PREMA faces tough luck in Lusail Feature Race
Coming from a win in the opening race of the weekend at Lusail International Raceway, PREMA Racing faced horrible luck in the Feature Race in Qatar.
After making great moves and making himself a contender for victory, Ollie Bearman was put out of contention by an untimely safety-car that enabled drivers who started on softer tyres to gain a free stop. When Bearman pitted for softs from the lead with three to go, he was leapfrogged by several aspirants. He eventually finished in P12.
The aforementioned neutralization came following an incident that involved teammate Kimi Antonelli. The Italian had a promising race start and improved his position, staying clear of early trouble on the Option tyres. He soon dived to the pits for Primes, but was hit by a competitor unsafely exiting his pit stall.
The incident broke Antonelli's steering arm, forcing him to park his car in a runoff area. That caused a Virtual Safety Car and ultimately the Safety Car that compromised those on the Prime-to-Option strategy.
#3 - Ollie Bearman
"Tough race. We tried the alternate strategy and the pace was really really good. I managed to lead the pack on the same strategy but unfortunately, due to the safety cars that we had, I was unable to win it. I'm a bit sad because the car was great, but it happens like that some times. Let's move on to Abu Dhabi. "
#4 - Kimi Antonelli
"The race was looking pretty good and the pace today seemed in a better place. Then right after I stopped for tyres, another car crashed into me in the pitlane, putting me in the wall. The front was damaged beyond repair and I couldn't turn so I went straight in T2. It's a shame that a promising race ended so early."