Invicta Racing ready for desert duels in Bahrain
The opening round of the season is upon us and the varied desert circuit in Bahrain will be the first test on the 2024 FIA Formula 2 calendar, with Invicta Racing aiming for a strong start to the year.
This 5.412-kilometre venue has become FIA F2’s traditional curtain raiser in recent years. A mixture of fast and slow corners, combined with long straights and challenging sequences, makes this one of the most difficult events on the calendar.
On top of that, the 22 race drivers, including Invicta’s Kush Maini and Gabriel Bortoleto, the latter making his FIA F2 debut, also need to manage the tyres in the extreme heat of the desert on one of the most abrasive surfaces raced on throughout the year.
Kush made a very strong start to his FIA F2 career back in 2023, consistently placing towards the front of the order and finishing fourth in the Feature Race on a circuit where rookies can struggle. Gabriel also has happy memories here, getting his title-winning campaign off to a good start last year by winning the opening FIA Formula 3 Feature Race of the season.
The team also has a good record around the demanding venue, with victories in the 2018 and in 2019 Feature Races – memorably with Luca Ghiotto in the latter.
Memorable moment
In 2017, in his first FIA F2 weekend, Charles Leclerc won the Sprint Race after making an unconventional pitstop. He had to work his way up from 14th on track to take his first win in F2, but decisively made his way by every one of his competitors.
Andy Roche, Team Principal:
It has been a long winter for us all, but we are very eager to get back to racing this weekend. Bahrain provides a huge challenge every year, with managing the tyres in particular something every team focuses on around here. It will be interesting to see how the new car changes the dynamic we have seen compared to races here with previous generations of car. We had a good test here earlier in February and both Gabriel and Kush have settled into the team nicely, so we are keen to get our season off to a good start in what will be a very busy month with three race weekends.
Live timing for all sessions can be found here.
