After a 10 week break between races, Oscar Piastri was finally back in action for Round 7 of the FIA Formula 2 Series at the brand new Jeddah circuit in Saudi Arabia. There was no time for the drivers to dust off any lingering cobwebs with everyone keen to find their feet around the super-fast street circuit which Piastri labelled “Silverstone with walls”. Once again, it was the young Melburnian who impressed the most, extending his championship lead further as he edges ever closer to the coveted title going into the final round.

Friday’s practice was a messy affair, with the start of the session delayed and then once they did get up and running, a number of incidents made it hard for anyone to get into a groove. Piastri progressed up to the order to finish P10. But, as the sun set and qualifying took place on a flood lit track, the Prema driver was back at the front with P3 after his first set of laps. The drivers then all came out for their second runs initially creating chaos with the traffic as everyone tried to find a position and create a gap. The pack was led by championship rival Guanyo Zhou who put in a personal best lap with others also improving. Down to P5, Piastri had one more opportunity which he grabbed with both hands as he put in a 1:40.878 for pole, his fourth pole in a row. With Shwartzman in P2 it was a front row lockout for the Prema team as both they and Piastri extended their championship leads.

“Fourth pole in a row, I’m very happy with that. It wasn’t the smoothest of qualifying sessions, as I kind of left it to the last minute, but I did it when it counted, which is all that matters. The car was great, and I really thank the team for the effort. With Robert and I in first and second, it’s a testament to how strong the team has been today. Now, it’s full focus on the races.”

Starting P10 on a reversed grid for the first sprint race Piastri got off the line well and avoided any first corner incidents to maintain position. But it wasn’t long before the safety car made an appearance for an incident involving Marino Sato and Guilherme Samaia who was tagged by debuting Brit, Oliver Caldwell. Lap 5 saw the green flag back out but it was short lived as Zhou made a move on fellow Alpine Academy driver Christian Lundgaard and there was contact between the two into the chicane on turn 2. This initiated the Virtual Safety car momentarily before we were back to racing conditions when Jehan Daruvala managed to get past Piastri for P9.

Behind, the battle between Bent Viscaal and Dan Ticktum was hotting up with Ticktum taking the place off line and having to give the position back before battling it out again. This gave Piastri some breathing space but by lap 11 Ticktum was on the charge and on the tail of the champion-elect. While defending from Ticktum, Piastri was also closing in on Daruvala ahead and made the move to reclaim P9 on lap 12. By the following lap, he found himself in a five way battle for position and grabbed eighth after passing Ralph Boschung into turn 13. Up ahead the young Frenchman Theo Pourchaire span into the wall at turn 22. This once again brought out the safety car. With Piastri now in P7 as racing recommenced, he made a good restart and was hunting down Lundgaard for sixth. With two laps to go, the Prema driver was looking to make a move on the Dane but Daruvala had joined the battle and passed both drivers around turn 27. Coming into the last lap Piastri was on a charge behind Daruvala and went for a gap along the pit straight but was forced to back out, all too aware of the consequences of an incident at this stage of the weekend, as he was edged ever closer to the pit wall. Around the last lap. Piastri was defending from Ticktum who managed to get through on the last corner. Crossing the finish line P9 it was no points for Piastri but he had survived the mid pack battles and was in a great position for the second sprint race.

Daruvala was later penalised for an offtrack move and was demoted to P10. This placed Piastri P8 with 1 point and P3 for the next race.

Sprint race 2 was held under the flood lights at 21:40 local time. Starting P3 behind Viscaal and Daruvala, Piastri got off the line well and was up to second within a couple of laps and battling for the lead. Behind, a multi-car incident caused the safety car to come out to clear the quartet of Marcus Armstrong, Clement Novalak, Alessio Deledda, and Samaia. Back to green flag conditions on lap five and Piastri was all over Daruvala before the safety car was back out on lap six after Juri Vips tagged Felipe Drugovich whilst trying to retake a position on the main straight.

By lap eight, the race was back on and Piastri was right on the gearbox again down the main straight as Daruvala locked up into turn one and left the track. The battle continued with Piastri looking to make a move without taking unnecessary risk. A fastest lap of 1:45.214 on lap 10 showed the pace the young Australian had while the turn one incident was noted by the stewards and Daruvala was subsequently handed a five second penalty for leaving the track and gaining a lasting advantage. However, Piastri still wanted to take the lead on-track. With the battle continuing into lap 14, a move into the inside of turn 26 saw the lead change hands. But, Daruvala had the advantage of DRS and regained the position down the main straight.

A few laps later and the Alpine Academy driver made a brilliant late braking move. Diving down the inside of turn one, he regained the lead from the Red Bull Junior and made it stick. He followed this up with a blistering lap of 1:43.940. With three laps to go, Liam Lawson spun into the wall on the exit of 13, ending the New Zealander’s race and bringing out the safety car which the race ended behind.

Another stellar and mature drive saw Piastri on the top step once again with the fastest lap topping off a great drive and giving him maximum points, extending his lead to 47 ahead of his now closest rival, Shwartzman.

“After scoring P8 in a very eventful race 1, and finishing in one piece with a good starting position for the second race, we managed to take both the win and the fastest lap. Starting in P3, I got past Viscaal at turn two, and then, after that, I tried to pass Daruvala. He was really quick at the beginning until he locked up at a re-start. I knew his tyres were going to be pretty wrecked after that. I waited, knowing he had a five-second penalty, because I still wanted to pass him on track, as I knew I was quicker, and two points for the fastest lap would have been nice. Eventually, I made it and took P1 and the bonus points.”

With the sun setting over the Red Sea, Sunday evening hosted the final race of the weekend. The event was delayed due to track repairs and after some confusion whether the session was going ahead it was Piastri lining up on the grid P1 courtesy of his brilliant pole alongside Shwartzman, with Pourchaire in P3. As the lights went out, Piastri got off the line well and held the lead into the first corner. Pourchaire had stalled on the grid though leading to an unfortunate incident involving Enzo Fittipaldi who struck the stranded ART car at speed, bringing out an instant red flag.

There was a considerable delay as the drivers involved were tended to by the emergency and medical teams. When the race recommenced, it was with a rolling start and Piastri nailed it to pull out a tidy lead and post the fastest lap. He continued to pull away from his teammate, posting fastest laps along the way with a 1:45.326 before pitting for the yellow walled mediums on lap five. Shortly after entering the pit, there was a collision between Caldwell and Samaia at turn 22. This again brought out the red flag and with time running out before the Formula One race, the race ended prematurely. As not everyone had performed their mandatory pit stop, the result was called on count-back and half points were rewarded with Piastri P1. Shwartzman completed a 1-2 for the Prema team and they were announced Team Champions 2021. However, podium celebrations were understandably muted with everyone’s thoughts firmly on Theo and Enzo rather than championships.

“It was a very short race. First of all, I’m happy that everybody is going to be okay from the crash. I had a good start and held off Robert. Then, I managed the restart, as well as the few racing laps we did. Congratulations to the team on winning the Team Championship. That’s the biggest positive out of today. Now we are going to Abu Dhabi, the points gap for me is looking quite good, so it’s time to have some fun in the last round.”

It was another mature and level headed race weekend from Piastri who is now in a very enviable position with a 51.5 point lead over his Prema team-mate, Robert Shwartzman heading into the final round next weekend (December 10-12) at Abu Dhabi’s Yas Marina circuit.

Images © Prema Powerteam