Russell wins rain-hit F2 Barcelona feature race

George Russell overcame four Virtual Safety Car periods and rain showers to prevail to FIA Formula 2 feature race victory in Barcelona, but his win is under investigation. 

The ART Grand Prix driver, who remarkably rose from 12th to win the Baku sprint race, made a brilliant start from fourth on the grid and pulled off an early pass on Nyck de Vries, before holding off intense late pressure from the Prema driver following the mandatory pit stop window to secure back-to-back wins. 

De Vries dived down the inside of Russell at Turn 4 in the closing stages but ran wide, allowing Russell to reclaim a lead he held onto until the flag. However, the Mercedes junior is under investigation for throwing his drinks bottle out of his cockpit and onto the circuit during a Virtual Safety Car period. 

Championship leader Lando Norris recovered from eighth to take the final spot on the rostrum with an impressive drive, ahead of Campos Racing’s Luca Ghiotto and Alexander Albon’s DAMS. 

The British-Thai driver bogged down off the line from pole position and fell to fourth, though he did recover to third place until a late spin dropped him back down to fifth as he missed the chance to take the lead in the drivers’ standings. 

Jack Aitken claimed sixth for ART, ahead of Carlin’s Sergio Sette Camara and Artem Markelov. The Renault development driver made a late move stick on Russian Time teammate Tadasuke Makino to snatch eighth place and reverse grid pole for Sunday’s sprint race on the final lap. 

Charouz Racing System’s Antonio Fuoco sealed the final point in 10th place, with Nirei Fukuzumi, Roy Nissany, Roberto Merhi and Nicholas Latifi rounded out the finishers, as five drivers retired from the race and Santino Ferrucci's miserable weekend continued with his Trident car breaking down on his way to the grid.