Liam Lawson has won in commanding fashion at the F2 Sprint Race in France. It was a good result for Lawson, who started second on the grid for the event and needed to regain positions on track following a slow start. This is the first win for the Red Bull Junior driver since the opening round in Jeddah.
Fortunes were different for Marcus Armstrong, after battles in the closing stages of the race saw him pushed wide twice and losing several places as a result. Armstrong had started third for the event, and looked set for a podium until two separate incidents saw him tumble down the order to finish ninth.
Penalties accrued after the race for his role in these incidents saw him lose three further positions to finish 12th in race standings.
Lawson started from the front row in the sprint, with Armstrong one spot behind in third after they qualified ninth and eighth fastest respectively for tomorrows feature race. The reverse grid format for the sprint of the top 10 qualifier’s for the feature benefitted both Kiwi drivers by giving them good starting positions for the event.
It was a poor start for Lawson, who was pipped off the line and quickly passed by Armstrong. He managed to hold onto third at Turn 1, seeing off a challenge from championship leader Felipe Drugovich. The running order after the opening lap saw Armstrong in second and Lawson in third, both trailing the Indian driver Jehan Daruvala.
Some great battling between the two New Zealand drivers over Lap’s 3 and 4 saw Lawson finally take back his spot in second on the road, with DRS assisting in his overtake at the end of the second straight. Daruvala pulled away up front because of the battles behind, having created a 2.2 second lead over Lawson by Lap 4.
The Carlin of Lawson quickly went about catching the race leader and had got within half a second of him before a safety car brought the field together on Lap 9 following an incident between Enzo Fittipaldi and Roberto Merhi.
The restart saw the leaders all maintain their positions for the next few laps until DRS was enabled again, which assisted him in taking the lead on Lap 16.
Armstrong challenged Daruvala for second over the closing stages of the race, with a move on Lap 19 going wrong and seeing Theo Pourchaire take his spot on the podium and pushing the Kiwi wide, resulting in a loss of several positions.
Juri Vips gave his teammate, Armstrong, a similar treatment on the penultimate lap, pushing him wide and forcing him off wide on the final corner, seeing Armstrong drop several more places to sit ninth.
Pourchaire and Vips both received penalties post-race, as did Armstrong, which saw the final podium spot being awarded to Drugovich, albeit after the podium ceremony.
