2018 Sakhir Formula 2 round

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 {{F2|2017}}. 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.{{cite news|last1=Esler|first1=William|title=Lando Norris takes pole on his F2 debut with Carlin in Bahrain|url=http://www.skysports.com/f1/news/15749/11319546/lando-norris-takes-pole-on-his-f2-debut-in-bahrain|accessdate=7 April 2018|work=skysports.com|publisher=Sky Sports|date=6 April 2018}} 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.{{cite news|last1=Esler|first1=William|title=Lando Norris takes dominant victory in the F2 Feature Race in Bahrain|url=http://www.skysports.com/f1/news/15749/11320304/lando-norris-takes-dominant-victory-in-the-f2-feature-race-in-bahrain|accessdate=7 April 2018|work=skysports.com|publisher=Sky Sports|date=7 April 2018}} 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.

;Notes

• {{note|1|1}} – Artem Markelov started from pit lane after stalling on the grid.
• {{note|2|2}} – Roberto Merhi stalled on the grid and was due to start the race from pit lane, but was unable to restart the car.

|{{nowrap|Pertamina Prema Theodore Racing}}

|align="center"|23

| +10.265

|align="center"|3

|align="center"|6 (2)

|-

!6

|align="center"|14

|{{flagicon|ITA}} Luca Ghiotto

|Campos Vexatec Racing

|align="center"|23

| +15.696

|align="center"|12

|align="center"|4

|-

!7

|align="center"|10

|{{flagicon|SUI}} Ralph Boschung

|MP Motorsport

|align="center"|23

| +23.511

|align="center"|10

|align="center"|2

|-

!8

|align="center"|12

|{{flagicon|JPN}} Nirei Fukuzumi

|BWT Arden

|align="center"|23

|+24.582

|align="center"|18

|align="center"|1

|-

!9

|align="center"|20

|{{flagicon|SUI}} Louis Delétraz{{flagicon|}}

|Charouz Racing System

|align="center"|23

|+25.194

|align="center"|13

|align="center"|

|-

!10

|align="center"|6

|{{flagicon|CAN}} Nicholas Latifi

|DAMS

|align="center"|23

|+25.687

|align="center"|11

|align="center"|

|-

!11

|align="center"|9

|{{flagicon|ESP}} Roberto Merhi{{flagicon|}}

|MP Motorsport

|align="center"|23

|+25.804

|align="center"|20

|align="center"|

|-

!12

|align="center"|21

|{{flagicon|ITA}} Antonio Fuoco

|Charouz Racing System

|align="center"|23

|+26.638

|align="center"|17

|align="center"|

|-

!13

|align="center"|5

|{{flagicon|THA}} Alexander Albon

|DAMS

|align="center"|23

|+31.759

|align="center"|5

|align="center"|

|-

!14

|align="center"|16

|{{flagicon|IND}} Arjun Maini{{flagicon|}}

|Trident

|align="center"|23

|+36.793

|align="center"|15

|align="center"|

|-

!15

|align="center"|15

|{{flagicon|ISR}} Roy Nissany{{flagicon|}}

|Campos Vexatec Racing

|align="center"|23

|+43.989

|align="center"|16

|align="center"|

|-

!16

|align="center"|3

|{{flagicon|INA}} Sean Gelael{{flagicon|}}

|Pertamina Prema Theodore Racing

|align="center"|23

|+57.845

|align="center"|2

|align="center"|

|-

!17

|align="center"|2

|{{flagicon|JPN}} Tadasuke Makino

|Russian Time

|align="center"|23

|+1:03.819

|align="center"|19

|align="center"|

|-

!18

|align="center"|7

|{{flagicon|GBR}} Jack Aitken{{flagicon|}}

|ART Grand Prix

|align="center"|23

|+1:39.757

|align="center"|9

|align="center"|

|-

!19

|align="center"|8

|{{flagicon|GBR}} George Russell{{flagicon|}}

|ART Grand Prix

|align="center"|22

| +1 lap

|align="center"|4

|align="center"|

|-

!20

|align="center"|17

|{{flagicon|USA}} Santino Ferrucci{{flagicon|}}

|Trident

|align="center"|22

|+1 lap

|align="center"|14

|align="center"|

|-

! colspan="8" align="center" | {{nowrap|Fastest lap: {{flagicon|NED}} Nyck de Vries (Pertamina Prema Theodore Racing) — 1:47.711 (on lap 11)}}

|-

|style="background:#eaecf0; text-align:center;" colspan="8"|Source:{{cite news|title=Markelov clinches victory in Bahrain sprint race|url=https://www.fiaformula2.com/News-Room/News/2018/04_April/Markelov-clinches-victory-in-Bahrain-Sprint-Race/|work=fiaformula2.com|publisher=FIA Formula 2 Championship|date=8 April 2018|accessdate=10 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180408183507/http://www.fiaformula2.com/News-Room/News/2018/04_April/Markelov-clinches-victory-in-Bahrain-Sprint-Race/|archive-date=8 April 2018|url-status=dead}}

|-

|}

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;Drivers' Championship standings

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;Teams' Championship standings

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{{reflist|group=N}}

{{reflist}}

• {{Official website|http://www.fiaformula2.com}}

{{Formula Two round report

| Name_of_round = Sakhir Formula 2 round

| Year_of_round = 2018

| Previous_round_in_season = 2017 Yas Island Formula 2 round

| Next_round_in_season = 2018 Baku Formula 2 round

| Previous_year's_round = 2017 Sakhir Formula 2 round

| Next_year's_round = 2019 Sakhir Formula 2 round

}}

{{List of FIA Formula 2 rounds}}

{{Portal bar|Bahrain|Sports}}

Bahrain

Sakhir Formula 2

Sakhir Formula 2