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Theo Pourchaire becomes a two-time winner this season as the Frenchman made most of the Safety Car restarts to take the lead on lap 15, and from that point onwards, pulled a healthy five-second gap to cross the line unchallenged.
Guanyu Zhou crucially made up positions to finish in second place with Christian Lundgaard making up 16 positions to claim a well-earned third place.
Starting Grid
David Beckmann, now for Campos Racing, started from pole position after qualifying 10th in Friday’s qualifying session. The German was joined on the front row by a two-time winner this season, Juri Vips.
Dan Ticktum started from third with Theo Pourchaire in fourth, Ralph Boschung in fifth, Felipe Drugovich in sixth, Liam Lawson in seventh, Guanyu Zhou in eighth, Jehan Daruvala in ninth and Sunday’s Feature Race pole-sitter, Oscar Piastri in 10th.
Lirim Zendeli was 11th, championship contender Robert Shwartzman in 12th, F2 debutant Enzo Fittipaldi in 13th, Marino Sato in 14th, Roy Nissany in 15th, Jake Hughes in 16th, Marcus Armstrong in 17th, Bent Viscaal in 18th, Christian Lundgaard in 19th, Richard Verschoor in 20th, Guilherme Samaia in 21st and Alessio Deledda started from the back of the grid in 22nd.
As It Happened
Before the race began, Hughes stalled on the grid and had his HWA car pushed to the end of the pit lane.
From the get-go, Vips and Beckmann got off the line cleanly as the German looked to keep the lead of the race into turn one, but the Hitech driver used the inside line to his advantage to move into first place.
Zendeli also had a tremendous start as the rapid MP Motorsport driver got himself up to eighth past championship contender Zhou.
On the next lap, Ticktum spun at the first chicane and collided with Drugovich which saw the unlucky Brit retire from the race. A big gainer in the opening laps was Lundgaard. After a poor qualifying, the ART driver moved up to 13th before the Safety Car was released.
Fittipaldi was handed a five-second penalty after his collision with Sato, but the F2 debutant came into the pits and retired from the race.
Black and orange flags were waved as Drugovich and Boschung came in for front wing changes. The green flag was waved again as Vips led the drivers over the line with Beckmann in second and Pourchaire in third. Lawson followed in fourth, Zendeli in fifth, Zhou in sixth, Shwartzman in seventh, Piastri in eighth, Nissany in ninth and Daruvala in 10th.
After coming into the pits a lap earlier, Drugovich lost it on the exit of the Ascari chicane as the Brazilian collided into the barrier and became the next retiree.
Lawson was the next driver to receive a black and orange flag as he changed his front wing. After the Virtual Safety Car period ended, Shwartzman and Piastri went wheel to wheel at the second lesmo with the former pushing his teammate wide as the championship leader dropped from sixth to eighth.
The Aussie was on the back foot as Daruvala overtook him into the first chicane but moved back up to eighth at the second chicane.
Lundgaard made it inside the points as the Carlin of Daruvala sustained front wing damage after his battle with Piastri.
Second place was up for grabs as Beckmann locked up into turn one which saw Pourchaire inherit the position as he went on the charge for the lead.
Beckmann dropped even further down the order as Zhou moved into third place with Nissany spinning on the exit of the Ascari chicane to become the next retiree. Verschoor and Sato peeled into the pits as the duo had problems with their cars which saw the former not continue and the latter came out back onto the circuit five laps behind.
Shwartzman was handed a five-second time penalty after he crossed the white pit exit line to gain an advantage.
At the halfway point, Vips had the lead of the race ahead of Pourchaire in second and Zhou in third. Beckmann followed in fourth with Shwartzman in fifth, Zendeli in sixth, Lundgaard in seventh, Piastri in eighth, Viscaal in ninth and Deledda in 10th.
Hughes made a strategic gamble as the HWA driver pitted for a fresh set of soft tyres with a handful of laps to go.
The Safety Car peeled into the pits with Vips leading the drivers over the line. Shwartzman and Zendeli both made up positions at the expense of Beckmann who dropped down to sixth.
On lap 15, Pourchaire had fantastic confidence on the brakes as the Frenchman moved into the lead of the race into the first chicane. His ART teammate Lundgaard gained yet another position as he claimed sixth place.
Vips and Zhou battled for second place as the Hitech driver held on for dear life. However, two laps later, the Estonian lost the position after he locked up into turn one which allowed a whole host of cars to get past him.
After he played a starring role, Zendeli parked his car at the second chicane as he retired from the race. Pourchaire drove away into the distance as he crossed the line to claim his second win of the season with Zhou in second and Lundgaard in third.
Rounding out the top 10 finishers were Piastri, Lawson, Shwartzman, Viscaal, Vips, Daruvala and Beckmann.
What’s Next?
David Beckmann claims another pole position after finishing 10th in Sprint Race one. The German will look to have a better second Sprint Race after falling down the order in race one and will hope to prove his worth in his second-ever race for his new team Campos.
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