F2: Sargeant inherits Spielberg Feature Race win after Verschoor disqualification

Logan Sargeant was promoted to Formula 2 Feature Race winner following a post-race disqualification and time penalty for Richard Verschoor and Jehan Daruvala respectively. The Trident and PREMA Racing drivers had finished first and second at the chequered flag.

Verschoor’s win was taken away from him due to a lack of fuel in the tank for a post-race scrutineering sample, while Daruvala lost P2 after the stewards found that the team had dried his grid slot prior to lights out. The resultant 20-second time penalty drops the Indian driver down to 12th position. The post-race sanctions means that Enzo Fittipaldi moves to second and Roberto Merhi into third.

Rain in the morning left the track soaked in places, but with the sun emerging just as the F2 cars took to the grid, the surface was quickly drying. It left many split on strategy, with half of the drivers taking wet tyres and the rest opting to run the slicks instead.

READ MORE: Hadjar weathers chaotic F3 Feature Race for lights-to-flag win

Verschoor’s pre-race gamble of taking dry tyres paid off in spades just a handful of laps into the race when those on wets began to struggle.

Daruvala had been locked in a race-long battle with Merhi, deputising for the injured Ralph Boschung at Campos Racing, but it looked to be a battle he lost on the penultimate lap. A switchback out of Turn 3 into 4 gave the Spaniard P2, but a time penalty for exceeding track limits relegated Merhi down to fifth on the road at the chequered flag – before his promotion to the top three spots.

Sargeant recovered from his start on the wet tyres to end up third, managing to hold off Enzo Fittipaldi for the final laps in a fight that turned out to be for victory.

Dennis Hauger secured P4 for PREMA and he was followed by Jake Hughes, Olli Caldwell, Ayumu Iwasa, Juri Vips, Roy Nissany and Liam Lawson who made up the rest of the top 10. Championship leader Felipe Drugovich endured a torrid afternoon, as did ART Grand Prix’s Theo Pourchaire. Neither driver scored points, ending up 11th and 13th respectively.

For more on F2, visit the official series website.