The first round of the 2024 FIA Formula 2 Championship came to its completion today at Bahrain International Circuit with PREMA Racing and Kimi Antonelli claiming a top-10 finish.
The Italian, making his first career start in the series continued to make great steps forward from a tough qualifying session. Despite contact at the start, he fought back to the top-10 and especially on Prime tyres, was on a front-running pace.
Ollie Bearman faced another troublesome day, with a stall at the start and contact damage caused by another driver. In addition, the two cars struggled with tyre degradation on Option. They will be back in one week at Jeddah Corniche Circuit.
#3 OLLIE BEARMAN
“Really difficult race. We got some damage before the pit stop, which definitely didn’t help the situation. There is a lot of work to be done before the next weekend because today we were not competitive enough.”
Qualifying: P19
Starting Position Race 1: P18
Starting Position Race 2: P19
Fastest lap: 1:42.710
Race 1: P16
Race 2: P15
#4 KIMI ANTONELLI
“My first Feature Race was actually good. I was quite unlucky at the start as I was hit from behind while trying to avoid an incident. I went off and lost a few places. On Prime tyres, the pace was pretty strong. We were able to come back to the top 10 and keep a good pace. Then we boxed, but on Option, we struggled more than we expected. We need to take a deep look at that because compared to Prime, where we were quite competitive, the pace was not equally strong. Overall I’m quite happy with my performance, especially on how I managed the race. We now have a few days of rest before heading to Jeddah. It’s going to be a great challenge, my first city track, but I think it’s going to be good fun! I want to thank everyone on the team for the great support this weekend!”
Qualifying: P18
Starting Position Race 1: P17
Starting Position Race 2: P18
Fastest lap: 1:42.693
Race 1: P14
Race 2: P10