FEATURE RACE: Piastri extends Championship lead with Sochi victory ahead of Pourchaire

Sochi (Russia), September 26, 2021: Oscar Piastri took his second consecutive

Feature Race win and extended his lead in the Drivers’ standings with a commanding

drive at the Sochi Autodrom. The Australian headed Théo Pourchaire across the line,

with Jehan Daruvala occupying the final spot on the podium.

Starting from pole position, Piastri retained his position at the head of the field at the

start of the race, while Pourchaire moved ahead of Daruvala for second place at Turn 2.

A fast-starting Ralph Boschung progressed into the top three, while championship-

contending Guanyu Zhou slipped from fourth to eighth.

Piastri and Pourchaire slowly pulled away from the rest of the pack throughout the 28

laps, with Pourchaire briefly moving ahead of Piastri when he pitted one lap later than

the PREMA driver. However, with his hot tyres, Piastri regained the net lead, which he

did not concede for the remainder of the event.

Late drama for Boschung saw him retire, after being in contention for the podium for

much of the race. With Daruvala third, local favourite Robert Shwartzman was fourth,

ahead of Saturday’s Sprint Race victor Dan Ticktum.

21 cars lined up on the starting grid, with Felipe Drugovich ruled unfit to participate

following his crash prior to the commencement of Saturday’s race. At the front, Zhou

endured a difficult start and dropped four positions, while Daruvala slipped from second

to fourth having been overtaken by Pourchaire and Daruvala.

Further back, Bent Viscaal was forced to retire for the second race in a row following

contact with Roy Nissany – Nissany would later receive a five-second time penalty for

the incident.

A brief Virtual Safety Car was deployed, with Lirim Zendeli peeling into the pits to

replace his front wing, which had been stripped from his car on the opening lap.

When the action resumed, Marcus Armstrong and Liam Lawson battled for 12th, with the

latter attempting the alternate strategy by starting on the medium tyres compared to

those on the Super Softs around him.

Pourchaire sat just over one second behind Piastri in the fight for the lead, but was

unable to make a push into DRS range. Jüri Vips became the second driver to retire as

his car slowed on Lap 6 – he returned to the pits, but was forced to park up his car due

to an issue.

Boschung became the first of the front-runners to pit for medium tyres, while Jake

Hughes, who starred for HWA RACELAB on Saturday, began to struggle. He dropped

behind Christian Lundgaard and Ticktum and would eventually finish at the back of the

pack following a spin later in the race.

Prior to his one and only pit stop of the race, Ticktum displayed strong speed on his

worn Super Softs, overtaking Lundgaard and Zhou in consecutive laps before pitting.

Back up at the front, Piastri opted to come in for a tyre change on Lap 9, while

Pourchaire stayed out for an extra lap. The ART Grand Prix driver was called in on the

following lap and emerged back onto the track ahead of Piastri – it appeared as though

the team’s overcut attempt had been successful.

However, with tyres that were already up to temperature, Piastri drew alongside

Pourchaire and got back ahead into Turn 5, taking the net lead. There were a handful of

cars ahead of the duo, however they were all running the alternative strategy and yet to

pit.

Over the following seven laps, Piastri and Pourchaire navigated their way through those

who had yet to make a move into their pit boxes, with Piastri managing to stay out in

front all the way to the chequered flag. Behind them, a battle was underway for the final

position on the podium.

Boschung held third but was under pressure from Daruvala. In the Turn 13 braking zone

on lap 22, Boschung had a sizeable lock-up and ran deep into the corner, allowing

Daruvala to sweep through to take his fourth podium of the 2021 season.

Shwartzman also passed Boschung with relative ease after the Campos Racing driver’s

error, as Ticktum, Zhou and Lawson closed in from behind. Boschung’s race was soon

run, as his lock-up proved to be too much for the front left tyre. He suffered a puncture

on the run into Turn 2 and was left with no choice but to park his car trackside and retire.

Shwartzman couldn’t close in on Daruvala in time to challenge for a podium position and

settled for fourth, ahead of Ticktum and Zhou.

Lawson was the highest placed driver on the alternate strategy in seventh with the

fastest lap, while MP Motorsport’s Richard Verschoor finished in eighth place for the

second time this weekend.

Lundgaard was ninth for ART, while David Beckmann benefited from Boschung’s late

retirement to move up into 10th and secure the final point on offer.

OSCAR PIASTRI QUOTE: “Another Feature Race win - two in a row! I am very happy

with that, it was a very tough race with no Safety Cars. Théo (Pourchaire) was pushing

me the whole way.

“I’m glad I could hold on, I could keep the gap at one and a half, two seconds. I was

pushing the whole way. I’m very happy I could pull that one off after a bit of a

disappointing day yesterday.”

THE CHAMPIONSHIP VIEW

Piastri extends his championship lead and sits on 178 points, ahead of Zhou who has

142 to his name. Shwartzman is third on 135, with Ticktum and Pourchaire in fourth and

fifth with 129 and 120 points respectively.

In the Teams’ fight, PREMA sits out in front on 313 points, leading Carlin with 225. Third

in the order with 201 points is UNI-Virtuosi, while Hitech Grand Prix is fourth on 182 with

ART Grand Prix fifth with 163 points.

Source:Official Newsletter