F2: Ferrari-backed Ilott wins the feature race
Ferrari-backed UNI Virtuosi driver Callum Ilott won the feature race at Silverstone in a commanding manner by nursing his tyres perfectly. Christian Lungaard and Jack Aitken completed the podium in the race nine of the 2020 F2 championship.
Pole sitter Callum Ilott took a great start, defending his first position against Dan Ticktum. Mick Schumacher got a fantastic getaway, gaining three positions.
On lap 3, Ticktum left the track at Turn 14, providing Christian Lungaard with the opportunity of overtaking the London-based driver. Ticktum lost his rhythm after his excursion through the grass, and Mick Schumacher took the opportunity to get past the British driver to take the fourth place.
On his soft tyres, Ticktum started to suffer and lost another place to Nikita Mazepin just five corners later. Following another dismal qualifying session, championship leader Robert Shwartzman demonstrated a feisty mood, trying to climb up the order.
On lap 6, Lungaard, Jack Aitken, Ticktum, Yuki Tsunoda, Luca Ghiotto, Nobuharu Matsushita all dived into the pits to take fresh tyres. The Ferrari-backed Ilott drove into the pits on the following lap.
The early pit stops showed that the soft compound suffered severe degradation in the heat at Silverstone. On lap 8, Marino Sato pitted for fresh boots. On the fresh tyres, the Ilott-led group was constantly setting personal and absolute best sector times.
Mazepin was keeping the leader Schumacher honest for long laps by challenging him just tenths of a second behind the fast German. Third-placed Shwatzman slowly but surely clawed his way up to the leaders, showing better race pace in the middle part of the race.
In the meantime, Ilott was climbing up the order on his much fresher tyres, setting constantly the fastest laps.
While drivers were trying to save their tyres, Louis Deletraz showed great pace, overtaking Ticktum and getting closer and closer to Jack Aitken.
On lap 19, Schumacher, Roy Nissani and Guliano Alesi pitted for new boots, leaving Mazepin in the lead. Two laps later, Shwartzman and Zhou also dived into the pits for new tyres.
Mazepin pitted for new tyres on lap 22. The Russian overtook Schumacher on the Hangar straight thanks to DRS. In the meantime, Jehan Daruvala set the fast lap, posting a time of 1m42.228 on his fresh Pirelli rubber.
The Russian was flying on his fresh rubber, catching and passing Tsunoda on lap 26. The former Force India test driver managed to pass Deletraz too.
After controlling the majority of the race, the Ferrari Driver Academy member Ilott crossed the finish line first to win the feature race at Silverstone. The Renault-backed Lungaard came in second with Williams test driver Aitken completing the podium.
