Formula 2 rookie and Williams Academy driver Zak O’Sullivan was on pace compared to his ART teammate Victor Martins throughout Formula 2’s Bahrain season opener. For the rest of the year, he expects “healthy competition” between them.

By Steven Walton

On his Formula 2 debut in Bahrain, O’Sullivan had no trouble keeping pace with Martins, who was last year’s top rookie in F2. In qualifying, O’Sullivan was more than a tenth quicker, and in the sprint race, he finished four places higher. In the feature race, Martins retired due to a technical issue. 

Throughout the Bahrain weekend, Martins failed to score a single point while O’Sullivan picked up 14 for finishing seventh in the sprint and fourth in the feature race. O’Sullivan now sits fifth in the overall F2 standings, behind Zane Maloney, Pepe Martí, Paul Aron and Gabriel Bortoleto.

Bahrain weekend was ‘okay’

“In terms of my weekend in Bahrain, it was okay, I think is the best way to put it,” O’Sullivan told Feeder Series in a press conference with select media in Jeddah on Wednesday.

“We were always in the top ten, always seemed roughly on the pace. I think we were missing maybe a bit to fight for pole, and in the races, I think we missed a tiny bit, but no it wasn’t a bad weekend,” he said.

“I think for me as well having the first weekend out of the way was quite useful, ticking off all the new procedures in F2 [and] all the nuances that are slightly different to F3.”

Asked by Feeder Series about his competition with Martins, O’Sullivan said that he expected everyone to be close in Bahrain due to all the running that happens at the track. Two weeks before the race, Formula 2 held three days of pre-season testing in Bahrain.

“It was very close between us through the weekend … of course, [Martins] got unlucky with the technical issue in the feature race, but there was never a massive gap between us, and I think through the year it’s going to be quite close and it’s a nice, healthy competition,” O’Sullivan told Feeder Series.

‘I’ll give it my all’

This weekend is O’Sullivan’s first time in Jeddah, while Martins had the benefit of racing here last season in F2. O’Sullivan said he had yet to do a track walk, but thought the circuit looked super fun to drive. 

“I think all of us drivers want an adrenaline rush … so I’m sure I’ll enjoy it,” he said. “[It is] not the easiest track in the world, but I think the rookies last year proved it was possible to be on the pace quite quickly.”

Asked by Feeder Series whether he could fight with Martins again this weekend, O’Sullivan said, “Let’s see, of course Victor was pole here last year, so he knows his way around Jeddah quite well, but no let’s see, I mean last year Victor was a rookie as well and showed very good pace from the first lap in free practice.”

Martins took pole position in the 2023 Jeddah round by a whopping seven-tenths. Alongside him on the front row was then-rookie, Ollie Bearman.

O’Sullivan pointed out that Formula 2 has its new car this year and it is new for everyone.

“You never really know what each weekend is going to hold in store … I think until the halfway point in the season everyone’s collecting data race by race,” he said. 

“I can’t predict anything, so I’ll give it my all and the same approach as I have done last year and even in Bahrain and go from there.”

Header photo credit: Dutch Photo Agency