Hilarious scenes in F2 Bahrain as the unmanned BWT HWA Racelab car of F2 veteran Artem Markelov hit the barriers shortly after he spun while inside it.
The F2 2020 championship is entering its closing phase with multiple drivers still in the fray to challenge Mick Schumacher and claim the crown. But instead, it was a veteran F2 driver who stole the limelight during the free practice session in Bahrain.
As the teams were completing their installation laps, Markelov spun his car at the final corner. That called in the red flag and he got out of the car but left it in neutral. That resulted in the pink BWT HWA Racelap trickling backward on its own and hitting the barrier.
WATCH: Artem Markelov’s BWT HWA Racelab hits the barriers
— Krampon Arşiv (@ArsivKramponf1) November 27, 2020
Artem Markelov is currently in his 7th F2 season (including the predecessor GP2 series). He will go down in history as the first winner of the rebranded FIA F2 championship, winning the feature race on this very track. He finished an impressive second that season, behind now Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. Markelov has F1 experience of his own, testing the Renault at the 2018 Russian GP.
Markelov has since won eight F2 races, racing for home team Russian Time. After the tragic death of Anthoine Hubert at Spa in 2019, Markelov was called up as his replacement at BWT Arden. BWT Arden has rebranded to BWT HWA Racelab for his season, similar to BWT Racing Point’s rebranding to BWT Aston Martin next season.
Also read: BWT F1: Who are Racing Point’s title sponsors and how much they earn? | Explained
F2 Bahrain: Full classification after the free practice session
| POS | DRIVER | TEAM | GAP |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nikita Mazepin | Hitech Grand Prix | 1m42.660s |
| 2 | Jehan Daruvala | Carlin | 0.122s |
| 3 | Yuki Tsunoda | Carlin | 0.258s |
| 4 | Dan Ticktum | DAMS | 0.305s |
| 5 | Christian Lundgaard | ART Grand Prix | 0.404s |
| 6 | Luca Ghiotto | Hitech Grand Prix | 0.419s |
| 7 | Robert Shwartzman | Prema Racing | 0.440s |
| 8 | Guanyu Zhou | UNI-Virtuosi | 0.468s |
| 9 | Felipe Drugovich | MP Motorsport | 0.482s |
| 10 | Mick Schumacher | Prema Racing | 0.512s |
| 11 | Marcus Armstrong | ART Grand Prix | 0.541s |
| 12 | Pedro Piquet | Charouz Racing System | 0.610s |
| 13 | Louis Deletraz | Charouz Racing System | 0.830s |
| 14 | Callum Ilott | UNI-Virtuosi | 0.831s |
| 15 | Giuliano Alesi | MP Motorsport | 1.175s |
| 16 | Jack Aitken | Campos Racing | 1.349s |
| 17 | Theo Pourchaire | BWT HWA RACELAB | 1.760s |
| 18 | Roy Nissany | Trident | 2.255s |
| 19 | Guilherme Samaia | Campos Racing | 2.586s |
| 20 | Sean Gelael | DAMS | 17.590s |
| 21 | Marino Sato | Trident | – |
| 22 | Artem Markelov | BWT HWA RACELAB | – |
