Carlin’s Liam Lawson survived a mid-race safety car period to take his third FIA Formula 2 sprint race victory of the season at Spa-Francorchamps.
Lawson climbed from fifth to second at the start behind polesitter Ralph Boschung, while Prema’s Jehan Daruvala was absent from second on the grid after pulling off the circuit before the race with an issue.
Trident’s Richard Verschoor retained third on the opening lap after a three-way tussle with Jack Doohan and Theo Pourchaire.
Lawson swept past Boschung into the lead approaching Les Combes on lap two and, despite initially suffering with his rear tyres, was able to pull over four seconds clear.
Doohan used his DRS to move into third for Virtuosi ahead of Verschoor in the early stages, with ART’s Pourchaire and MP Motorsport’s Felipe Drugovich following close behind.
Carlin’s Logan Sargeant emerged unscathed from a high-speed crash exiting Pouhon while running ninth, triggering a safety car period on lap 11 of 18.
Racing resumed four laps later, with Lawson able to pull away once more to win by 3.868s
Doohan snatched second from Boschung into Les Combes on the final lap, while a pitstop gamble during the safety car period enabled Drugovich to take fourth.
The points leader took the restart in 12th, having been one of several drivers to change from hard to soft compound tyres. Having recovered to sixth, Drugovich stole fifth from title rival Pourchaire into the chicane before passing Verschoor on the final lap.
Hitech’s Marcus Armstrong came home seventh ahead of Van Amersfoort Racing’s David Beckmann and DAMS’s Ayuma Iwasa. Prema’s Dennis Hauger was another to pit for soft rubber and finished 10th.
Featured image credit: @fia_f2 official twitter
