Lawson swallows Daruvala at the end and wins F2 sprint race in France. Drugovich is 4th

If Formula 1 held the qualifying for the French GP on Saturday morning (23), the races are already multiplying on the Paul Ricard track. The W Series competed its race earlier, but Formula 2 arrived already in the Brazilian afternoon, almost in the French night, for the sprint race. Despite the schedule, the heat persisted and that's how, under the sun, Liam Lawson overtook Jehan Daruvala near the end and went on to win.

The Red Bull affiliate lost second place to Marcus Armstrong at the start, but quickly recovered. He then got closer and closer and was eventually helped by a safety car, called out after Enzo Fittipaldi and Roberto Merhi crashed. Shortly after the restart, he dived and overtook in one go to win his second of the season - his first since Saudi Arabia.

Lawson got the better of Lawson and Daruvala was still able to hold on to second place, which came under threat when Marcus Armstrong came close. The two even touched, something that started Armstrong's absurd fall in the last three laps. Even with badly worn tires, Jehan was still second. Théo Pourchaire finished third, but was investigated for his touch with Armstrong. The Frenchman passed Logan Sargeant again and took the F2 second place.

Felipe Drugovich was fourth, something that has been enough to keep the F2 lead with full advantage. Sargeant didn't even score, while Pourchaire scored only one point more. Felipe goes into Sunday's race with a 39-point lead.

Jack Doohan was fifth and was joined in the points by Jüri Vips, Frederik Vesti, and Ayumu Iwasa. Armstrong and Sargeant, with no points, rounded out the top-10.

Fittipaldi was stuck on the grid when the introductory lap was allowed and had to start from the pit-lane. He had already made four overtaking passes against those who started on the track and was looking for 15th position when he split the corner with Merhi and ended up crashing and being forced to retire. On Sunday, Sargeant is the pole position starter for the main race.

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Check out how the race went:

Unrefreshed from the heat, the asphalt temperature was still approaching 50°C as Formula 2 prepared to start, just under an hour after Formula 1 qualifying. Even in a short shot race like the sprint, controlling tire wear was a huge challenge for all drivers and teams on the grid.

According to the category's inverted grid system, it is the 10th place in the standings that takes pole position in the sprint race. In this case, Jehan Daruvala. The pole position for the main race, Logan Sargeant, is tenth. In between are Liam Lawson, Marcus Armstrong, Jüri Vips, Felipe Drugovich, Théo Pourchaire, Jack Doohan, Frederik Vesti, and Ayumu Iwasa.

The problems, however, began even before the start. Three cars didn't leave for the grid formation lap, including 14th place Enzo Fittipaldi. Like him, Richard Verschoor and Clément Novalak, Felipe Drugovich's teammate in the MP, also got stuck. The race for all three was largely compromised. Verschoor would be 11th, while Novalak was 16th. Now they had to start from the pit-lane.

Daruvala started well and got away in first place, while Armstrong pushed Lawson out of the way and took second place. Drugovich also started boldly, passed Vips and attacked Lawson. Unable to pass, he ended up on the outside of the track and dropped off the pace. Lawson defended well and Pourchaire still managed to overtake him. Doohan took sixth place from Vips, who had a very bad start. Vesti, Sargeant, and Iwasa rounded out the top-10.

Despite starting from the pit-lane, Fittipaldi started with a strong pace and was already 18th on the second lap: Olli Caldwell and Calan Williams were the victims. His teammate at Charouz, Cem Bölükbasi, was another to climb sharply and had gone from 21st to 13th.

Daruvala was able to get some breathing space and opened up 1s, aided also by the fact that Lawson was ready to attack Armstrong. And so it was, right at the end of the third lap. Lawson went up, put half a car in front, but Armstrong defended well and held on. At the next attempt, however, there was no escape: Lawson took second place. Behind them, Pourchaire was setting a strong pace, had the best lap of the beginning of the race, and was closing in.

After stopping at the start, Verschoor officially dropped out of the race. The battle for positions at the front came to a halt as the gap narrowed. Daruvala opened up a gap of 1s6 with the fight behind him, but Lawson was closing in, and Pourchaire was closing in on Armstrong. Drugovich was also gaining pace.

Before the battles for position could begin, Fittipaldi was already 16th and looking for more space, when he dived on Roberto Merhi. The Brazilian driver touched the zebra, spun, and hit the Spanish driver's car, who was lucky not to leave the race together. Fittipaldi complained about Merhi, but Saturday was over for him anyway. In reality, the feeling was that Merhi had left a reasonable amount of space. Amaury Cordeel came up behind and hit the Brazilian's car.

With the safety-car called to take Charouz' car off the track, already in the ninth of 22 laps, it was time to get ready for the final sequence. The green flag would come out with ten laps to go: Daruvala, Lawson, Armstrong, Pourchaire, Drugovich, Doohan, Vips, Vesti, Sargeant and Iwasa were the members of the top-10 - although the top ten had rearranged themselves throughout the race, no one dropped down to 11th.

Again, Daruvala held the lead. Drugovich went after Pourchaire, his great rival in the fight for the championship. Théo locked tires and fought to hold on, but, at least initially, maintained the fourth place. Away from there, Novalak was beautifully overtaking Williams for 15th place. Roy Nissany also appeared at the back of the pack, but slipping off the track and losing positions to both.

As the championship leader and runner-up appeared to be approaching a battle, the race lead was in jeopardy. Lawson decided to take the plunge, went to the inside, and overtook Daruvala with some ease to take the lead. With the move made, Daruvala still hit the side of Lawson's car and caused concern for the new race leader. Immediately, Armstrong pulled over to try to catch a ride and pass Daruvala next to his fellow New Zealander.

Lawson had a strong pace after saving tires and immediately opened up, making it clear that he would lose the race only by a crash. Meanwhile, Armstrong again attacked Daruvala, causing a collision between them and allowing Pourchaire to enter the race and round the corner in front of the New Zealander. The race director put the Frenchman under investigation for forcing Armstrong off the track.

Drugovich also entered the fray and gained the position of Armstrong, who went down with a damaged car and then touched up again further back. Doohan, Vips, Vesti, and Iwasa completed the top-8 and scored points, while Armstrong was ninth. Sargeant was tenth.

F2 2022, French GP, Paul Ricard, Race 1: