Trident’s Richard Verschoor won the opening race of the 2022 FIA Formula 2 season with a dominant drive in Saturday’s Sprint Race, with the win becoming Trident’s first in the modern Formula 2 era.
PREMA Racing’s Jehan Daruvala and Carlin’s Liam Lawson completed the podium in a thrilling race which saw battles throughout the field from start to finish.
The pole-sitter, Felipe Drugovich had a nightmare start, being swallowed by the field and eventually dropping down to as low as seventh on the opening lap. Verschoor started alongside him on the grid and entered the lead where he stayed for the entirety of the race.
Campos Racing’s Ralph Boschung was hot on the Dutch drivers heels, sticking close to him until he ran into some tyre troubles. Daruvala made the most of the Swiss drivers troubles, overtaking him with five laps to go before setting his sights on the leader.
Lawson spent most of the race with Drugovich on his gearbox with the Brazilian trying everything he could to get past the Carlin driver in the DRS zones.
The Kiwi’s defence was impenetrable, holding onto the position before taking advantage of Boschung’s troubles to take the final podium position.
The race saw four retirements with Hitech Grand Prix’s Marcus Armstrong being the first on lap three. He was tapped and span around by Van Amersfoort Racing’s Jake Hughes at turn eight and couldn’t keep the car running.
The Brit was handed a ten second penalty but also found himself retiring later on due to contact with MP Motorsport’s Clément Novalak at turn one who was handed a ten second penalty for the incident.
ART Grand Prix’s Théo Pourchaire got off to a great start, making his way up to fifth place by the end of lap one from ninth on the grid. Unfortunately, his race was cut short due to an oil leak which sprang after the first Safety Car ended on lap five.
Ayumu Iwasa had a superb race after starting from the back of the grid due to an early retirement in Friday’s Qualifying session. The DAMS driver made up fourteen positions over the twenty-three lap race to finish in eighth position in his F2 debut.
After a thrilling season opener, it is onto Sunday’s Feature Race for the next bit of Formula 2 action. Virtuosi Racing’s Jack Doohan is on pole position as he looks to grab the most amount of points available in a race for this year’s format.
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | TEAM | TIME |
| 1 | 20 | Richard Verschoor | NLD | Trident | 43:34.983 |
| 2 | 2 | Jehan Daruvala | IND | PREMA Racing | +1.853 |
| 3 | 5 | Liam Lawson | NZL | Carlin | +4.975 |
| 4 | 15 | Ralph Boschung | CHE | Campos Racing | +6.981 |
| 5 | 11 | Felipe Drugovich | BRA | MP Motorsport | +8.801 |
| 6 | 6 | Logan Sargeant | USA | Carlin | +9.263 |
| 7 | 8 | Jüri Vips | EST | Hitech Grand Prix | +13.350 |
| 8 | 17 | Ayumu Iwasa | JPN | DAMS | +15.749 |
| 9 | 1 | Dennis Hauger | NOR | PREMA Racing | +17.665 |
| 10 | 3 | Jack Doohan | AUS | Virtuosi Racing | +21.472 |
| 11 | 22 | Enzo Fittipaldi | BRA | Charouz Racing System | +22.902 |
| 12 | 16 | Roy Nissany | ISR | DAMS | +26.574 |
| 13 | 9 | Frederick Vesti | DNK | ART Grand Prix | +27.490 |
| 14 | 23 | Cem Bölükbasi | TUR | Charouz Racing System | +31.921 |
| 15 | 21 | Calan Williams | AUS | Trident | +49.959 |
| 16 | 4 | Marino Sato | JPN | Virtuosi Racing | +50.640 |
| 17 | 25 | Amaury Cordeel | BEL | Van Amersfoort Racing | +52.671 |
| 18 | 12 | Clément Novalak | FRA | MP Motorsport | +78.205 |
| 19 | 14 | Olli Caldwell | GBR | Campos Racing | RET |
| 20 | 24 | Jake Hughes | GBR | Van Amersfoort Racing | RET |
| 21 | 10 | Théo Pourchaire | FRA | ART Grand Prix | RET |
| 22 | 7 | Marcus Armstrong | NZL | Hitech Grand Prix | RET |