2023 Sakhir Formula 2 round

The 2023 Sakhir FIA Formula 2 round was a motor racing event held between 3 and 5 March 2023 at the Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir, Bahrain. It was the first race of the 2023 FIA Formula 2 Championship and was held in support of the 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix.

  2023 Sakhir Formula 2 round

Round details
Round 1 of 13 in the 2023 FIA Formula 2 Championship.
Layout of the Bahrain International Circuit
Location	Bahrain International Circuit Sakhir, Bahrain
Course	Permanent racing facility 5.412 km (3.363 mi)
Sprint Race
Date 4 March 2023 Laps 23 Podium First Ralph Boschung Campos Racing Second Dennis Hauger MP Motorsport Third Victor Martins ART Grand Prix Fastest lap Driver Oliver Bearman Prema Racing Time 1:46.953 (on lap 16)
Feature Race
Date 5 March 2023 Laps 32 Pole position Driver Théo Pourchaire ART Grand Prix Time 1:40.903 Podium First Théo Pourchaire ART Grand Prix Second Ralph Boschung Campos Racing Third Zane Maloney Rodin Carlin Fastest lap Driver Richard Verschoor Van Amersfoort Racing Time 1:47.321 (on lap 18)

Background

Team changes

German Formula 4 team PHM Racing took over the entry and assets of Charouz Racing System at the end of the 2022 season, and runs in cooperation with the Czech squad under the PHM Racing by Charouz moniker.^[1]

Driver changes

As the category's sporting regulations state, reigning Drivers' Champion Felipe Drugovich was unable to defend the title and therefore left the series. This year's championship also saw the return of American driver Juan Manuel Correa, who returned to the series after his heavy accident at the 2019 Spa-Francorchamps Formula 2 round in which Anthoine Hubert lost his life.^[2]

Classification

Qualifying

Pos.	No.	Driver	Entrant	Time/Gap	Grid SR	Grid FR
1	5	Théo Pourchaire	ART Grand Prix	1:40.903	10	1
2	6	Victor Martins	ART Grand Prix	+0.751	8	2
3	22	Richard Verschoor	Van Amersfoort Racing	+0.900	7	3
4	1	Dennis Hauger	MP Motorsport	+0.928	6	4
5	7	Frederik Vesti	Prema Racing	+0.994	91	5
6	24	Kush Maini	Campos Racing	+1.024	5	6
7	11	Ayumu Iwasa	DAMS	+1.031	4	7
8	12	Arthur Leclerc	DAMS	+1.070	3	8
9	20	Roman Staněk	Trident	+1.085	2	9
10	25	Ralph Boschung	Campos Racing	+1.107	1	10
11	2	Jehan Daruvala	MP Motorsport	+1.114	11	11
12	8	Oliver Bearman	Prema Racing	+1.123	12	12
13	4	Enzo Fittipaldi	Rodin Carlin	+1.146	13	13
14	10	Isack Hadjar	Hitech Pulse-Eight	+1.189	14	14
15	15	Amaury Cordeel	Invicta Virtuosi Racing	+1.189	15	15
16	23	Juan Manuel Correa	Van Amersfoort Racing	+1.206	16	16
17	14	Jack Doohan	Invicta Virtuosi Racing	+1.209	17	17
18	3	Zane Maloney	Rodin Carlin	+1.282	18	18
19	9	Jak Crawford	Hitech Pulse-Eight	+1.331	19	19
20	17	Brad Benavides	PHM Racing by Charouz	+1.590	20	20
21	16	Roy Nissany	PHM Racing by Charouz	+1.599	21	21
22	21	Clément Novalak	Trident	+1.667	22	22
107% time: 1:47.966 (+7.063)
Source:[3]

Notes

• ^1 – Frederik Vesti has been handed a three-place grid drop for impeding Arthur Leclerc during Qualifying, demoting him to ninth place for Saturday's Sprint race.^[4]

Sprint race

Pos.	No.	Driver	Entrant	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	25	Ralph Boschung	Campos Racing	23	41:50.597	1	10
2	1	Dennis Hauger	MP Motorsport	23	+10.848	6	8
3	6	Victor Martins	ART Grand Prix	23	+16.162	8	6
4	11	Ayumu Iwasa	DAMS	23	+24.494	4	5
5	5	Théo Pourchaire	ART Grand Prix	23	+29.709	10	4 (1)
6	2	Jehan Daruvala	MP Motorsport	23	+30.901	11	3
7	24	Kush Maini	Campos Racing	23	+41.541	5	2
8	4	Enzo Fittipaldi	Rodin Carlin	23	+43.065	13	1
9	3	Zane Maloney	Rodin Carlin	23	+44.135	18
10	23	Juan Manuel Correa	Van Amersfoort Racing	23	+48.540	16
11	14	Jack Doohan	Invicta Virtuosi Racing	23	+49.251	17
12	12	Arthur Leclerc	DAMS	23	+50.164	3
13	20	Roman Staněk	Trident	23	+50.625	2
14	9	Jak Crawford	Hitech Pulse-Eight	23	+52.283	19
15	8	Oliver Bearman	Prema Racing	23	+53.752	12
16	21	Clément Novalak	Trident	23	+54.607	22
17	7	Frederik Vesti	Prema Racing	23	+54.645	9
18	16	Roy Nissany	PHM Racing by Charouz	23	+1:04.486	21
19	17	Brad Benavides	PHM Racing by Charouz	23	+1:08.768	20
20	10	Isack Hadjar	Hitech Pulse-Eight	23	+1:13.323	14
21	15	Amaury Cordeel	Invicta Virtuosi Racing	23	+1:13.800	15
22	22	Richard Verschoor	Van Amersfoort Racing	21	Mechanical1	7
Fastest lap set by Oliver Bearman: 1:46.953 (lap 16)
Source:[3]

Notes

• ^1 – Richard Verschoor retired, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.

Feature Race

Pos.	No.	Driver	Entrant	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	5	Théo Pourchaire	ART Grand Prix	32	1:01:10.926	1	25 (2)
2	25	Ralph Boschung	Campos Racing	32	+19.666	10	18
3	3	Zane Maloney	Rodin Carlin	32	+31.587	18	15
4	24	Kush Maini	Campos Racing	32	+38.789	6	12
5	22	Richard Verschoor	Van Amersfoort Racing	32	+43.082	3	10 (1)
6	12	Arthur Leclerc	DAMS	32	+44.342	8	8
7	10	Isack Hadjar	Hitech Pulse-Eight	32	+46.456	14	6
8	11	Ayumu Iwasa	DAMS	32	+50.815	7	4
9	4	Enzo Fittipaldi	Rodin Carlin	32	+51.396	13	2
10	23	Juan Manuel Correa	Van Amersfoort Racing	32	+51.837	16	1
11	16	Roy Nissany	PHM Racing by Charouz	32	+52.939	21
12	9	Jak Crawford	Hitech Pulse-Eight	32	+53.329	19
13	21	Clément Novalak	Trident	32	+53.953	22
14	8	Oliver Bearman	Prema Racing	32	+59.739	12
15	15	Amaury Cordeel	Invicta Virtuosi Racing	32	+1:00.968	PL
16	14	Jack Doohan	Invicta Virtuosi Racing	32	+1:05.2041	17
17	2	Jehan Daruvala	MP Motorsport	32	+1:06.463	11
18	17	Brad Benavides	PHM Racing by Charouz	32	+1:33.235	20
DNF	1	Dennis Hauger	MP Motorsport	16	Engine	4
DNF	6	Victor Martins	ART Grand Prix	1	Collision damage	2
DNF	7	Frederik Vesti	Prema Racing	1	Collision damage	5
DNF	20	Roman Staněk	Trident	0	Collision	9
Fastest lap set by Richard Verschoor: 1:47.321 (lap 18)
Source:[3][5]

Standings after the event

Drivers' Championship standings Pos. Driver Points 1 Théo Pourchaire 32 2 Ralph Boschung 28 3 Zane Maloney 15 4 Kush Maini 14 5 Richard Verschoor 11

Teams' Championship standings Pos. Team Points 1 Campos Racing 42 2 ART Grand Prix 38 3 Rodin Carlin 18 4 DAMS 17 5 Van Amersfoort Racing 12

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

See also

• 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix
• 2023 Sakhir Formula 3 round