F2: Lawson takes victory in Saudi Arabian Sprint Race as Sargeant and Doohan come together

Red Bull junior Liam Lawson overcame three Safety Car restarts in the Saudi Arabian Sprint Race to take his first Formula 2 win of the season and his third consecutive podium finish.

2021 Formula 3 champion Dennis Hauger had initially lined up on pole but confusion during the second Safety Car period caused him to go through the pitlane when it was closed, resulting in a 10s stop-and-go penalty that dropped him to last.

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With Hauger out of contention, Calan Williams had taken up the lead of the race, but the Trident driver was unable to hold off Jake Hughes from second when Safety Car driver Bernd Maylander peeled back into the pits.

Hughes had been the highest placed driver to gamble on the soft Pirellis and, as his tyres began to wane, medium-shod Lawson pounced for the lead. Vips followed his fellow Red Bull junior through for P3 after a third and final Safety Car period, beating Hughes in a drag race to the line.

Hughes lost the final podium position after the race as he was disqualified because the skid plank on his car did not meet the required thickness. That promoted Felipe Drugovich – who had started in 10th – onto the podium.

Williams also gained a position, moving up to fourth, directly in front of his Trident team mate Richard Verschoor, who was in fifth ahead of DAMS’ Ayumu Iwasa. Campos Racing’s Ralph Boschung had finished in eighth but was given a 20s time penalty after the race – as it was found that he was in front of his starting grid position before the lights went out.

Following Hughes and Boschung’s penalties, PREMA Racing’s Jehan Daruvala and Virtuosi Racing’s Marino Sato gain the final points places.

After taking pole in Friday’s qualifying session, Drugovich will start from first place in Sunday’s Feature Race at 1635 local time.

F2: Drugovich takes pole in Saudi Arabian qualifying session

For more on F2, visit the official series website.