Your guide to… Sakhir

A dramatic title race is going to the wire as the FIA Formula 2 Championship concludes on a brand-new layout in Sakhir, Bahrain.

WHEN TO WATCH All times local (GMT +3)

Friday Free Practice: 15:05 – 15:50 Qualifying: 18:45 – 19:15 Press conference: 19:45 Saturday Feature race: 15:10 (48 laps) Press conference: 16:30 Sunday Sprint race: 15:20 (34 laps) Press conference: 16:20

THE STORY SO FAR

It all comes down to this. With 22 exciting races in the books, the Drivers’ title will be decided on the final weekend of the season. Championship leader Mick Schumacher fell short of the podium last weekend, when Felipe Drugovich took a maiden Feature Race victory before Robert Shwartzman clinched a fourth win of his rookie season in the Sprint.

Nikita Mazepin went quickest in Free Practice, ahead of Carlin’s Jehan Daruvala and Yuki Tsunoda, but nobody could touch a determined Callum Ilott in Qualifying. The UNI-Virtuosi racer set the pace early, with Drugovich 0.391s behind in P2.

The Brazilian fired off the line to lead through Turn 1 on Saturday, but Schumacher made up an eye-catching six places in the opening lap as he stormed through the order from P10 in pursuit of nearest title challenger Ilott. Tyre strategy proved decisive and while Schumacher, who had started on hard tyres, would inherit the lead as those ahead of him boxed, it was Drugovich who took the flag 14.8s ahead of Ilott. Despite relentless pressure from Schumacher, Daruvala defended brilliantly to claim his first F2 podium in third.

Sunday saw plenty of action but almost all of it behind Shwartzman, who lead from lights-to-flag from reverse grid pole. Ilott collided with Daruvala, sending the Indian racer spinning out and the Briton down the order. A Safety Car period provided Louis Delétraz the chance to pit for fresh tyres, and he charged through the field to finish third. Mazepin took second for his sixth podium of the season.

THE CHALLENGERS

A gripping weekend of highs and lows sees Schumacher’s (205 pts) lead in the Drivers’ Championship cut to 14 points with a maximum of 48 still on offer. Ilott (191) in second is the German’s closest challenger. Mazepin (162) has moved up third, with compatriot Shwartzman (159) three points behind. Tsunoda (157) in fifth will need a maximum haul if he is to have any chance of taking the title.

PREMA Racing (364 pts) are 47.5 points ahead of UNI-Virtuosi (316.5) in the Teams’ Championship, and could complete a Team and Driver double, just as they did in FIA Formula 3 this year. Hitech Grand Prix (266) are third, ahead of Carlin (208) and ART Grand Prix (201).

The drivers face a fast and furious dash for the line on Pirelli’s hard and soft compounds as the season comes to an end. The title is up for grabs in the final F2 round of the year!

FROM THE GRID - LOUIS DELETRAZ (CHARUOZ RACING SYSTEM)

“I'm really looking forward to this weekend. I mean, the outer layout is a very short track with very few corners, so we’ll do many laps. That means there will be plenty of tyre degradation. Bahrain is not very easy in general. This might be even harder, I don't know! It’s something we have to find out. I'm preparing for it with my simulator, but obviously there are not so many tests and neither sim tracks have a label for it, but it's going to be interesting.

“I know Bahrain pretty well. I've been there a few times and we also had testing there earlier this year before the Corona virus break. I really like it. The weather is nice. We tend to visit while it's cold in Europe, so it's nice to see some sun and enjoy back-to-back races on two different layouts.

“I'm not 100% sure how tyre management will be on the new layout, but it's a very short track and there's not so much rest for the tyres. It will be very important to understand it and find the right set up. Bahrain is always hard on tyre deg, but that's not the only challenge. It's very technical. It's also very sandy because we're basically on a sandy desert island. Obviously, if it rains, which does happen as we've seen, it can get very dirty and very slippery so the track conditions can change massively.

“My hopes and expectations are high this weekend. I really want to win. I'm still chasing it. I've been chasing a victory for so long, and that's my main goal. Obviously, I will give it everything and I want to finish the season strongly because I don't know if I'll be back in F2. I want to finish on a high.”

TYRE TALK - MARIO ISOLA (PIRELLI'S HEAD OF F1 AND CAR RACING)

“It's great to have Formula 2 back in action for the final two rounds in Bahrain to decide the 2020 champion. While the outer track that is being used for the final event will be something completely new for everybody, the teams and drivers are mostly quite familiar with the regular Grand Prix layout. They tested there with the 18-inch tyres in March, so they will have some existing knowledge about how the tyres perform – although they have all learned a lot more since then, of course. For the final round, we have nominated the soft compound instead of the medium, alongside the hard tyre. It will be interesting to see the effect of this extra step between the compounds on a circuit that looks as though it will provide a very different challenge: even though it uses around half of the usual layout.”

STAT PACK

• The Bahrain International Circuit – Outer Track is new to the FIA Formula 2 Championship. Consisting of 11 corners, it’s 3.543km long, and becomes the second circuit configuration in Bahrain to be used by Formula 2.
• This weekend Mick Schumacher, Callum Ilott, Nikita Mazepin, Robert Shwartzman or Yuki Tsunoda will become the fourth champion in the modern era of FIA Formula 2.
• To win the Championship after Saturday’s Feature Race, Mick Schumacher must be 18 points clear at the top of the standings.
• Rookie drivers took victory in both races last weekend, with Felipe Drugovich winning his third race of the season (his first since Round 6) and Robert Shwartzman winning his fourth (more than any other driver this season).
• Last weekend's Feature Race was the first time that every car on the event entry list was classified as a finisher and not subsequently disqualified, since the 2018 Bahrain Sprint Race.
• Jehan Daruvala’s third place finish in the Feature Race last weekend was his first podium finish in F2.
• 16 different drivers have now stood on the podium so far this season, setting a new record for unique podium finishers in a single season.
• Louis Delétraz is the only driver that has completed every racing lap so far this season.
• PREMA Racing teammates Mick Schumacher and Robert Shwartzman have both led 94 laps in their F2 careers, with Shwartzman’s all in this campaign. The Russian has led more laps than anyone else this season.
• Lap 5 of this weekend’s Feature Race will be the 2500th lap since the FIA Formula 2 Championship began in 2017.
• Ralph Boschung will replace Jack Aitken in Campos Racing’s 9 car for the final round of the season, after the British driver was called up to replace 2018 F2 champion George Russell at Williams F1. Boschung began his F2 career with the Spanish outfit in 2017, scoring 11 points.