ROAD TO F1: Ticktum secures maiden F2 win at home in Silverstone Sprint Race

Williams junior Dan Ticktum’s biggest challenge in his rookie season of Formula 2 has been tyre management, but the DAMS driver firmly put those troubles behind him with an emphatic first victory at his home circuit in the Sprint Race at Silverstone.

Starting from pole, Ticktum led for the entire race, and only came under threat in the final lap after ART Grand Prix made the brave decision to pit Christian Lundgaard during a Safety Car period and change his heavily degraded hard compounds to mediums.

ROAD TO F1: Mazepin takes first F2 win as Zhou rallies to second at Silverstone

The Renault junior made a late charge from fifth to second, but Ticktum – who stuck with the hard Pirellis – had pre-empted such a scenario and retained enough rubber to keep the Dane behind at the chequered flag.

The two drivers at the top of the championship standings both suffered races to forget. Callum Ilott spun from second and was forced to retire midway through the race – while a slow pit stop from PREMA during the Safety Car period crushed any hope of a top eight finish for Robert Shwartzman, who departs Round 4 without a single point. Despite this, the Russian does retain the lead in the drivers’ standings, eight points ahead of Ilott.

For more on F2, visit the official F2 website.