Felipe Drugovich took absolute control of the race at the start after taking advantage of the hole left by Calen Williams. It was the Brazilian's second victory in 2022
After Formula 1 set its starting grid, it was Formula 2's turn to take advantage of the rubber all over the Barcelona track this Saturday (21) to contest the sprint race of the weekend. The story of the race began to change even before the start, when pole-position Calen Williams was stranded when it was time to go out for the introductory lap. With no pole position at the start, Felipe Drugovich hit the frontrunner's wallet and took the lead, which he would not lose again.
The problem with Williams left the position of honor vacant and Jake Hughes, coming from second place, was the de facto pole. Théo Pourchaire came in what was the de facto second position, but coming out from facing the wind, while Felipe Drugovich had a more similar position: behind Hughes, as it would be. The Brazilian, however, jumped impressively and swallowed both rivals.
It is important to remember that Drugovich was tenth in the classification, which would give him the pole position for this sprint race. A punishment for blocking Pourchaire, however, ended up pushing the #11 to fourth position. In meters, the punishment was basically taken out of orbit.
Ayumu Iwasa and Logan Sargeant, who also started very well, finished with the other two podium spots. Jehan Daruvala, Théo Pourchaire, Jack Doohan, Frederik Vesti, and Enzo Fittipaldi completed the group of eight that scored. Enzo still had to fight until the end to contain the attacks of Liam Lawson and Marcus Armstrong, who completed the top-10.
GRANDE PRÊMIO has Eric Calduch on location to cover the action of the category at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya and follows everythingLIVE and in REAL TIME. On Sunday, the start of F1 is scheduled for 10 AM [Brasilia, GMT-3]. Before that, however, F2 starts at 6:35 AM.
Check out how the race went:
The drama of the Formula 2 race started even before the start. With 21 drivers on the grid - without Ralph Boschung, who was vetoed by doctors due to neck pain caused by an accident in the Imola round - the pole position sprint car driver, Calen Williams, had problems. When it came time to go out for the introductory lap, he came to a standstill. Unable to move as the train of cars passed by, he had to start from the pit-lane. The race was left with no one in pole-position.
Jake Hughes was essentially first, but Théo Pourchaire, in third, was also starting with his face to the wind. But the one who made the best of the situation was neither of them: it was Felipe Drugovich. The MP driver, who originally would have been the pole position holder, but was punished for blocking Pourchaire at the end of qualifying, started in a spectacular way and jumped to the front.
Alongside him, Ayumu Iwasa and Logan Sargeant left the two pole sitters behind. Hughes was fourth, but Pourchaire's start was disastrous and dropped the Frenchman to seventh, behind Jehan Daruvala and Jüri Vips. Jack Doohan, Frederik Vesti and Enzo Fittipaldi rounded out the top-10.
In two of the 26 laps, Drugovich had already opened more than 1sec and started to really control the action, but the advantage would soon be cancelled out. The reason was Vips, who was attacking Daruvala for sixth place when he opened too much at turn one to try to dive, spun, and stopped on the gravel. Safety-car and race over for the young Red Bull Academy driver. The safety car also caused problems for Amaury Cordeel, who overtook during the stoppage and ended up with a 10s stop & go to comply.
After four laps of safety-car, a restart was allowed in the 10th turn. Drugovich was good again and drove without risks to keep the lead and start to open: at the end of the next lap, he was 1s5 ahead of Iwasa. Hughes remained fourth, but was closing in on Sargeant for third place.
If there was no fight for victory in Barcelona, the track duels were alive. Roy Nissany was trying to find a line, whatever it might be, to overtake Marino Sato for 18th place, but could not find it. A little ahead, Olli Caldwell was diving to take 15th place from Cem Bölükbaşı. The race was not one of the most exciting, however.
If at one point post-start it looked like Hughes would take third place from Sargeant, the tire was running out as the race progressed. On lap 19 he was overtaken by Daruvala, and then came Pourchaire and Doohan. The driver could no longer keep the car on track and be fast at the same time - he would finish out of the top eight and out of the points.
Drugovich was just over 2s ahead of Iwasa: he only needed to get to the end of the race to win. Meanwhile, Williams, after starting from the pit-lane, saw what was a chance of victory turn into 16th place.
The race was nearing its end with the points positions almost all set. Drugovich was going for the win and was joined on the podium by Iwasa and Sargeant, while Daruvala, Pourchaire, Doohan and Vesti were next in line. The final points position for this race was up for grabs until the very end. Fittipaldi could hold off the advances of Liam Lawson and Marcus Armstrong to score. And that was the end. Drugovich's second victory in 2022.
F2 2022, Spanish GP, Barcelona, Sprint Race, Final Result: