Oliver Bearman, Haas F1 Team, in the paddock
Oliver Bearman scored his first Formula 2 victory since last year's Monza feature in the Red Bull Ring sprint race, the Prema driver convincingly leading all 28 laps.
Having pulled clear of DRS range in the early stages, Ferrari junior Bearman successfully managed the gap at the front to win by 1.7s even as Pepe Marti (Campos) edged back within range in the closing stages.
The Briton took advantage of polesitter Kush Maini struggling to gain traction off the start, which dropped the Invicta driver to third on the opening lap as Marti also leapt ahead.
Championship challenger Isack Hadjar also endured a tough start, an error on the opening lap dropping his Campos machine from fourth to 12th. Unable to recover, he finished out of the points in 13th.
Across the duration, Maini found himself acting as a rolling roadblock. His team-mate Gabriel Bortoleto, championship leader Paul Aron (Hitech), Dennis Hauger (MP Motorsport) and Jack Crawford (DAMS) all found ways past as he slid back to ultimately finish seventh.
Carrying front wing damage after contact with Maini on the opening lap, Marti did well to fend off the late attentions of Aron for second place, although the Estonian rookie continued his impressive streak of finishing on the podium at every race weekend of the season.
In a race that will not go down as a classic, the only incident of real note came on the last lap, as the two MP Motorsport drivers clashed on the exit of Turn 3.
Battling over fifth, Franco Colapinto made a bold DRS-assisted lunge on Hauger, but ran his team-mate off the track and over the sausage kerbs, before losing the rear of his own car when trying to put down the power. This caused the Argentinian to spin and make contact with the barriers, before recovering to finish 11th.
Bearman's victory also marked Prema’s first podium of the season, meaning all 11 teams have now featured in the top three this term.
Tough afternoons for Hadjar and Zane Maloney (Rodin) allowed Aron to extend his championship lead to 15 points.
-
+1.700
1.7
+3.000
3.0
+3.600
3.6
+11.000
11.0
+11.600
11.6
+13.700
13.7
+13.800
13.8
+15.800
15.8
+19.800
19.8
+21.500
21.5
+22.300
22.3
+22.800
22.8
+23.600
23.6
+23.700
23.7
+26.400
26.4
+27.100
27.1
+27.500
27.5
+28.200
28.2
+29.800
29.8
+29.800
29.8
+46.900
46.9
Source: Autosport