DE VRIES SEALS F2 CROWN WITH THREE RACES TO SPARE
But large crash mars Russian event
Nyck de Vries followed up sealing a lucrative works Formula E contract with Mercedes for next season by winning the Formula 2 title with a round to spare at Sochi, as a huge crash marred the weekend and hospitalised two drivers.
De Vries needed to take seven points more than closest rival and Williams Formula 1 junior Nicholas Latifi to seal the title a round early. He took pole and held off Latifi in the early stages and through the pitstop phase to secure a dominant win, which sealed the title with three races to spare.
“I was happy with the race win but then we were kind of uncertain whether it was really done or not,” ART Grand Prix driver de Vries said.
“They told me ‘wait until you get to the pitlane and then you’ll see’. Just looking at the board in front of me when I arrived, that was pretty cool. There were some goosebumps there.”
De Vries again fought for victory in race two as a crash shortened the race. Jack Aitken ran wide at Turn 2 and went around the run-off Styrofoam boards as instructed by the rules. Polesitter Nikita Mazepin also ran wide but did not round the board and, when Aitken rejoined he could not avoid Mazepin, clipping his rear-left and launching his car across into the path of Nobuharu Matsushita.
The latter crashed heavily head-on into the barriers and had to be extracted. He had to stay overnight in hospital for a “precautionary scan” on Monday. Mazepin also went to hospital, but was released shortly after.
The stewards deemed Mazepin “wholly at fault” for the incident and gave him a 15-place grid drop and four penalty points on his licence. Luca Ghiotto won the race ahead of de Vries and Brit Callum Ilott.