The unpredictability of the Baku street circuit in Azerbaijan has seen Liam Lawson climb from 9th on the grid onto the podium in the FIA Formula 2 Championship Sprint Race with fellow Kiwi Marcus Armstrong fourth. While Jehan Daruvala led for most of the race, he was forced to settle for second after three safety cars in the second half of the race wiped away his advantage when Frederik Vesti snatched the lead and race victory.
“It was a really good race for us,” commented Lawson. “The start was quite bad, so after the stall and Monaco, I guess I was more nervous than normal to get the first one out of the way. The start itself wasn’t great, but I had a good first lap. Then after overtaking Jake a couple of laps later, we were sitting P7.
“Then the Safety Cars started, and we basically kept restarting. There was a restart where I was able to get by Felipe, and then he did me straight back into the next corner.
“Then, on one of the last restarts, I just had doorways open up for me over the lap, and I kept luckily putting my car in the right place at the right position, and managed to go from seventh to third in that one lap. It was one of the most hectic laps I’ve ever had in the race car. But obviously it made the result today. The car was fast all race, and we know the things we need to work on to improve for tomorrow when we are starting off the front row.
Marcus Armstrong brought his Hitech Grand Prix car home in fourth, whilst Felipe Drugovich kept his nose clean to bring home a solid haul of points in fifth. Carlin’s Logan Sargeant dropped down to sixth in the final laps after looking on course for a second F2 podium. Théo Pourchaire and Ayumu Iwasa were two of the biggest movers as a they rounded out the points scorers.
Staying out of trouble in the Sprint Race has allowed Felipe Drugovich to extend his lead at the top of the Drivers’ Championship. The MP Motorsport driver’s tally of 117 points puts him 34 clear of his nearest rival Théo Pourchaire. Jehan Daruvala extends his hold on third, with the biggest mover being Frederik Vesti, who has climbed four places.
In the Teams’ Championship, ART Grand Prix continue to close the gap to MP Motorsport. The French team currently sit second on 118 points to their rivals’ 139. Hitech Grand Prix remain third on 106, ahead of PREMA Racing on 91.
Vips will be hoping his luck turns around in Sunday’s Feature Race. He’ll be lining up on pole when lights go out at 11:05 local time.
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