.