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Enzo Fittipaldi scored his maiden win after a close battle in the Formula 2 Sprint Race in Belgium.
Enzo Fittipaldi drives on track during the Sprint Race at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps (Image Credit: Joe Portlock – Getty Images)Dry(ish) start
After a rainy morning at Spa-Francorchamps, it was mostly dry by the time the Sprint Race got started (albeit after a 35-minute delay).
Reverse grid polesitter Jehan Daruvala had a marvellous start to stay ahead of Richard Verschoor and Enzo Fittipaldi. Further back, Theo Pourchaire jumped from sixth to fourth in the first few corners, and championship leader Frederik Vesti improved from ninth to sixth.
One lap later Vesti gained another spot, grabbing fifth place from Ralph Boschung. Before he could continue his charge the safety car was called out. Invicta Virtuosi’s Amaury Cordeel spun and stalled on track, but that wasn’t the only incident.
Daruvala was forced to pull into the pits and retire when his headrest came loose and came out of the car completely. Verschoor was promoted to the lead as a result.
With claims of a little drizzle of rain on track, the race restarted on Lap 5. Verschoor maintained his lead over Fittipaldi while further back Jack Doohan battled with Zane Maloney for the final point. Down in 11th and 12th DAMS Racing teammates Ayumu Iwasa and Arthur Leclerc swapped places a few times as they fought for position.
Settling in
Both battles were resolved several laps later, when Doohan overtook Maloney for eighth and Iwasa put Bearman between himself and Leclerc to take tenth place.
Iwasa moved up to ninth on Lap 9 after passing Maloney, and further down the field Kush Maini pit, having put on soft tyres as a gamble. Doohan continued with his run of pace as well, eventually getting past Maloney for seventh place.
With seven laps to go everyone started falling into place as they tried to close the gaps to whoever was in front of them. Maloney picked up a five-second time penalty for track limits violations as Victor Martins closed in on Vesti for fifth place. It took several laps, but Martins made it past and gained the spot.
Up in the podium positions Dennis Hauger was within inches of taking third from Pourchaire, but the French driver defended stoutly and maintained his place on the podium.
There was contact between Leclerc and Oliver Bearman on Lap 13, resulting in a brief trip into the gravel for Bearman and a resulting drop to 13th place.
Triumphant Fittipaldi
All this time Fittipaldi was slowly gaining on Verschoor. On the penultimate lap, aided by DRS, the driver known as the little shark made the pass that would secure his first Formula 2 race win.
Verschoor settled for second, while Pourchaire maintained third after a lot of defensive work. Hauger and Martins completed the top five.
Vesti and Iwasa battled to the final corner, Vesti coming out ahead and taking seventh place behind Doohan. Iwasa picked up the final point, with Boschung and Leclerc rounding out the top ten.
Full results can be found here.
Feature Image Credit: Joe Portlock – Getty Images