Drugovich tightens grip on F2 title with Zandvoort feature race win

Felipe Drugovich now looks near-certain to seal the 2022 Formula 2 title next weekend after extending a 70 point lead over Théo Pourchaire with a feature race win in Zandvoort.

Drugovich had secured pole in Zandvoort, as he had in Spa, while closest rival Théo Pourchaire suffered a poor qualifying and then a worse sprint race, crashing to the back of the order early on and then colliding with a pigeon.

A Safety Car was called on lap one after Logan Sargeant and Ralph Boschung collided, Sargeant ending up with his car embedded in the barriers at turn seven. The Williams junior driver was able to walk away from the crash but three laps later, on lap four, the race was red flagged while repairs continued to were made to the barriers.

Once completed, cars emerged on lap five for the racing restart on lap six. Drugovich got away with the lead while Clement Novalak and Marcus Armstrong collided for seventh, both able to continue but with Novalak limping somewhat. Jehan Daruvala spun on lap eight, taking him out of the top ten and Jack Doohan locked up while challenging Drugovich for the lead on lap ten, drivers all seemingly finding the end of the soft tyres most had opted to start on.

Pit stops started on lap 11 with Dennis Hauger, Drugovich staying out longer to wait for lap 15, before Marino Sato’s car stopped on track on lap 17, which prompted another Safety Car. A rule change due to the tight pit lane at Zandvoort meant no cars could pit behind the Safety Car, leaving those who had run long in a difficult position.

The race restarted on lap 22 with race leader Liam Lawson – yet to pit – leaving his launch for the green flag very late and saw the pack bunch up behind, resulting in Jack Doohan getting knocked out of the race, with Clement Novalak and Tatiana Calderon also retiring after being caught up in the melee.

Another restart on lap 26 saw the race transition into a time limited one, one lap shorter than the planned 40 laps. A relatively placid final seven laps saw Drugovich seal the victory ahead of Richard Verschoor with Ayumu Iwasa completing the podium.

The win extends Drugovich’s already healthy championship lead to now 70 points over Pourchaire, who managed to recover his race to finish tenth.

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Formula 2 Zandvoort feature race results

Position	Car	Driver	Team
1	11	Felipe Drugovich	MP
2	20	Richard Verschoor	Trident
3	17	Ayumu Iwasa	DAMS
4	1	Dennis Hauger	Prema
5	22	Enzo Fittipaldi	Charouz
6	25	Amaury Cordeel	Van Amersfoort
7	8	Juri Vips	Hitech
8	24	David Beckmann	Van Amersfoort
9	14	Olli Caldwell	Campos
10	10	Theo Pourchaire	ART
11	2	Jehan Daruvala	Prema
12	21	Calan Williams	Trident
13	5	Liam Lawson	Carlin
14	7	Marcus Armstrong	Hitech
15	16	Roy Nissany	DAMS
16	9	Frederik Vesti	ART
17	15	Ralph Boschung	Campos
18	23	Tatiana Calderon	Charouz
19	12	Clement Novalak	MP
DNF	3	Jack Doohan	Virtuosi
DNF	4	Marino Sato	Virtuosi
DNF		Logan Sargeant	Carlin

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Formula 2

• Bortoleto clinches F2 title as Hadjar stalls and Duerksen wins finale
• Aron hit with double penalty for team’s illegal DRS modification, Hadjar gains a point
• Marti wins sprint race as Bortoleto extends points lead ahead of finale
• Martins beats title rivals Bortoleto, Aron and Hadjar to Yas Marina pole
• Bortoleto’s lead down to half a point as penalty hands win to Aron in Losail

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