Liam Lawson has come away from the 2022 FIA Formula 2 Championship round at the Hungaroring frustrated with what could have been. Having finished seventh in the Feature race, after starting from 11th, the Kiwi had the pace but not the points and slips down to eighth overall.
“A little bit frustrating to come away from the weekend with so few points considering the pace in both races was very very strong,” commented Lawson.
“Obviously the damage was done in Qualifying. That’s the focus for the future. That was my bad, to not put the car further up.”
“Then in the races I think we maximised the strategy that we were on. So moved up as far as we could today, and yesterday as well.”
Théo Pourchaire threw down the gauntlet to long-time Championship leader Felipe Drugovich by snatching victory in the Budapest Feature Race. Enzo Fittipaldi risked it all on the overcut but made it work to bring home back-to-back podiums this weekend. An average start for pole-sitter Ayumu Iwasa undid his chance to take victory but the DAMS driver performed tyre miracles to complete the podium.
Despite starting from the front row, Marcus Armstrong finished one spot ahead of Lawson in sixth and now sits 11th in the points standings.
Lawson opted to start on the medium Pirelli tyres before switching to the soft compound for a shorter stint at the end. Lawson admitted that the team had gone down that road in the hopes of a downpour arriving late on in the race and avoiding having to make a second stop for wets. Having to nurse his tyres longer than originally planned when the rain never arrived compromised his potential best result.
“The car was really really good on tyres, compared to others and I found a sweet spot as well and could keep it in the window so the package is there to have a great weekend, we just need to put it all together, especially from my side in Quali.”
Lawson currently sits in eighth position in the Drivers’ Championship on 90 points, only 10 points adrift of Enzo Fittipaldi who is now fourth in the standings.
With just two race victories to his name all season, less than he will have envisaged at the beginning of the campaign, Lawson is hopeful that the triple header and Abu Dhabi goes much better than recent rounds.
Felipe Drugovich makes it seven consecutive rounds at the top of the Drivers’ Championship on 180 points. However, it’s Théo Pourchaire who seems to have the momentum, cutting the Brazilian driver’s advantage down to 21 points with four weekends remaining. Logan Sargeant’s lack of big points in Budapest sees him fall off the leading pair on 119. Enzo Fittipaldi moves up three places to fourth and demotes Jehan Daruvala to fifth.
See also: Lawson sixth, Armstrong seventh in F2 Sprint Race
Overall Points (Top 11)
1/ F. Drugovich 180
2/ T. Pourchaire 159
3/ L. Sargeant 119
4/ E. Fittipaldi 100
5/ J. Daruvala 94
6/ F. Vesti 91
7/ A. Iwasa 90
8/ L. Lawson 88
9/ J. Doohan 88
10/ J. Vips 85
11/ M. Armstrong 79
Feature Race Results
1/ Theo Pourchaire ART Grand Prix
2/ Enzo Fittipaldi Charouz Racing System
3/ Ayumu Iwasa DAMS
4/ Frederik Vesti ART Grand Prix
5/ Jüri Vips HitechGP
6/ Marcus Armstrong HitechGP
7/ Liam Lawson Carlin
8/ Richard Verschoor Trident
9/ Felipe Drugovich MP Motorsport
10/ Logan Sargeant Carlin
11/ Jehan Daruvala Prema Powerteam
12/ Clement Novalak MP Motorsport
13/ Cem Bolukbasi Charouz Racing System
14/ David Beckmann Van Amersfoort Racing
15/ Marino Sato UNI-Virtuosi
16/ Roy Nissany DAMS
17/ Calan Williams Trident
18/ Amaury Cordeel Van Amersfoort Racing
19/ Dennis Hauger Prema Powerteam
20/ Olli Caldwell Campos Racing
21/ Roberto Merhi Campos Racing
22/ Jack Doohan UNI-Virtuosi
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