Liam Lawson has won the Formula 2 Sprint Race at the Circuit Paul Ricard after having overtaken Jehan Daruvala in the closing stages.
Polesitter Jehan Daruvala had a strong start and remained in the lead. Marcus Armstrong overtook Liam Lawson for P2.
After a difficult opening sequence, Lawson managed to stay right behind Armstrong and retook the position on lap 4. Meanwhile, Daruvala was more than 2 seconds ahead.
Richard Verschoor was one of the three drivers that stalled at the start of the formation lap. The Trident driver was pushed to the pit lane. However, he was not able to get going. In the end, he managed to leave the pits, but was 4 laps down.
Lawson closed the gap to Daruvala. Half a second separated them by lap 9. At the same moment, Enzo Fittipaldi spun while trying to overtake Roberto Merhi. Shortly after, Amaury Cordeel hit the stranding Charouz Racing System car. Both Fittipaldi and Cordeel retired from the race and the Safety Car was deployed.
The race was restarted with 9 laps to go. There were no changes in the top 3. Behind them Felipe Drugovich was putting pressure on Theo Pourchaire.
The battle between Daruvala and Lawson continued. The Carlin driver got to the lead on lap 16. The PREMA Racing driver was under pressure from Armstrong and Pourchaire straightaway. Lawson reported car damage.
Armstrong tried to overtake Daruvala for P2, but the attempt was not successful. The drivers had a collision, but Daruvala stayed in 2nd place, while Armstrong lost momentum and had to defend from Pourchaire. The ART GP driver got ahead, but he was under investigation for forcing the Hitech GP driver off the track.
Armstrong dropped down to P6 as a result. However, he fell off the top 8 after having to go off the track in the battle with his teammate Juri Vips.
Lawson went on to win the race. Daruvala crossed the finish line in P2, his sixth podium of the season. Pourchaire completed the top 3.
The top 10 of the Formula 2 Sprint Race in France:
Pos. | Driver | Team | Gap |
1 | Liam Lawson | Carlin | Winner |
2 | Jehan Daruvala | PREMA Racing | +3.2 |
3 | Theo Pourchaire | ART GP | +4.5 |
4 | Felipe Drugovich | MP Motorsport | +4.8 |
5 | Jack Doohan | Virtuosi Racing | +5.7 |
6 | Juri Vips | Hitech GP | +7.0 |
7 | Frederik Vesti | ART GP | +7.9 |
8 | Ayumu Iwasa | DAMS | +8.2 |
9 | Marcus Armstrong | Hitech GP | +9.4 |
10 | Logan Sargeant | Carlin | +9.6 |
