| Type R1: | Feature race |
| Type R2: | Sprint race |
| Country: | Bahrain |
| Bahrain | |
| Round No: | 1 |
| Season No: | 12 |
| Year: | 2018 |
| Location: | Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir, Bahrain |
| Course: | Permanent racing facility |
| Course Mi: | 3.359 |
| Course Km: | 5.406 |
| Date R1: | 7 April |
| Laps R1: | 31 |
| Pole Driver Country R1: | GBR |
| Pole Driver R1: | Lando Norris |
| Pole Team R1: | Carlin |
| Pole Time R1: | 1:41.761 |
| First Driver Country R1: | GBR |
| First Driver R1: | Lando Norris |
| First Team R1: | Carlin |
| Second Driver Country R1: | BRA |
| Second Driver R1: | Sérgio Sette Câmara |
| Second Team R1: | Carlin |
| Third Driver Country R1: | RUS |
| Third Driver R1: | Artem Markelov |
| Third Team R1: | Russian Time |
| Fast Driver Country R1: | GBR |
| Fast Driver R1: | Lando Norris |
| Fast Team R1: | Carlin |
| Fast Time R1: | 1:48.072 |
| Fast Lap R1: | lap 19 |
| Date R2: | 8 April |
| Laps R2: | 23 |
| First Driver Country R2: | RUS |
| First Driver R2: | Artem Markelov |
| First Team R2: | Russian Time |
| Second Driver Country R2: | DEU |
| Second Driver R2: | Maximilian Günther |
| Second Team R2: | BWT Arden |
| Third Driver Country R2: | BRA |
| Third Driver R2: | Sérgio Sette Câmara |
| Third Team R2: | Carlin |
| Fast Driver Country R2: | NED |
| Fast Driver R2: | Nyck de Vries |
| Fast Team R2: | Pertamina Prema Theodore Racing |
| Fast Time R2: | 1:47.711 |
| Fast Lap R2: | lap 11 |
The 2018 Bahrain FIA Formula 2 round was a pair of motor races for Formula 2 cars that took place on 7 and 8 April 2018 at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir, Bahrain as part of the FIA Formula 2 Championship. It was the first round of the 2018 FIA Formula 2 Championship and ran in support of the 2018 Bahrain Grand Prix.[1]
The round saw the competitive début of the new Dallara F2 2018 chassis and its turbocharged Mecachrome engine. The F2 2018 was introduced as a replacement for the aging Dallara GP2/11 chassis and its naturally-aspirated engine, which had been used by the championship and its predecessor, the GP2 Series since 2011.[2] [3]
The race saw the introduction of a brand new chassis to replace the Dallara GP2/11 which had been used since 2011 when the series was known as the GP2 Series. The new car, the Dallara F2 2018, features substantial technical revisions to its design, making it similar to the current Formula One cars. It features the "halo" cockpit protection device for driver head protection and is also powered by a brand new engine, a 3.4 litre (207 cu in) single-turbocharged V6 engine developed by Mecachrome. This was brought in as a replacement for the 4.0 litre (244 cu in) naturally aspirated V8 engine which was used since the GP2 Series began back in 2005.
Driver changes for this season saw reigning champion Charles Leclerc join Formula One with the Alfa Romeo Sauber team, replacing Pascal Wehrlein. His teammate from Prema Racing last year, Antonio Fuoco, joined the new Charouz Racing System team, joining Louis Delétraz, who joined the team after racing with Racing Engineering and Rapax in . Reigning teams' champions Russian Time signed Japanese driver Tadasuke Makino to partner Artem Markelov. Luca Ghiotto, who raced for Russian Time in 2017, joined Campos Racing. DAMS signed Alexander Albon to replace Oliver Rowland, Prema Racing brought in Sean Gelael and Nyck de Vries, and MP Motorsport signed Roberto Merhi and Ralph Boschung, who were also teammates at Campos at the Catalunya round in 2017.
Other débutants this season were Roy Nissany, son of Chanoch Nissany, who joined Campos, Maximilian Günther and Nirei Fukuzumi, who both moved up from the FIA Formula 3 European Championship and GP3 Series respectively with BWT Arden, Arjun Maini, who also graduated from the GP3 Series, joined Trident, partnering Santino Ferrucci. ART Grand Prix promoted Jack Aitken and reigning GP3 Series champion George Russell to their F2 team, and Lando Norris began his first full season with Carlin.
Two Formula 2 full-time rookies Lando Norris and George Russell occupied the front row of the grid.[4] While the second row was locked by more experienced Alexander Albon and Nyck de Vries.
After starting from pole Lando Norris dominated the race, finishing ahead of his teammate Sérgio Sette Câmara with almost seven second margin.[5] Sette Câmara defended his runner-up spot on the podium after pressure in the final laps from Russian Time driver Artem Markelov, who was forced to start from pitlane after stalling on the grid. Alexander Albon finished ahead of Russell, who was the highest-placed driver without previous Formula 2 starts. The Prema pairing of Nyck de Vries and Sean Gelael finished behind Russell. Rookie Maximilian Günther finished eighth and subsequently started from pole in the sprint race. Russell's teammate and another rookie driver Jack Aitken finished ninth. Ralph Boschung completed the top-ten. Nicholas Latifi, Luca Ghiotto, Louis Delétraz and Santino Ferrucci were unable to use their experience to score points. Arjun Maini and Roy Nissany finished 15th and 16th on their F2 race debut. Antonio Fuoco finished ahead of the pair of the Japanese rookies Nirei Fukuzumi and Tadasuke Makino, who were the last finished drivers. Like Markelov, Roberto Merhi stalled on the grid, but was unable to start the race from pit lane.
Artem Markelov took his first victory of the season with Maximilian Günther second, Sérgio Sette Câmara rounding out the podium in third and Lando Norris fourth. The final points places went to Nyck de Vries, who also set the fastest lap, Luca Ghiotto, Ralph Boschung, and Nirei Fukuzumi scored his first points with 8th. All drivers finished in this race, with Santino Ferrucci the last finisher in 20th place.
| Driver | Team | Time | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 19 |  Lando Norris | Carlin | 1:41.761 | – | 1 |
| 2 | 8 | George Russell | ART Grand Prix | 1:41.823 | +0.062 | 2 |
| 3 | 5 |  Alexander Albon | DAMS | 1:41.850 | +0.089 | 3 |
| 4 | 4 | Nyck de Vries | Pertamina Prema Theodore Racing | 1:41.880 | +0.119 | 4 |
| 5 | 20 |  Louis Delétraz | Charouz Racing System | 1:42.174 | +0.413 | 5 |
| 6 | 18 | Carlin | 1:42.221 | +0.460 | 6 | |
| 7 | 12 |  Nirei Fukuzumi | BWT Arden | 1:42.246 | +0.485 | 7 |
| 8 | 2 | Tadasuke Makino | Russian Time | 1:42.264 | +0.503 | 8 |
| 9 | 7 | Jack Aitken | ART Grand Prix | 1:42.282 | +0.521 | 9 |
| 10 | 11 |  Maximilian Günther | BWT Arden | 1:42.336 | +0.575 | 10 |
| 11 | 21 |  Antonio Fuoco | Charouz Racing System | 1:42.342 | +0.581 | 11 |
| 12 | 14 | Luca Ghiotto | Campos Vexatec Racing | 1:42.414 | +0.653 | 12 |
| 13 | 9 |  Roberto Merhi | MP Motorsport | 1:42.423 | +0.662 | 13 |
| 14 | 16 |  Arjun Maini | Trident | 1:42.437 | +0.676 | 14 |
| 15 | 6 |  Nicholas Latifi | DAMS | 1:42.447 | +0.686 | 15 |
| 16 | 10 | Ralph Boschung | MP Motorsport | 1:42.460 | +0.699 | 16 |
| 17 | 1 |  Artem Markelov | Russian Time | 1:42.816 | +1.055 | 17 |
| 18 | 17 |  Santino Ferrucci | Trident | 1:42.818 | +1.057 | 18 |
| 19 | 3 | Sean Gelael | 1:43.016 | +1.255 | 19 | |
| 20 | 15 |  Roy Nissany | Campos Vexatec Racing | 1:43.350 | +1.589 | 20 |
| Source:[6] | ||||||
| Driver | Entrant | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 19 | Lando Norris | Carlin | 31 | 57:46.206 | 1 | 25 (6) |
| 2 | 18 | Carlin | 31 | +8.321 | 6 | 18 | |
| 3 | 1 | Artem Markelov | Russian Time | 31 | +8.532 | PL | 15 |
| 4 | 5 | Alexander Albon | DAMS | 31 | +9.349 | 3 | 12 |
| 5 | 8 | George Russell | ART Grand Prix | 31 | +13.947 | 2 | 10 |
| 6 | 4 | Nyck de Vries | 31 | +14.661 | 4 | 8 | |
| 7 | 3 | Sean Gelael | Pertamina Prema Theodore Racing | 31 | +19.326 | 19 | 6 |
| 8 | 11 | Maximilian Günther | BWT Arden | 31 | +22.573 | 10 | 4 |
| 9 | 7 | Jack Aitken | ART Grand Prix | 31 | +28.559 | 9 | 2 |
| 10 | 10 | Ralph Boschung | MP Motorsport | 31 | +31.585 | 16 | 1 |
| 11 | 6 | Nicholas Latifi | DAMS | 31 | +35.514 | 15 | |
| 12 | 14 | Luca Ghiotto | Campos Vexatec Racing | 31 | +44.273 | 12 | |
| 13 | 20 | Louis Delétraz | Charouz Racing System | 31 | +49.429 | 5 | |
| 14 | 17 | Santino Ferrucci | Trident | 31 | +55.424 | 18 | |
| 15 | 16 | Arjun Maini | Trident | 31 | +57.453 | 14 | |
| 16 | 15 | Roy Nissany | Campos Vexatec Racing | 31 | +1:27.436 | 20 | |
| 17 | 21 | Antonio Fuoco | Charouz Racing System | 31 | +1:47.169 | 11 | |
| 18 | 12 | Nirei Fukuzumi | BWT Arden | 31 | +1:50.462 | 7 | |
| 19 | 2 | Tadasuke Makino | Russian Time | 30 | +1 lap | 8 | |
| DNS | 9 | Roberto Merhi | MP Motorsport | 0 | Hydraulics | PL | |
| Fastest Lap: Lando Norris (Carlin) - 1:48.072 (on lap 19) | |||||||
| Source: | |||||||
| Driver | Entrant | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Artem Markelov | Russian Time | 23 | 42:42.161 | 6 | 15 |
| 2 | 11 | Maximilian Günther | BWT Arden | 23 | +2.106 | 1 | 12 |
| 3 | 18 |