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Artem wins!

07/01/2018

Artem wins!

Artem Markelov won the Red Bull Ring F2 Sprint race, leading all the way from the pole position he cemented in Saturday’s Feature race. Artem adopted a strong combination of pace and tyre management to beat new championship leader and Mercedes junior driver George Russell by 5.6s over the 28 laps. It was the third race victory of the season for the Renault F1 development driver. 

Team mate Tadasuke Makino also started at the front after his fine seventh place in Saturday’s main race and scored the best result of his rookie F2 season with sixth, meaningthat he took 10 points away from the Austrian weekend.

Artem Markelov: «”Yesterday’s eighth place was definitely harder but it was the foundation for today. You never quite know how much tyre degradation you are going to get but I pushed quite hard early on and then again when  Russell got up into second place. In the end we were quite comfortable and I was also able to get the points for fastest lap. After Friday, 23 points from the weekend is a great outcome and the team has done a mega job all weekend.” 

Tadasuke Makino: “It would have been nice to score my first F2 podium today but I had a small vibration and was also quite vulnerable to the three DRS zones here. It’s satisfying to take points from both races for the first time and I hope we can keep the momentum going next week at Silverstone.”

Svetlana Strelnikova (Team principal): «Rolling starts were not so popular yesterday but took a bit of pressure off today! Artem’s performance was immaculate, a perfect blend of speed and race management. He moves back  into third place in the championship with his ninth win at GP2/F2 level. 
Congratulations to Tadasuke as well. He drove maturely all weekend, fighting  at the front with much more experienced guys. His sixth place is the best result of the season so far and really positive. He is getting stronger and stronger and  for the first time was able to score points in both races. Thanks to everyone for their behind-the-scenes effort amid a hectic three-race schedule.”










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