Logan Sargeant secures Championship lead ahead of PREMA teammate Oscar Piastri with victory in race two at Spa.
After a thrilling race one on Saturday in Spa, race two promised more excitement and drama as Logan Sargeant and Oscar Piastri prepared to fight for the Championship lead. Ahead of the race, Piastri had a five-point lead ahead of Sargeant who had struggled earlier in the weekend with engine issues. The PREMA pair would start 6th and 3rd on the grid respectively with everything to play for.
MP Motorsport’s Richard Verschoor started on reverse grid pole ahead of Liam Lawson, with Logan Sargeant and Oli Caldwell starting on the second row.
The race started frantically as drivers jockeyed for position, it was a poor start from Liam Lawson who quickly lost positions and moved down to fourth, leaving the Hitech in the clutches of the pack behind. Despite a good start from pole-sitter Verschoor, the Dutch driver soon came under attack from Sargeant who was forced to leave the track after an attempted overtake on the race leader. Sargeant eventually managed to steal the lead of the race on the third lap as his PREMA teammate Frederik Vesti moved into third after an overtake on Oli Caldwell. Fortunes then decreased even further for Verschoor as Vesti moved ahead of the Dutch driver to secure a PREMA P1/P2.
The Virtual Safety Car was brought out shortly after as Pierre Louis Chovet lost control of his Hitech and entered the barriers. Upon the restart, the race settled down as tire management became pivotal.
Second Half
As the race reached middle distance, Verschoor found himself moving even further down the order as Pourchaire, Lawson, Smolyar, and even Piastri eyed the final podium position. Lawson eventually won out in the battle against Pourchaire who struggled to challenge the Hitech for P3.
Out at the front, PREMA teammates Sargeant and Vesti distanced themselves from the rest of the pack and battled for victory. Meanwhile, the remaining PREMA Piastri moved into P5 after successful overtakes on both Verschoor and Pourchaire. However, Piastri lost ground after being awarded a five-second penalty by the Stewards after leaving the track and gaining an advantage during his earlier overtake of Verschoor.
In the final lap of the race, Vesti moved into DRS of the race leader but failed to mount a successful challenge, allowing Sargeant to reach the checkered flag as the race winner. Lawson came home to take the remaining podium position.
Sargeant’s victory puts the American driver back in charge of the Championship ahead of PREMA teammate Oscar Piastri who now sits seven points behind Sargeant with four races to go.
Top 10
1. L. Sargeant PREMA
2. F. Vesti PREMA
3. L. Lawson Hitech Grand Prix
4. A. Smolyar ART Grand Prix
5. T. Pourchaire ART Grand Prix
6. O. Piastri PREMA
7. R. Verschoor MP Motorsport
8. L. Zendeli Trident
9. D. Beckmann Trident
10. S. Fernandez ART Grand Prix
featured image credit: fiaformula3.com
