A busy weekend is complete for New Zealand Red Bull reserve driver Liam Lawson, who claimed third place in tonights F2 feature race at Spa-Francorchamps. Australian driver Jack Doohan claimed line honours ahead of championship leader Felipe Drugovich, the duo driving away from the field to battle for line honours.
Starting sixth on the grid, Lawson looked to continue the form he showed in yesterdays sprint race victory. He managed to do so, running fifth place after the first corner after pipping David Beckmann off the start. From here he managed to pick off teammate Logan Sargeant before committing to an enthralling battle with Enzo Fittipaldi.
Lawson attempted a move on Fittipaldi come Lap 2, resulting in the Brazilian driver running wide through the corner, off-track, and maintaining his position. The position was given to the Kiwi two laps later, with Charouz Racing System believing their driver, Fittipaldi, had gained an advantage off track.
Drugovich led Doohan comfortably, with Lawson running third, until the lead drivers began to stop, with it being seen the undercut was working highly effectively. Doohan took advantage of this, diving in several laps before Drugovich to emerge with the race lead.
Lawson and Fittipaldi boxed on the same lap, with a slow stop putting the Kiwi within touching distance of the Brazilian. Lawson managed to hold this position, albeit after another tense battle that saw Fittipaldi gain advantage off-track once again, forcing him to give back the place a second time.
Doohan and Drugovich pulled away from here, as did Lawson, the front three all cruising to their finishing positions over the later stages of the race.
For Drugovich, the result was significant for the championship lead, given closest rival Theo Pourchaire had failed to finish with mechanical issues.
Fellow New Zealand driver Marcus Armstrong finished outside the points in 13th. Armstrong had run with the top 10 the majority of the race but was outdone by the strategy of competitors towards the end of the event, dropping several places as a result.
The podium for Lawson, however, concludes a successful but busy weekend for the 20-year-old, with a drama-free F1 practice session preceding his sprint victory the following day, with todays podium all but rounding out a successful weekend.
