The Dutchman, a late addition to the Trident lineup after switching from MP Motorsport for his second season in the series, took advantage of polesitter Felipe Drugovich’s poor start to score his second series win, having broken his duck at Silverstone last year.
The result marks Trident’s first F2 win since Luca Ghiotto took the top step of the podium in Sepang in 2016.
MP Motorsport’s Drugovich tumbled out the top three after struggling off the line, with Ralph Boschung (Campos) and Jehan Daruvala (Prema) also taking advantage as the Brazilian dropped to an eventual fifth-place finish.
After a laps-long battle between Boschung and Daruvala, the Indian Red Bull junior emerged in front to finish second, with Liam Lawson snatching the final podium position from Boschung with just two laps to go.
Behind Boschung and Drugovich, Lawson's Carlin team-mate Logan Sargeant took sixth after passing a struggling Juri Vips (Hitech Grand Prix) in the closing laps.
As Drugovich struggled off the line and dropped to fourth, Verschoor took the lead from Boschung and Daruvala. The polesitter then lost a further place to ART Grand Prix driver Theo Pourchaire on lap two, although his race was ended by an oil leak on lap six.
Following a safety car to recover Marcus Armstrong’s Hitech machine, the Kiwi retiring after contact from Jake Hughes - who was handed a 10-second penalty for the incident - Drugovich attacked Lawson, but had to stay in fifth.
Vips claimed sixth from feature race pole-sitter Jack Doohan on lap 13 on the inside of Turn 1, the Virtuosi driver slipping back to tenth at the finish.
With eight laps to go, Daruvala passed Boschung for second, but the Swiss driver's efforts to retaliate were halted by a virtual safety car for an incident involving Hughes and Clement Novalak. Hughes stopped on track, while Novalak was forced to pit for a new front wing and later received a 10-second penalty for causing the collision.
When the VSC ended, Boschung launched an attack on Daruvala to regain second into the Turn 10 left-hander, only for Daruvala to repass him again shortly afterwards.
The battle had taken the best out of Boschung's tyres, allowing Lawson to snatch third with two laps to go, while behind Sargeant demoted Vips to seventh.
Ayumu Iwasa, who started 22nd after spinning off on his outlap in qualifying, charged through the field to finish eighth while reigning FIA F3 champion Dennis Hauger moved up from 15th on the grid to ninth.
Bahrain F2 Race 1 Result - 23 laps
| Cla | Driver | Team | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Richard Verschoor |  Trident | - | |
| 2 |  Jehan Daruvala | Prema Powerteam | 1.800 | 1.800 |
| 3 |  Liam Lawson |  Carlin | 4.900 | 4.900 |
| 4 |  Ralph Boschung |  Campos Racing | 6.900 | 6.900 |
| 5 |  Felipe Drugovich | MP Motorsport | 8.800 | 8.800 |
| 6 |  Logan Sargeant | Carlin | 9.200 | 9.200 |
| 7 |  Jüri Vips | HitechGP | 13.300 | 13.300 |
| 8 | Ayumu Iwasa |  Nissan e.Dams | 15.700 | 15.700 |
| 9 |  Dennis Hauger | Prema Powerteam | 17.600 | 17.600 |
| 10 |  Jack Doohan | Virtuosi Racing | 21.400 | 21.400 |
| 11 | Enzo Fittipaldi |  Charouz Racing System | 22.900 | 22.900 |
| 12 |  Roy Nissany | Nissan e.Dams | 26.500 | 26.500 |
| 13 |  Frederik Vesti |  ART Grand Prix | 27.400 | 27.400 |
| 14 |  Cem Bolukbasi | Charouz Racing System | 31.900 | 31.900 |
| 15 | Calan Williams | Trident | 49.900 | 49.900 |
| 16 | Marino Sato | Virtuosi Racing | 50.600 | 50.600 |
| 17 | Amaury Cordeel | Van Amersfoort Racing | 52.600 | 52.600 |
| 18 | Clement Novalak | MP Motorsport | 1'18.200 | 1'18.200 |
| 19 | Olli Caldwell | Campos Racing | 1 lap | |
| 20 | Jake Hughes | Van Amersfoort Racing | 9 laps | |
| 21 | Theo Pourchaire | ART Grand Prix | 17 laps | |
| 22 | Marcus Armstrong | HitechGP | 21 laps | |
| View full results | ||||
