Luca Ghiotto stormed to victory in Sunday’s thrilling FIA Formula 2 Championship Sprint Race in Bahrain. A brave pit stop strategy gave him the edge over his immediate rivals, the DAMS duo of Sergio Sette Camara and Race 1 winner Nicholas Latifi, who completed the podium at Sakhir.

Ghiotto’s race got off to a flying start from his seventh place grid slot and he took the lead after five laps. After pushing hard in his first stint to establish a five-second gap to the rest of the field, he pitted with 10 laps remaining. His fresh rubber allowed him to close the gap to Sette Camara and Latifi, while they struggled with tyre wear in the desert heat.

Guanyu Zhou finished in fourth place after passing Louis Deletraz thanks to his conserved rubber. Mick Schumacher, who had started from pole in the reverse-grid Race 2 and led in the opening laps, took eventual sixth place.

2019 FIA Formula 2 Championship Round 1 Race 2, Sakhir, Bahrain