ROAD TO F1: Mazepin wins Mugello Feature Race as Schumacher takes championship lead

Formula 2 delivered another epic show on Saturday, as Nikita Mazepin won from 14th on the grid and Ferrari junior Mick Schumacher took the championship lead in the Mugello Feature Race.

A late Safety Car turned the race on its head, after Guiliano Alesi pulled over onto the gravel trap with mechanical gremlins, gifting Nikita Mazepin a golden opportunity for victory on an alternate strategy.

Polesitter Christian Lundgaard had controlled the race up until that point, but the Renault junior’s hard work was undone as Mazepin emerged in third at the restart with fresh soft rubber.

ROAD TO F1: Vesti wins at Mugello as Piastri and Sargeant are tied on points going into F3 finale

Lundgaard, on heavily degraded hard tyres, was powerless to prevent the Hitech racer from diving down the side of him and coming out on top of a three-wide fight with himself and Luca Ghiotto. The Italian was able to cling on to second, ahead of Louis Deletraz, for a podium on home soil, as Lundgaard plummeted to sixth.

There was also a shift in the drivers’ championship as Mick Schumacher stole first place from Callum Ilott, becoming the third different leader in 2020. Ilott had looked on course to retain his advantage but suffered front wing damage during the Safety Car restart and was forced to pit, dropping him out of the points.

The third of the championship’s top three runners, Robert Shwartzman, saw his own title hopes take a battering as well, as the Ferrari junior was forced to retire.

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