Drugovich crowned F2 champion despite sprint race retirement as Vips wins

Formula 2

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Felipe Drugovich sealed this year’s Formula 2 title despite watching most of the Monza sprint race from the pit wall.

The race was won by Jüri Vips, with neither Drugovich or title rival Théo Pourchaire scoring points. Drugovich’s 69 point lead has secured him the title with three races remaining.

It was Vips’ first win of the 2022 season
Frederick Vesti started the race on partially-reversed-grid pole, having qualified 10th, with Logan Sargeant sharing the front row. Championship leader Felipe Drugovich started twelfth after Sargeant had a poor getaway, dropping back immediately as he was passed by Vips and Ayumu Iwasa.

Drugovich collided with Amaury Cordeel on the exit of the Roggia chicane, Drugovich forced wide onto grass and contact with Cordeel’s wheel breaking his suspension. Pourchaire, meanwhile, also went backwards at the start, losing a place to Marino Sato.

Olli Caldwell and Tatiana Calderon also crashed around the first Lesmo, prompting a Safety Car period to begin on lap two while their cars were removed from the track. The incident will be investigated by the stewards after the race.

The race restarted on lap four and Vips out-braked Vesti into the first chicane, snatching the lead. Meanwhile Porchaire was able to pass first Sato through the first Variante and then Ralph Boschung through Ascari, climbing to twelfth.

Pourchaire also got close to contact with Cordeel, passing him through Roggia with their wheels nearly brushing. A bad race for MP Motorsport got worse when Boschung collided with Clement Novalak, sending Boschung back to the pits to retire with steering damage while Novalak limped back with a seriously skewed front wing and a front left puncture, also retiring.

Jehan Daruvala took third from Iwasa at the start of lap 10 while Vesti seemed unable to keep pace with Vips, dropping more than two seconds back from the leader.

On lap 14, Pourchaire’s charge up the grid was interrupted as he dipped into the gravel trap out of Roggia while fighting with Liam Lawson and found himself falling down the order, relegated to 17th and last. Pourchaire was also issued a five-second time penalty for the incident, having been found at fault before the final lap.

From the MP pit wall, Drugovich could only watch on as Vips, Vesti and Daruvala took the chequered flag for the podium positions, but Drugovich had secured the 2022 Formula 2 championship. He has led the 2022 F2 title since the second round in Jeddah and has not relinquished it ever since.

Over the season he took four pole positions, in Jeddah, Monaco, Spa and Zandvoort and set four fastest laps, in the Barcelona sprint, the Spielberg sprint, the Paul Ricard feature race and the Zandvoort sprint. He claimed four feature race victories in Jeddah, Barcelona, Monaco and Zandvoort and took the Barcelona sprint win as well for a perfect sweep of that round.

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Formula 2 Monza sprint race results

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

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Author information

Hazel Southwell
Hazel is a motorsport and automotive journalist with a particular interest in hybrid systems, electrification, batteries and new fuel technologies....

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2 comments on “Drugovich crowned F2 champion despite sprint race retirement as Vips wins”

  1. It’s sad that many very talented drivers will miss F1. For those who follow feeder series, there’s no doubt Vips, Lawson, Pourchaire, Drugovich, they’re all a level above. The fact Drugovich did won in a midfield team (first time in a decade or more?) against all those good names should be a proof that he deserver a shot at F1. DeVries deserved a shot back there, ok he won against a much weaker grid (and he was 2 years olders than Drugo and in the team that Russell won in the year earlier), but anyway, winning F2 is just one of the hardest tasks in motorsport. Each year hundreds of drivers from Kart to F2 dream about achieving it.

    1. It is a side effect of manufacturers “adopting” young drivers.
      It is good for developing/supporting new talent, but it creates a long queue of prospects.
      RB, MERC and Ferrari kind of control 12 seats and have some sort of influence on the other as a engine supplier. If you are not integrated on each one delevolpment system it is very hard to find a place.
      And when dominant teams remains dominant for an entire decade, it also prevents to much movement form top drivers and seats on top teams get even scarcer. It make no sense to HAM, VER, LEC to look for another team. Their best WDC chance is where they are now. So, the odds thatthere is an open on a winning team are slimmer and slimmer.

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