Lawson fifth, Armstrong tenth in race one, Piastri crowned F2 champion

Liam Lawson finished fifth in the first Formula 2 race of the weekend in Abu Dhabi, while a tenth-place result for Marcus Armstrong earned him reverse-grid pole for race two.

Lawson ran as high as third for the opening quarter of the race after a strong launch moved him up one spot from fourth on the grid.

Yet, the Kiwi couldn’t withstand the pace of the two Prema cars. Oscar Piastri drove from tenth to third, clinching the series title in the process.

Piastri’s teammate Robert Shwartzman worked his way up from seventh to fourth.

For Piastri, the Australian has now won three single-seater championships in a row.

In 2019 he was champion of Formula Renault Eurocup. He won the Formula 3 title in a final-round showdown last year before dominating the competition in his rookie F2 season.

“So happy. It was a lot less stressful than last year. But very, very, very happy,” Piastri said.

“It’s been an awesome three years to round out my junior career.”

Next year, Piastri works with the Alpine Formula 1 team as a reserve driver.

However, we likely won’t see Piastri racing competitively in 2022.

“Hopefully I can be champion of sitting on the couch next year, because that is all about I will be driving.”

The only driver in the F2 field graduating to F1 in 2022 is Guanyu Zhou who finished eighth.

Armstrong’s P10 finish doesn’t earn him any championship points, but it puts him on the pole for tonight’s second sprint race.

The last time Armstrong started on pole was seven days earlier in Saudi Arabia. He went on to score his debut F2 win that race.

Some positive news for Armstrong is that overtaking continues to be difficult at the Yas Marina circuit this year despite track modifications aimed at improving the action.

Jehan Daruvala started race one on pole and led every lap en route to victory.

Second-placed Felipe Drugovich started third and only finished P2 after a sluggish start for Dan Ticktum off the front row.

Lawson starts race two from sixth.

That race is scheduled to start at 3.45 am NZT.