Liam Lawson has climbed up to fifth overall in the FIA Formula 2 Championship after a solid points haul in Le Castellet, France. Having taken his second win of the season in Saturday’s Sprint Race, the Kiwi driver finished sixth in Sunday’s Feature Race moving him up the leaderboard from tenth to fifth.
“Reasonably happy with the weekend in general,” commented Lawson. “Obviously yesterday (Sprint Race) was really really nice, the car was very good and we scored some good points. Straightaway from the start, I felt at least equal with the guys in front if not a bit faster. Overall, over the whole lap, I think it (the car) was consistently good. So big thanks to Carlin, they did a great job.”
“I think we knew it was going to be a little bit tough starting from ninth today but we had good speed. Lacked a little bit on the Primes unfortunately, something to look into for next week but in general a good weekend. We know we’ve got to be higher up in Qualifying, that is what made today a bit difficult.”
It was the opposite weekend at the Circuit Paul Richard for fellow Kiwi Marcus Armstrong who has slipped to tenth overall. Having started from third in the Sprint Race, Armstrong finished ninth. Having already dropped from eighth to 11th in the Feature Race, the Hitech Grand Prix driver found himself being sent into a spin and retirement after contact with Van Amersfoort Racing’s David Beckmann at Turn 13.
Ayumu Iwasa took victory in the Feature Race executing a perfect overtake on the opening lap to pull ahead of his rivals – reaching the chequered flag a comfortable 8.6s seconds clear. Théo Pourchaire charged his way through from fifth to second as Frederik Vesti converted third on the grid to the third podium of his rookie campaign.
A late charge from Felipe Drugovich on the soft tyres saw him secure another strong result in fourth. A mistake by Jack Doohan spelt an end to his podium chances as he was forced to settle for fifth. Sprint Race winner Liam Lawson continued to breathe life back into his 2022 campaign in sixth, ahead of Jehan Daruvala.
For the eighth consecutive round, Felipe Drugovich continues to cling on to the top spot in the Drivers’ Championship, with his advantage slightly reduced to 39-points. Théo Pourchaire regains second in the standings courtesy of Logan Sargeant’s early retirement. Jehan Daruvala remains fourth, as Liam Lawson’s revival saw him become one of the biggest climbers of the weekend by breaking back into the top five.
It’s all change at the top of the Teams’ Championship, as ART Grand Prix hop up two places to take the lead, 10 points clear of MP Motorsport. Carlin drop down to third but are firmly ahead of PREMA Racing on 197 points to 161. Hitech Grand Prix round out the top five on 136 points.
Formula 2’s all-important back-to-back rounds before the summer break continue, as the field head to Budapest for the 10th round of their 2022 campaigns from July 22-24.
Overall Points (Top 5)
1/ Felipe Drugovich 173
2/ Theo Pourchaire 134
3/ Logan Sargeant 116
4/ Jehan Daruvala 94
5/ Liam Lawson 79
10/ Marcus Armstrong 69
Feature Race Results
1/ Ayumu Iwasa DAMS
2/ Theo Pourchaire ART Grand Prix
3/ Frederik Vesti ART Grand Prix
4/ Felipe Drugovich MP Motorsport
5/ Jack Doohan UNI-Virtuosi
6/ Liam Lawson Carlin
7/ Jehan Daruvala Prema Powerteam
8/ Clement Novalak MP Motorsport
9/ Roy Nissany DAMS
10/ Enzo Fittipaldi Charouz Racing System
11/ Calan Williams Trident
12/ Jüri Vips HitechGP
13/ Olli Caldwell Campos Racing
14/ David Beckmann Van Amersfoort Racing
15/ Amaury Cordeel Van Amersfoort Racing
16/ Dennis Hauger Prema Powerteam
17/ Richard Verschoor Trident
Cem Bolukbasi Charouz Racing System
Logan Sargeant Carlin
Roberto Merhi Campos Racing
Marcus Armstrong HitechGP
Marino Sato UNI-Virtuosi
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