Campos Fight Back in Sprint Race at Mugello
Jack Aitken was running in sixth on Saturday when he was involved in a collision with two other cars was forced to retire. The Brit showed consistency to gain loads of places in the Sprint Race after starting low down the grid.
There was a positive feeling after round nine of the Formula 2 Championship at Campos despite the results. Both Aitken and Guilherme Samaia showed a competitive pace, but it was race incidents that prevented them from being able to take results throughout the weekend.
Aitken had a positive start in Mugello with seventh in practice. The Anglo-Korean then set the tenth fastest time in the qualifying session. Brazilian Samaia was further adrift and could only manage 22nd for the Feature Race.
Saturday saw Aitken gain several places at the start, moving up to sixth after four laps. When Aitken pitted for his mandatory pit stop, he was running in fourth. Teammate Samaia was up to tenth before making his pit stop.
Unfortunately, there was an ill-timed safety car two laps after Samaia pitted, at the restart, Aitken was running in sixth when a clash with Guanyu Zhou forced him to retire with suspension damage. It also ruined chances of some strong points. Samaia finished in 18th.
Sunday’s Sprint Race saw the two Campos drivers started from the back but managed to make their way through the field. Aitken ran a consistent race pace to take the chequered flag in 13th with Samaia three places behind.
Jack Aitken tweeted after the Feature Race on Saturday: “I mean, it was always gonna happen with the way the restarts are here. Gutted to lose those points. Starting to feel like @JakeHughesRace before he was actually good. #anyspareluckgoing”
The Formula 2 Championship will return to Sochi after a two-week hiatus.
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*Image Credit: Formula Motorsport Limited