Formula 2: Despite good performance, Samaia has another difficult weekend

Campos Racing experienced a mixed weekend at Sochi Autodrom, which hosted the F1 Russian Grand Prix this weekend. Jack Aitken secured more points for the championship both days but the Briton driver escaped unhurt in a heart-stopping accident in race 2 after a clash with Italian Luca Ghiotto. Brazilian Guilherme Samaia performed well in race 1 before another race incident forced him to retire on Sunday.

Aitken and Samaia made a positive start to the weekend on Friday morning lapping in competitive lap times in free practice session. In qualifying, thought, Samaia made a mistake that put him in 22nd for Saturday’s Feature Race, in which the rookie gained several positions in the opening lap after he moved up to 16th following a pile up that triggered a safety car.

When green flag was waving again Aitken remained in fifth place for a while before taking the lead in lap when the leaders pitted for their mandatory pit stop. Despite several attempts from Chinese driver Guan Yu Zhou, who was under Aitken’s rear wing, the Briton led the field until his pit stop in lap 16 a for a new set of supersofts tires. Aitken returned in 11th and after 28 laps he took the checkered flag in sixth place. Samaia made it to the finish in 16th place after keeping at bay Pedro Piquet and Louis Deletraz in the closing stages of the race.

Aitken delivered another eye-catcher start on Sunday and from third on the grid he moved past Nikita Mazepin for second place. Unfortunately, Samaia’s race ended in the first lap when his car sustained suspension damage after a clash with another car. Up the front, Aitken was battling with series leader Mick Schumacher, Jehan Daruvala and Luca Ghiotto. But the race was red-flagged on lap eight following a high-speed incident involving Aitken and Ghiotto when both cars tangled as a result of a puncture in Aitken’s car and crashed into the wall. As mentioned above, both drivers managed to walk away unhurt from the crash. Aitken finished fourth as race 2 never resumed.

The FIA Formula 2 will head to Bahrain for its final two rounds in November and December.

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