Callum Ilott took a commanding victory at Silverstone to steal the lead the Formula 2 championship.
The UNI-Virtuosi star led from the front in a mature performance to take maximum points ahead of Christian Lundgaard and Jack Aitken.
Starting on the soft tyres, Ilott went about his business comfortably all race, scything through the field after his pitstop.
He re-inherited the lead when the pitstop phase was completed and never looked back, winning his second Formula 2 Feature Race of the season.
Ilott held the lead into turn one as Dan Ticktum moved up into P2. Lundgaard initially fell to P4 before passing Aitken for third.
Lundgaard was clearly unhappy with his start and began pressuring Ticktum for P2. The DAMS driver went off the road on the exit of Chapel, dropping down to fourth.
Following his excursion onto the grass, Ticktum lost a bit of pace. Last week’s sprint race winner was passed by Mick Schumacher, Nikita Mazpein and Louis Deletraz in quick succession as he dropped down to seventh.
Most of the soft compounds runners came in for new tyres on lap seven. Ilott was the one to stay out the extra lap, holding a large lead over Lundgaard.
READ MORE: InsideF2 talks to Juan Manuel Correa!
Schumacher and Mazepin inherited the lead, the pair battling as they did last week. Unlike last week, Schumacher held the Russian behind him.
Having lost the position in the pits, Deletraz once again passed Ticktum with a super move into Vale.
Having held off Mazepin, Schumacher pitted on Lap 19 as Mazepin continued. Shwartzman and Zhou pitted at the end of Lap 21, falling to ninth and 11th respectively.
Meanwhile, Yuki Tsunoda worked his way past Ticktum, ruining the Brit’s day even more.
Schumacher produced the move of the day, diving down the inside of Ticktum into Becketts, a brave and wonderful overtake.
Mazepin finally came in a lap later, coming out just behind Schumacher, despite running longer.
The sinking Ticktum was then passed by Shwartzman, Zhou and Felipe Drugovich to complete a horrid day and fall out of the points.
A wheel on the grass was necessary for Mazepin as he finally got past Schumacher on the run into Stowe. The move saw the Hitech driver take P6 and he began closing in on the top five.
Lundgaard lost time as he overshot into Luffield, inviting pressure from Aitken behind.
Mazepin’s soft tyres were looking good and he passed Tsunoda for fifth. On the penultimate lap he lunged at Deletraz but the Swiss driver defended well.
However, Mazepin dived down the inside at Luffield, making fourth his. Deletraz almost lost fifth to Tsunoda, but managed to hold on for P4 at the line
Aitken was unable to make the most of Lundgaard’s fading tyres, but he secured his first podium of the season in a quiet race.
Schumacher kept teammate Shwartman behind him, although the Russian is on reverse grid pole for Sunday’s race.
Guanyu Zhou ended a frustrating race in ninth, with Drugovich claiming the final points paying position.
Ilott moves into the championship lead with 102 points, ahead of Lundgaard on 87 and Shwartzman with 85.
Image Credits: (C) Formula Motorsport Limited
