Norris leads Carlin 1-2 in Bahrain F2 opener

Lando Norris made the perfect start to his maiden Formula 2 campaign by claiming a dominant victory in the 2018 season-opening feature race in Bahrain. 

The McLaren F1 reserve driver, who pipped fellow British rookie George Russell to pole position, made a brilliant getaway and controlled proceedings throughout to lead home teammate Sergio Sette Camara for a Carlin one-two.

Norris surged clear at the start thanks to his lightning quick getaway and opened up a 10 second buffer with the fastest lap of the race before diving into the pits on Lap 19. 

The 2017 European Formula 3 champion resumed his lead after back markers made their respective stops and crossed the line 8.3s clear at the chequered flag to claim his maiden F2 win, despite reporting engine concerns in the latter stages.

2017 runner-up Artem Markelov pulled off a stunning recovery drive from the pitlane to seal the final podium spot. The Russian Time driver was due to start from 17th after a disappointing qualifying showing, but stalled on the grid. 

Markelov, Renault F1's test and development driver for 2018, scythed his way through the field and battled with Camara in the closing stages, but was forced to settle with third after a thrilling late tussle with the Brazilian, who stormed from sixth to second at the start. 

Alexander Albon, who was only confirmed at DAMS for the opening race weekend of the 2018 campaign, was a further two seconds back in fourth, ahead of Russell in fifth. 

The Mercedes F1 junior and reigning GP3 champion made a disastrous start, bogging down as he dropped from second place to fifth. Running an undercut strategy looked to have initially paid off as he ran as high as second following the pitstop window, before the Briton was ultimately shuffled back down to fifth. 

Nyck De Vries initially held second after a quick start but faded with tyre troubles as the race went on. He finished as the leading Prema driver in sixth, beating teammate Sean Gelael. 

Maximilian Gunther took eighth for Arden on his F2 debut, which will become pole position for Sunday’s partially reversed sprint race. 

Briton’s Jack Aitken struggled with tyre wear and had to settle for ninth, while MP Motorsport's Ralph Boschung worked his way through from 16th to claim the final point in 10th. 

The second DAMS of Nicholas Latifi was 11th, ahead of Luca Ghiotto, with the Campos driver receiving a drive-through penalty following a collision with Russian Time’s Tadasuke Makino. 

Louis Deletraz impressed to seal fifth place in qualifying but dropped down the order to finish 13th at the flag, ahead of Trident pair and Haas F1 juniors Santino Ferrucci and Arjun Maini. 

Roy Nissany finished 16th, while Antonio Fuoco, who stalled at the start, Nirei Fukuzumi and Makino completed the classified runners. MP Motorsport’s Roberto Merhi failed to take the start after stalling on the grid.