The Campos Racing veteran was untroubled throughout the 23-lap sprint race, leading from pole on the reversed grid before cruising home 10 seconds clear of second-placed driver Dennis Hauger.
Boschung had claimed four podiums across the past six seasons in F2, but the top step of the podium had evaded him until Saturday’s sprint race.
A fierce battle for second between reigning F3 champion Victor Martins and 2021 F3 champion Hauger (MP Motorsport) played out in the closing laps before second-year racer finally claimed the place on the penultimate lap 22, with ART driver Martins settling for third on his debut.
At the start Boschung held firm off the line, with DAMS driver Arthur Leclerc swooping into second and team-mate Ayumu Iwasa taking third. Iwasa then took second as the pair went side-by-side through the middle sector as Alpine Academy driver Martins moved into fourth around the outside of Turn 11 past Roman Stanek.
A charging Theo Pourchaire, who started 10th, had made it up to fifth by lap three, as Martins took third from Leclerc, both moves up the inside of Turn 1.
Alfa Romeo F1 reserve driver Pourchaire, who finished runner-up in the standings last season, then took fourth from Leclerc with the confidence expected of a third-year driver and set the fastest lap of the race as he continued his pursuit of Martins.
But disaster hit Leclerc when he was handed a 10-second penalty on lap seven, pitting to serve it and dropping outside the points, while fellow rookie Isack Hadjar (Hitech) did the same. Both were penalised for having mechanics touching the car outside of the permitted time on the grid.
Martins claimed second from Iwasa up the inside of Turn 1 on lap 13, the Red Bull junior forced to back out of an attempt to reclaim the position as Pourchaire closed in behind.
But it was Hauger on the move - the Norwegian repeating Martins’ move on Pourchaire for fourth place the following lap, before setting about passing Iwasa, which he did on lap 15 after a huge lock-up from the DAMS driver.
Hauger then bode his time behind Martins before finally securing second at Turn 11, relegating Martins to third ahead of Iwasa.
Pourchaire settled for fifth, with MP Motorsport’s Jehan Daruvala in sixth and rookie Kush Maini (Campos) in seventh.
Enzo Fittipaldi rounded off the points-paying positions for Rodin Carlin in eighth, with team-mate Zane Maloney in ninth and Juan Manuel Correa (VAR) in 10th.
Series favourite Jack Doohan (Virtuosi) ran on the alternate strategy, starting on the hard tyre, but failed to break into the top 10. Leclerc, after his early promise, finished 12th ahead of Stanek.
F2 Bahrain - Sprint race results
| Cla | Driver | Team | Laps | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Ralph Boschung |
 Campos Racing |
23 | |
| 2 |  Dennis Hauger |
 MP Motorsport |
23 | 10.8 |
| 3 |  Victor Martins |
ART Grand Prix |
23 | 16.1 |
| 4 |  Ayumu Iwasa |
DAMS |
23 | 24.4 |
| 5 | Theo Pourchaire |
ART Grand Prix |
23 | 29.7 |
| 6 |  Jehan Daruvala |
MP Motorsport |
23 | 30.9 |
| 7 | Kush Maini |
Campos Racing |
23 | 41.5 |
| 8 |  Enzo Fittipaldi |
Rodin Carlin | 23 | 43.0 |
| 9 |  Zane Maloney |
Rodin Carlin | 23 | 44.1 |
| 10 |  Juan Manuel Correa |
Van Amersfoort Racing |
23 | 48.5 |
| 11 |  Jack Doohan |
Invicta Virtuosi Racing | 23 | 49.2 |
| 12 |  Arthur Leclerc |
DAMS |
23 | 50.1 |
| 13 |  Roman Staněk |
 Trident |
23 | 50.6 |
| 14 | Jak Crawford |
Hitech Pulse-Eight | 23 | 52.2 |
| 15 |  Oliver Bearman |
Prema Powerteam |
23 | 53.7 |
| 16 | Clement Novalak |
Trident |
23 | 54.6 |
| 17 |  Frederik Vesti |
Prema Powerteam |
23 | 54.6 |
| 18 |  Roy Nissany |
PHM Racing by Charouz | 23 | 1'04.4 |
| 19 | Brad Benavides |
PHM Racing by Charouz | 23 | 1'08.7 |
| 20 | Isack Hadjar |
Hitech Pulse-Eight | 23 | 1'13.3 |
| 21 |  Amaury Cordeel |
Invicta Virtuosi Racing | 23 | 1'13.8 |
| 22 | Richard Verschoor |
Van Amersfoort Racing |
23 | 55.5 |
| View full results | ||||
