After already taking two pole positions and one podium in the 2022 FIA Formula 2 championship, Jack Doohan has finally found himself on the top step of the podium following a brilliant display on the wet but slowly drying tarmac of Silverstone Circuit.
The Australian driver was followed to the finish line by Ayumu Iwasa who jumped from sixth on the grid to second place by the time the chequered flag fell. The Red Bull junior was closing in on the Alpine junior and managed to get into within a second but ran out of laps before he could make a move.
Charouz Racing System’s Enzo Fittipaldi took the final step on the podium for his second of the season, followed by championship rivals Théo Pourchaire and current leader, Felipe Drugovich respectively.
Due to the wet conditions on the track, the drivers took two formation laps around the 5.891km long track behind the safety car before they got going with a rolling start.
With the rain subsiding and the whole grid on the wet-compound tyres, it wasn’t long before reports of a drying track came in from the drivers. Doohan was one of the drivers who got himself into a rhythm by finding the wet patches on the track to soothe the overheating tyres.
PREMA Racing’s Jehan Daruvala was on the opposite end of the spectrum. Starting from reverse grid pole, the Indian driver complained about the graining on his red hot rear tyres and dropped down the order, first to Fittipaldi and then to Doohan.
Credit: Formula Motorsport Limited
Fittipaldi’s stint in the lead was cut short after he went wide at the Village section in the first sector, offering up a free track for Doohan to take up. Once he took the lead, the young Australian didn’t look back.
Behind the leading cars, Iwasa was on a charge. The Japanese driver dispatched of Jüri Vips for fourth place in a brilliant move around the outside of the Luffield complex, and set his sights on the struggling Daruvala ahead of him.
The Indian driver didn’t offer up much defence, with Iwasa getting past him at Vale at the end of that same lap.
Not quite happy with third place, Iwasa caught up to the back of Fittipaldi’s Charouz by the end of lap eight. By sending the Brazilian wide on the entry into Copse, Iwasa easily took second place before the Maggots/Becketts complex and looked ahead to Doohan who has already built up a sizeable lead.
With Doohan comfortably leading, Iwasa started to pump in the fastest laps towards the latter stages of the Grand Prix. The Alpine junior soaked up the pressure and led the DAMS’ to the line by just under a second.
Frederik Vesti settled for sixth place while Sunday’s Feature Race pole-sitter Logan Sargeant came home in seventh. Daruvala took the final points-paying position in eighth ahead of Marcus Armstrong and Richard Verschoor who rounded out the top ten, respectively.
POS | NO. | NAME | NAT | TEAM | TIME |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 3 | Jack Doohan | AUS | Virtuosi Racing | 40:42.488 |
2 | 17 | Ayumu Iwasa | JPN | DAMS | +0.932 |
3 | 22 | Enzo Fittipaldi | BRA | Charouz Racing System | +16.722 |
4 | 10 | Théo Pourchaire | FRA | ART Grand Prix | +17.888 |
5 | 11 | Felipe Drugovich | BRA | MP Motorsport | +21.717 |
6 | 9 | Frederik Vesti | DNK | ART Grand Prix | +26.830 |
7 | 6 | Logan Sargeant | USA | Carlin | +28.284 |
8 | 2 | Jehan Daruvala | IND | PREMA Racing | +36.291 |
9 | 7 | Marcus Armstrong | NZL | Hitech Grand Prix | +38.699 |
10 | 20 | Richard Verschoor | NLD | Trident | +43.770 |
11 | 24 | Jake Hughes | GBR | Van Amersfoort Racing | +44.611 |
12 | 8 | Jüri Vips | EST | Hitech Grand Prix | +48.113 |
13 | 12 | Clément Novalak | FRA | MP Motorsport | +49.448 |
14 | 16 | Roy Nissany | ISR | DAMS | +54.509 |
15 | 1 | Dennis Hauger | NOR | PREMA Racing | +55.235 |
16 | 25 | David Beckmann | GER | Van Amersfoort Racing | +58.703 |
17 | 21 | Calan Williams | AUS | Trident | +66.077 |
18 | 14 | Olli Caldwell | GBR | Campos Racing | +66.411 |
19 | 23 | Cem Bölükbasi | TUR | Charouz Racing System | +81.711 |
20 | 5 | Liam Lawson | GBR | Carlin | +95.025 |
21 | 4 | Marino Sato | JPN | Virtuosi Racing | DNF |
22 | 15 | Ralph Boschung | CHE | Campos Racing | DNS |