Joshua Duerksen passed newcomers Christian Mansell and Gabriele Mini to secure his first Formula 2 victory in the Baku sprint race.
The AIX driver ended a three-year win drought, his last victory coming in Italian Formula 4 in 2021.
Duerksen won by three seconds from Jak Crawford. Mini secured third place and a podium having led on his debut from Prema in place of Oliver Bearman, who is driving in Formula 1 this weekend.
Mansell secured reverse-grid pole position for his first race start in the series by qualifying 10th yesterday. When the lights went out, Mansell successfully defended his lead, with fellow debutant Gabriele Mini taking second place with Joshua Duerksen in third.
Mansell kept his nerve out front despite pressure from Mini behind. However, on lap six, an error at turn 15 allowed Mini a chance to challenge him into turn one and take the lead. A lap later, Duerksen picked off Mansell at the same corner to take second place.
Duerksen stuck with Mini until just after half distance. At the start of lap 13, the AIX driver used DRS to take the lead from Mini into turn one as, behind, Mansell began to slip backwards, passed by Crawford and Victor Martins.
The Safety Car was deployed on lap 15 when Ritomo Miyata hit the barrier at turn four, ending his race. A frantic restart on lap 17 saw Duerksen hold the lead, while Crawford took advantage of a mistake by Mini at the first corner to take second.
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Championship contender Gabriel Bortoleto was fortunate to continue the race after he was knocked into the wall at turn four by Mansell as they battled at the restart. Andrea Kimi Antonelli eventually picked off Mansell to move up to seventh.
Duerksen kept his calm out front and became the 15th different driver to win a race in Formula 2 this year. Crawford claimed second place, while Mini held off Martins by less than a tenth of a second at the finish to take an impressive podium on his F2 debut.
Bortoleto took fifth ahead of Paul Aron, with Antonelli in seventh and Mansell securing the final point in eighth. Kush Maini and Zane Maloney completed the top ten.
The result means that Bortoleto has closed to within six-and-a-half points of championship leader Isack Hadjar, who will again start in 20th place for Sunday’s feature race.
Formula 2 Azerbaijan race one results
| Position | Car | Driver | Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 24 | Joshua Duerksen | AIX |
| 2 | 7 | Jak Crawford | DAMS |
| 3 | 3 | Gabriele Mini | Prema |
| 4 | 1 | Victor Martins | ART |
| 5 | 10 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Invicta |
| 6 | 17 | Paul Aron | Hitech |
| 7 | 4 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | Prema |
| 8 | 23 | Christian Mansell | Trident |
| 9 | 9 | Kush Maini | Invicta |
| 10 | 5 | Zane Maloney | Rodin |
| 11 | 2 | Luke Browning | ART |
| 12 | 20 | Isack Hadjar | Campos |
| 13 | 14 | Enzo Fittipaldi | Van Amersfoort |
| 14 | 11 | Dennis Hauger | MP Motorsport |
| 15 | 8 | Juan Manuel Correa | DAMS |
| 16 | 15 | Rafael Villagomez | Van Amersfoort |
| 17 | 22 | Richard Verschoor | Trident |
| 18 | 16 | Amaury Cordeel | Hitech |
| 19 | 21 | Josep Maria Marti | Campos |
| 20 | 25 | Niels Koolen | AIX |
| 21 | 12 | Oliver Goethe | MP Motorsport |
| DNF | 6 | Ritomo Miyata | Rodin |
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