FORMULA 2: De Vries takes championship lead with French Feature Race win

Nyck De Vries leapt ahead of Williams test driver Nicholas Latifi in the FIA Formula 2 Championship standings, with his third win in just four races. The in-form ART Grand Prix driver showed his current hot streak is no flash in the pan, when he took the lead at the race start, surging past the front three of Sergio Sette Camara, Guanyu Zhou and Jack Aitken from P4 on the grid.

The Dutchman began the race on the option compound and his race win looked at risk when he returned from his tyre change behind the already pitted Aitken in P9. A stunning overtake down the mistral straight would quickly quell these fears and put him back into the driving seat. Fellow Championship contender Luca Ghiotto was on the opposite strategy and led the race when those on the option tyre pitted, but he was unable to build up a large enough gap and eventually surrendered the place to De Vries, when he ducked into the pits.

When he returned to P1, the ART man quickly stretched his lead to 7s ahead of Aitken and Sette Camara, who were left to battle it out for second on the podium. The Brazilian driver - who had started on pole – came out of the jostle on top, searing passed Aitken on the pit straight in a DRS powered move. With Latifi languishing in fifth, the race win hands De Vries the Championship lead by 16 points ahead of tomorrow Sprint Race, when Anthoine Hubert will start on reverse grid pole.

For full results and more news, visit the official F2 website.