Mick Schumacher clinches F2 drivers’ title

• Jehan Daruvala wins F2 Sprint Race to lead Carlin one-two
• Ayhanacan Guven triumphs from pole in Porsche race two

Mick Schumacher, Jehan Daruvala and Ayhanacan Guven all had reason to celebrate today at Bahrain International Circuit (BIC).

Schumacher was crowned drivers’ champion of the 2020 FIA Formula 2 Championship while Daruvala won the season-ending F2 Sprint Race and Guven won the weekend’s fainal race in The Porsche Sprint Challenge Middle East.

Both series were held in support of the Formula 1 Rolex Sakhir Grand Prix 2020, which took place along BIC’s 3.543-kilometre Outer Track.

Schumacher clinched his crown despite finishing 18th after struggling with his tyres for much of the first part of the race. His chief title rival Callum Ilott could not take advantage and was classified 10th overall, which left him out of the points for the race.

Schumacher’s drivers’ title added to the teams’ crown won on Saturday by his team Prema Racing.

Daruvala led teammate Yuki Tsunoda to the chequered flag to register an impressive Carlin one-two in the season-finale.

Daruvala started on the front row alongside pole-sitter Dan Ticktum of Dams, and was able to gain the lead on lap 25. Daruvala held on until the end of 34 laps and crossed the finish line in 37 minutes 26.570 seconds for his first-ever triumph in F2.

Tsunoda followed in 3.561s after passing Ticktum on the final corner, and Ticktum had to settle for third, 3.902s behind Daruvala.

The result gave Carlin both victories in F2’s final round of 2020.

Completing the top eight and the Sprint’s points scorers were Guanyu Zhou of Uni-Virtuosi, Schumacher’s teammate Robert Shwartzman, Giuliano Alesi of MP Motorsport, Luca Ghiotto of Hitech Grand Prix and Felipe Drugovich of MP Motorsport.

Ticktum started from pole on the F2 reverse grid rule after being promoted to eighth place in Saturday’s Feature Race classification. A double five-second penalty was handed to Nikita Mazepin, dropping him to ninth from third place originally.

Schumacher and Ilott were engaged in a heated battle for third early on in today’s Sprint, but Schumacher’s struggles forced him to pit and he dropped to the back of the field.

Meanwhile, Guven triumphed in the second 17-lap race of this weekend’s events in the Porsche Sprint Challenge Middle East.

Starting from pole, Guven had a flawless drive and completed the event in 23:35.146. His triumph earned him a fantastic double for the season’s second round.

Jean-Baptiste Simmenauer was the runner-up a close 0.100s behind, while Lucas Groeneveld took the final step on the overall podium in third 1.344s back.

Guven was also the race’s winner in the Pro category, with Groeneveld taking the triumph in the Pro-Am. Eddy Waldhier was first amongst all Am runners.

Bahrain’s Shaikh Jaber bin Ali Al Khalifa (Am) was classified eighth overall.