Mirko Bortolotti won the opening race of the FIA Formula Two Championship in dominant fashion at Silverstone, leading from pole position until the checkered flag on his return to the series after a year away.
As the Italian made a good start off the line, his fellow front-row starter newcomer Miki Monras bogged down and was passed by Will Bratt. Bortolotti put in a series of fastest laps to secure the victory, winning with a margin of 5.3 seconds.
Bratt held off Monras to take second, while Mihai Marinescu made use of a good start to finish the race in fourth, the Romanian equalling his best ever finish. Ramon Pineiro finished fifth, resisting late pressure from returnee Tobias Hegewald.
Christopher Zanella took seventh from Alex Brundle in the middle of the race, shortly before Brundle suffered a puncture that dropped him down the order. Earlier in the race the Friday practice pacesetter Jack Clarke had also been passed by the Swiss debutant, the Briton finishing the race in eighth.
Max Snegirev finished ninth, the Russian having taken advantage of the battle between Tom Gladdis and Johannes Theobald which ended with the pair forcing each other wide and creating a gap for Snegirev to take the position. Gladdis came out on top in his battle with Theobald, finishing the race tenth. Theobald then came under pressure from Kelvin Snoeks, with contact between them putting both into retirement.
Final results after 21 laps:
Pos | Driver | Nat | Time/Gap |
1 | Mirko Bortolotti | ITA | 39:36.405 |
2 | Will Bratt | GBR | +5.337 |
3 | Miki Monras | ESP | +6.929 |
4 | Mihai Marinescu | ROM | +19.381 |
5 | Ramon Pineiro | ESP | +26.243 |
6 | Tobias Hegewald | DEU | +27.072 |
7 | Christopher Zanella | SWI | +28.901 |
8 | Jack Clarke | GBR | +40.496 |
9 | Max Snegirev | RUS | +45.852 |
10 | Tom Gladdis | GBR | +53.612 |
11 | Armaan Ebrahim | IND | +54.607 |
12 | Mikkel Mac | DEN | +58.323 |
13 | Benjamin Lariche | FRA | +59.945 |
14 | Thiemo Storz | DEU | +1:03.602 |
15 | James Cole | GBR | +1:04.747 |
16 | Jose Luis Abadin | ESP | +1:24.152 |
17 | Julian Theobald | DEU | +1:29.379 |
18 | Parthiva Sureshwaren | IND | + 1 Lap |
19 | Alex Brundle | GBR | + 1 Lap |
20 | Sunghak Mun | KOR | + 2 Laps |
Ret | Plamen Kralev | BUL | 14 Laps |
Ret | Kelvin Snoeks | NED | 12 Laps |
Ret | Johannes Theobald | DEU | 11 Laps |
Ret | Natalia Kowalska | POL | 11 Laps |