PREMA Racing takes race 1 win in Silverstone Saturday

PREMA Racing posted its third win of the year today at Silverstone, prevailing in race 1 of the FIA Formula 2 Championship at the famed Grand Prix venue.

With a brilliant start from P4 on the grid, Robert Shwartzamn went for the lead in turn 1 and then mastered three safety-car re-starts to take win number two for him in 2021. Starting from P10 on the reverse grid of race 2, the 21-year-old Russian improved his position but found himself stuck in traffic out of the points zone. With nothing to lose, he pushed as hard as possible to get at least to P8, but a spin eventually brought him down to P15.

Oscar Piastri had an equally impressive day after taking pole for tomorrow’s Feature Race in qualifying. The 20-year-old Australian posted a positive result in race 1, mixing a great start from P10 on the reverse grid and a swift move to P6. In race 2, he maximized his position again. Starting from P5, he put together a clean move to fourth place. In addition, he secured the fastest lap in both races, harvesting four bonus points and moving into the championship lead.

“I’m extremely happy with the win in race 1 when we got our redemption from last year. The start was really good, even better than expected. The set-up and warm-up were great, and the tyres got into temperature, so I moved to the inside, and I realized that I was P1. I opened up a bit of a gap, and then the re-starts after the safety car situations went well too, so the car behind never got the opportunity to get close enough. Race 2 was not the one we wanted as we did not score points. The start was quite good but the safety cars created a big pack, and in that position it’s really difficult to overtake. I tried to get close to the car in front, but I clipped a kerb and lost control. It cost us no points though, and we learned something. Tomorrow will be a different race with the pit-stop. I hope to get another good start and then, with the right strategy and pace, to fight for the podium.”

Qualifying: P7

Starting Grid Race 1: P4

Starting Grid Race 2: P10

Fastest Lap: 1:40.452

Race 1: P1

Race 2: P15

“I’m very happy with today’s results as we were strong in both races and all conditions. In race 1 I had a quick start and made a few spots straight away, and then got past Lawson to take P6. After that, we were just stuck in a DRS train and I couldn’t really make any more progress forward. In race 2, I had a pretty average start but made a good move towards the end to take P4. The pace was mega in clean air so I could set the fastest lap in both races. I don’t think there was really much more we could have done today. Bring on tomorrow!”

Qualifing: P1

Starting Grid Race 1: P10

Starting Grid Race 2: P5

Fastest Lap: 1:39.854

Race 1: P6

Race 2: P4

Source | Photo: PREMA Racing