A podium each for Luke and Dino puts Hitech top of the Teams’ Standings

Starting from the second row of the grid in P3, Luke executed the alternative Hard-Soft tyre strategy to perfection, playing the long game until the mid-race pit stop cycle handed him the advantage.

Dino Beganovic added a further six points to yesterday’s Sprint haul after gaining two places to finish P7. The pair are now third and sixth in the Drivers’ Standings, while Hitech TGR shoot straight into P1 in the Teams’ battle.

Sunday’s result was a fitting conclusion to a spectacular weekend for Luke and Dino, both having participated in Friday’s Formula 1 FP1 session as part of their respective Williams Racing and Scuderia Ferrari academy programmes. They were classified 13^th and 14^th, the fastest Rookies of the six taking part in the session, underscoring their clear potential as F1 stars of the future.

Although well-prepared, it was by no means an easy transition from F2 machinery to F1 car and back to F2 in the space of just a few hours. They handled the experience seamlessly and made light work of navigating the switch back to their Hitech cars for the crucial Round 2 Qualifying session.

Luke had the perfect Qualifying session, delighted to put his car on the second row for the Feature Race, which would leave him perfectly placed for the Team’s target strategy. Dino took P9, which would hand him the advantage for the reverse-grid Sprint Race.

On Saturday, the Swedish driver got a good start from P2 and maintained position for the first half of the race, during which there was a brief Safety Car interlude to recover Montoya’s stranded car. When racing resumed, he set about reeling in Joshua Duerksen, seizing the advantage on L11 when he got the DRS on the hill up to Turn 4 and swept past to take the race lead.

Luke quickly recovered from a slow start, which saw him drop two places to 10^th, and on lap 5 he got past Lindblad, Stanek and Meguetounif to get himself back into points contention.

When the race regained momentum following a second Safety Car outing on Lap 16, Duerksen was able to retake the lead three laps later when Dino ran slightly wide.

In the melee of a four-car scrap for third place, Dunne made slight contact with Luke but fell behind him on Lap 20. An attempt to re-pass at the first opportunity into Turn 8 opened the door for Arvid Lindblad to take seventh from the Irishman on corner exit, which lost the Hitech driver a further place.

Back at the front, Duerksen was forced to defend the lead entering the final three laps as Dino remained within DRS range. Their tussle handed the opportunity to Verschoor and Martí who gained and joined the lead battle.

On the penultimate lap, Dino and Duerksen found themselves side-by-side briefly, but he couldn’t make the pass stick and Verschoor and Marti managed to get ahead. Dino finished in fourth on track but was later elevated to the final Podium placing when Duerksen was disqualified, accruing his first six points.

Luke Browning finished 11^th on track but was elevated to P10 following the application of post-race penalties.

On Sunday, the team elected to put both drivers on the Prime tyre for the start, in contrast to the Soft strategy of those around them. The gamble paid off and Luke and Dino were able to mitigate places lost in the early part of the race when they pitted for the Hard compound mid-race. At the chequered flag, Luke added to his 18-point haul with a point for Fastest Lap.

The team and drivers now have just a few days to prepare for the second race of this Middle East double-header, which takes place next weekend (18-20 April) in Jeddah.