RACE 2: Felbermayr seizes sensational victory in action-packed Shanghai race

Emma Felbermayr kept her cool in a thrilling final lap sprint to the chequered flag to secure an impressive victory and her second podium of the weekend, marking a fantastic start to the season for the Audi driver.

Felbermayr beat Alisha Palmowski by just two tenths over the line, with the Briton losing the lead from pole position at the race start. Close behind was Mercedes’ Payton Westcott, who stayed out of trouble to take the final spot on the podium in an eventful race.

Amid cooler track conditions, Alba Larsen executed a superb launch at lights out to immediately demote polesitter Palmowski to P2, and the Briton subsequently lost out to Felbermayr before Westcott got stuck into the fight for the top three.

While the Red Bull Racing driver managed to hold onto P3 in the opening section of the circuit, Larsen had already built a significant advantage over Felbermayr, with the Audi representative setting her sights on her second podium finish of the weekend.

Elsewhere, there was heartbreak for rookie Natalia Granada, who previously shone as she crossed the line in P2 in her debut race. She inadvertently made contact with Racing Bulls’ Rafaela Ferreira on the opening lap, forcing her to head to the pits for a new front wing as she plummeted down the order.

Battles continued to unfold throughout the field as McLaren’s Ella Lloyd came out on top in a three-way contest for sixth place, edging out Ferreira and Lisa Billard and setting the fastest lap so far in the process.

Although Larsen had extended her lead to around two seconds, a tense fight was developing just behind her. Palmowski, eager to reclaim a position, put pressure on Felbermayr who mastered the late braking needed to defend P2. Mercedes driver Westcott wasn’t too far back either and remained firmly in contention for a maiden podium.

Larsen’s advantage was neutralised on Lap 6 as the Safety Car was deployed following an incident between Esmee Kosterman and Jade Jacquet that saw the Williams driver lock up heading into the corner before driving straight into the rear of Kosterman’s car, ruling them both out of Race 2.

With overtaking forbidden behind the Safety Car while the stranded cars were recovered, the pack was brought closer together, leaving the burden of perfecting the restart on the Ferrari leader’s shoulders.

A devastating error saw her lose the lead at the final corner of the circuit when racing got underway once again, with a snap of oversteer sending her rattling over the gravel. She dropped to the tail end of the top 10, allowing Felbermayr to inherit first place albeit with Palmowski making her presence known in the Audi’s mirrors.

The action wasn’t over quite yet as Wild Card driver Shi Wei and PUMA-backed Rachel Roberston tangled on Lap 10 as the latter locked up while taking the inside line, hitting her Hitech teammate’s car.

Back at the front, Felbermayr clung onto the lead to take the chequered flag ahead of Palmowski, rounding out a strong weekend for Audi in the series. Despite a late challenge on the final lap, the Red Bull Racing driver settled for second place ahead of Westcott.

Nina Gademan was fourth for Alpine ahead of Lloyd and Ferreira, with rookie driver Billard taking P7. Larsen recovered to secure some valuable points in P8 while Megan Bruce and Ava Dobson were the last of the points finishers.

WHAT’S NEXT?

Following confirmation that the next round in Jeddah will not take place in April, F1 ACADEMY will make its return from May 22-24 at Montreal’s Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve.