Liam Lawson survived a nervous moment off the line and a late Safety Car to drive off into the distance and snatch a dominant victory in the Spa-Francorchamps Sprint Race. Seizing an opportunity as the lights went out, the Carlin driver narrowly avoided disaster to immediately leap his way up from fifth to first on the opening lap and never looked back.
“I had a really good start from fifth and was in second by Turn 1 – Jehan (Daruvala) didn’t start so it was a free place there,” commented Lawson. “The first couple of laps, the car was really hooked up, managed to get by Ralph (Boschung) and then honestly throughout the whole race, it was just really, really steady and nice.
“Massive thanks to Carlin, the car was really good and obviously all positives to take into the big one tomorrow.”
Daruvala’s absence left the door wide open for someone to slip through the gap in the P2 slot and fifth-placed Lawson exuded confidence off the line. Dipping a toe into the grass to avoid a slow starting Pourchaire, the New Zealander immediately leapt up into second and put the pressure on Boschung, who nailed a textbook getaway to hold on to the lead.
Unfortunately for the Swiss driver, the Belgian circuit isn’t short of overtaking opportunities. All over the back of the race leader, the Red Bull liveried Carlin sailed up into P1 along the Kemmel Straight. He wasn’t the only one taking advantage of the slipstream, as Pourchaire, Verschoor and Doohan went three wide, but it was the Trident and Virtuosi who managed to get the better of the black and white ART car and left Pourchaire with his title rival sitting large in his mirrors.
The fight out front swiftly turned into a two-horse race with Verschoor dropping off the back of Lawson and Boschung, who clung on to stay within the race leader’s DRS. Not content to be outside the podium positions, Doohan decided enough was enough and breezed past Verschoor up into P3.
Jack Doohan left it right to the last-second to claim his fifth podium of his rookie campaign in second, while Ralph Boschung valiantly clung on to bring home third on his return from injury. Yet it was Championship leader Felipe Drugovich who set the track alight with four laps to go, opting to box for softs under the Safety Car and carving his way through from P12 to P4.
Richard Verschoor’s race of survival was rewarded with fifth, as Théo Pourchaire came home sixth. Marcus Armstrong made plenty of moves stick early on to finish seventh, having started 12th, as David Beckmann, Ayumu Iwasa and Dennis Hauger rounded out the top 10.
Despite starting behind him on the grid, Felipe Drugovich has slightly extended his lead in the Drivers’ Championship to 25 points over Théo Pourchaire. Logan Sargeant and Enzo Fittipaldi remain third and fourth on 119 and 100 points respectively, but victory has promoted Liam Lawson to fifth and only one point behind the Charouz Racing System driver.
There’s no change at the top of the Teams’ Standings as ART Grand Prix continue to hold firm in first on 253 points, with Carlin 35 points adrift in second. MP Motorsport are third on 213, ahead of Hitech Grand Prix and PREMA Racing.
Felipe Drugovich will be looking to strengthen his hold at the top of the title standings even further when he lines up on pole for Sunday’s Feature Race as the lights go out at 10:20 local time. Lawson will start sixth.
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