Nicolas Latifi wins Race 1 at the Hungaroring

FIRST WIN FOR LATIFI SINCE BARCELONA AND FINISHES AHEAD OF DEVRIES AND AITKEN

Nicholas Latifi started the race form the second row in third place with Nick De Vries on pole and Luca Ghiotti in second place. Bombing ahead of Nyck De Vries at the start and never wavering. Amazingly, it is the first time this season that the Championships’ top two have shared a podium, with the duo finishing ahead of Campos Racing’s Jack Aitken. 

Despite the downpour in Friday’s Qualifying session, the rain held off on Saturday morning in Hungary and De Vries made the most of the dry surface to get away cleanly off the line, battling off a move down his right from Luca Ghiotto. Or, so he thought! Nicholas Latifi surged past them both on the left and nipped by at the end of the first turn, with De Vries’ locking up.

By the time Latifi pitted a lap later, he’d built a strong gap over De Vries and returned in 6^th place, directly in-front of the ART Grand Prix man who had already stopped. The race lead was handed to Jordan King who was on the alternate strategy. Latifi briefly put space between himself and De Vries when he passed Ralph Boschung, but he got caught in traffic and the Dutchman began to catch him.

When racing resumed, Latifi zipped by Hubert for second, who had yet to stop. After regaining the first place, the Canadian had built up a 6s gap between himself and his title rival. The front three spots were back into the hands of Latifi, De Vries and Aitken, with Ghiotto in 4^th and unable to match the Brit’s speed. This sent the Italian into the clutches of Matsushita and sparked a mass brawl for fourth. Ghiotto was able to fend off the Carlin driver, which sent him into the lurches of Sérgio Sette Câmara who had risen magnificently from 12^th. The duo went two wide ahead of Turn 3, which put King into the mix. Narrowly avoiding a kiss of tyres, the Brazilian and the Briton edged passed Matsushita. 

The battles were brought to a swift conclusion when Boschung’s Trident went up in smoke and forced him to pull over onto the gravel. The race finished under the subsequent Safety Car, although Ghiotto and King were handed penalties after the chequered flag for a SC infringement and fell down the order.

Latifi safely crossed the line ahead of De Vries and Aitken. Sette Câmara claimed fourth, ahead of Matsushita, Ghiotto, King, Schumacher, Guanyu Zhou and Callum Ilott. 

The Canadian’s victory sees him gain ground on De Vries at the top of the Drivers’ Championship, with De Vries now on 192 points and Latifi 28 behind him. Sette Câmara moves up to third on 133, ahead of Ghiotto on 130. Aitken completes the top five with 128. In the Teams’ Championship, DAMS have increased their lead and now have 297 points, ahead of UNI-Virtuosi on 237. ART Grand Prix sit third on 198, with Campos Racing behind on 158 and Carlin on 135. Schumacher will start on reverse pole for the first time since Bahrain in the Sprint Race and aim for a maiden win in F2 when action kicks off again tomorrow at 11.25am local time.

Content excerpt and picture: FIA Formula 2