Liam Lawson has won his third Sprint Race of the 2022 FIA Formula 2 season after starting from fifth on the grid at Circuit de Spa–Francorchamps.
The Red Bull Reserve Driver was joined on the podium by Jack Doohan and Ralph Boschung who battled for the second spot on the podium in the late stages of the race.
Felipe Drugovich and Richard Verschoor rounded out the top five respectively, with Théo Pourchaire in sixth and Marcus Armstrong in seventh.
David Beckmann doubled his point-tally for the season as he clinched the final points paying position of the race in eighth place.
As the five lights went out, Lawson made a hugely committed move and took to the grass to take second place at turn one behind pole-sitter Boschung who got away cleanly.
It didn’t take the Kiwi driver long to take the lead of the race with him making use of the slip stream on the second lap down the long Kemmel Straight to blast past the Campos Racing driver.
Verschoor, Doohan and Pourchaire rounded out the top five as the rest of the grid settled into their track positions.
Credit: Formula Motorsport Limited
It wasn’t long before the order was shaken up again with Doohan making use of the added DRS to take third place away from Verschoor into Les Combes on lap six.
The two championship rivals of Drugovich and Pourchaire were hot onto the gearbox of the Trident ahead of them while Lawson stretched out a five second lead on Boschung.
That lead was instantly evaporated after his Carlin team-mate Logan Sargeant lost the back end whilst sending it around Pouhon and ended up in the barriers which resulted in a Safety Car.
Some drivers took the opportunity of a free pit-stop under the Safety Car to bolt on some fresh tyres for the remaining laps, including Drugovich who dropped from sixth place to twelfth on track.
The SC limped back into the pits for four laps of green flag racing and Lawson led them away in a calm and collected restart.
The championship leader, Drugovich, put in a championship winning performance in those final four laps, climbing all the way up to fourth position on the soft tyres. Four laps, eight positions gained.
That wasn’t the only action in the final few laps, with Doohan snatching second place from Boschung on the final lap of the race after going around the outside at Les Combes.
Sunday’s Feature race will see Drugovich line up on pole against his compatriot Enzo Fittipaldi in second place with Logan Sargeant starting from third.
| POS | NO. | NAME | NAT | TEAM | TIME (18 Laps) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Liam Lawson | NZL | Carlin | 40:22.343 |
| 2 | 3 | Jack Doohan | AUS | Virtuosi Racing | +3.868 |
| 3 | 15 | Ralph Boschung | CHE | Campos Racing | +5.718 |
| 4 | 11 | Felipe Drugovich | BRA | MP Motorsport | +6.360 |
| 5 | 20 | Richard Verschoor | NLD | Trident | +8.407 |
| 6 | 10 | Théo Pourchaire | FRA | ART Grand Prix | +8.686 |
| 7 | 7 | Marcus Armstrong | NZL | Hitech Grand Prix | +9.422 |
| 8 | 24 | David Beckmann | GER | Van Amersfoort Racing | +10.065 |
| 9 | 17 | Ayumu Iwasa | JPN | DAMS | +10.833 |
| 10 | 1 | Dennis Hauger | NOR | PREMA Racing | +11.134 |
| 11 | 16 | Roy Nissany | ISR | DAMS | +11.615 |
| 12 | 4 | Marino Sato | JPN | Virtuosi Racing | +14.089 |
| 13 | 22 | Enzo Fittipaldi | BRA | Charouz Racing System | +15.801 |
| 14 | 8 | Jüri Vips | EST | Hitech Grand Prix | +16.393 |
| 15 | 9 | Frederik Vesti | DNK | ART Grand Prix | +16.767 |
| 16 | 21 | Calan Williams | AUS | Trident | +17.669 |
| 17 | 12 | Clément Novalak | FRA | MP Motorsport | +18.553 |
| 18 | 25 | Amaury Cordeel | BEL | Van Amersfoort Racing | +18.594 |
| 19 | 23 | Tatiana Calderon | COL | Charouz Racing System | +19.044 |
| 20 | 14 | Lirim Zendeli | GER | Campos Racing | +23.207 |
| 21 | 6 | Logan Sargeant | USA | Carlin | DNF |
| 22 | 2 | Jehan Daruvala | IND | PREMA Racing | DNS |