Mixed fortunes for Hitech across three Baku races
Round 12 – Baku – Report
Hitech experienced mixed fortunes across three FIA Formula 2 races in Baku, with Colton Herta securing three strong finishes while Ritomo Miyata endured a frustrating weekend of incidents and retirements.
Colton finished P9 in the Sprint, P13 in Feature Race 1 and P15 in Saturday’s final Feature Race.
Ritomo was running P10 in the Sprint before final-lap contact ended his race. His first Feature Race ended after he was caught up in a multi-car incident, while his second came to an end on Lap 6.
Sprint Race
Ritomo started P11, with Colton lining up P21.
The race was interrupted by an early Safety Car after Boya spun. Colton made good progress, gaining three places on the opening lap, while Ritomo dropped back to P13 before recovering to P10 ahead of the final restart.
Ritomo was hit at Turn 1 on the final lap, sustaining damage that left him unable to continue.
Colton avoided the incident and capitalised on the disruption across the field to finish P9, completing a 12-place recovery from P21.
Feature Race 1
Ritomo started P11 on the Supersoft, while Colton was P21 on the Soft.
Both made progress during the opening pit-stop phase, with Ritomo cycling as high as P9 and Colton P13 before making their mandatory stops.
A multi-car incident on Lap 12 brought out the red flag. Ritomo was caught up in the incident at Turn 3, sustaining damage that ended his race.
The race resumed as a timed finish, with Colton eventually making his mandatory stop for Supersofts. He rejoined P14 and moved up to P13, completing an eight-place recovery.
Feature Race 2
Ritomo started P10, while Colton lined up P22 following a three-place grid penalty.
An early Safety Car was followed by a restart on Lap 3, with Colton moving to P16 and Ritomo to P11. Ritomo was squeezed into the wall in the melée, dropping to P14, before stopping at the exit of turn 6 on Lap 6 and bringing out the VSC.
Colton continued through the changing pit-stop sequence and ran as high as P12 before making his stop for Soft tyres.
He moved to P14 after passing Montoya on Lap 25, and ultimately finished P15.
Jan Sumann, Hitech's F2 Head of Race Engineering:
“Colton did a good job across the three races in Baku. To come away with P9, P13 and P15 from the positions he started from shows that he made the most of the opportunities available to him, particularly in the Sprint and the first Feature Race.”
“It was a frustrating weekend for Ritomo. He was in a good position in the Sprint before the contact on the final lap, while in the first Feature Race he was caught up in the Turn 3 incident. Unfortunately, an issue brought his second Feature Race to an early end as well, so he didn't get the opportunity to show what he could do across the three races.”
Jan continued:
“It’s been a busy weekend with three races and a few incidents and issues, but there are positives we can take from the pace and the way the drivers and team kept pushing through the different situations. There’s now a long break before the next round, which gives us plenty of time to analyse the weekend, keep working and make sure we’re ready to finish the season strongly.”
