Piastri takes victory in the second Sprint Race Two as he edges closer to taking the Formula 2 title in Saudi Arabia

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Oscar Piastri made the decisive overtake on the penalty-hindered Jehan Daruvala count as the Aussie extends his gap at the top of the standings to 47 points over teammate Robert Shwartzman who finished the race in third.

Bent Viscaal came home in second after a thrilling battle with Christian Lundgaard, who also received a penalty that saw him drop outside of the points. Theo Pourchaire’s heroics saw him finish sixth after starting 19th and earned the young Frenchman more points to add to his impressive season tally in his maiden season.

Starting Grid

On pole position was Jehan Daruvala whose 10th place finish in race one, after a time penalty was applied, saw him start with a clear view into turn one. Bent Viscaal started from second with championship leader Piastri in third and Dan Ticktum in fourth.

Christian Lundgaard started from fifth and he was alongside Prema’s Robert Shwartzman who started from sixth. Felipe Drugovich followed in seventh with Juri Vips in eighth, Liam Lawson in ninth and race one winner Marcus Armstrong in 10th.

MP Motorsport’s Jack Doohan was 11th, Enzo Fittipaldi in 12th, Roy Nissany in 13th, Clement Novalak in 14th, Ralph Boschung in 15th, Logan Sargeant in 16th, Guanyu Zhou in 17th, Olli Caldwell in 18th, Theo Pourchaire in 19th, Alessio Deledda in 20th with Marino Sato and Guilherme Samaia on the 11th and final row of the grid.

As It Happened

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It was Daruvala who got the best start as he held onto the lead into turn one. Piastri overtook Viscaal for second place as the Trident man dropped down to fourth behind Lundgaard.

Further back, there were several retirements as Novalak’s lock-up saw Armstrong, Deledda and Samaia all retire with the Safety Car subsequently released.

On lap five, the race resumed with Piastri putting pressure on leader Daruvala. Vips too came under pressure from Drugovich as the Brazilian made the move at turn 27.

Vips and Drugovich’s battle continued which saw the former lose his front wing into turn one as his stricken Hitech skated across the track forcing the Estonian into an early retirement on lap six.

The race’s second restart came on lap nine as leader Daruvala locked up and cut across turn two which saw him hold onto the lead, something that later earned the Carlin driver a five-second penalty.

A lap later, Viscaal and Lundgaard battled for third at turn one. The Trident driver clinched third place on track but Lundgaard cut across turn two and reclaimed the position. However, the Dane was awarded a five-second penalty for his track limits infringement after he gained a sizable advantage.

Shwartzman eyed up fifth-placed Ticktum into turn 27 and made a neat move up the inside. The Brit looked to make an instant reply into turn one but the Prema driver was able to hold off the threat.

Despite starting 19th, Pourchaire was going about his business quietly as he broke into the points scoring positions.

Ticktum lost another position as Doohan overtook him on lap 14. Meanwhile, Piastri was all over the rear of Daruvala’s Carlin. The Aussie tried a brave move around the outside of turn 21 but the Indian held firm.

The championship leader refused to back down as he made a move for the lead into turn 27. However, Daruvala wasn’t willing to back down either and used DRS to his assistance to reclaim the position into turn one.

Two laps later, Piastri made a permanent move for the race lead as he got back past Daruvala up the inside at turn one. Ticktum and Doohan continued their battle for sixth at turn 27 as the Brit overtook the MP Motorsport’s driver.

On lap 18, Lawson’s race ended prematurely as he lost the rear out of turn 13 which put him into the barrier and saw the Safety Car take the drivers to the finish flag.

Piastri claimed yet another victory in Formula 2 with the Aussie joined on the podium by Viscaal in second and Shwartzmann in third. Ticktum, Doohan, Pourchaire, Fittipaldi and Zhou rounded out the points scorers from the second Sprint Race at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit.

Quote from the race winner

After the race, winner Oscar Piastri discussed his race-winning strategy.

“It was a pretty action packed race again, I was basically just waiting for DRS to get past Jehan [Daruvala] but then he picked up the pace when DRS was active so that made life a bit more difficult.

“Then he [Jehan Daruvala] had a massive lock up into turn one so I knew from then that his tyre was going to be pretty wrecked. I also knew he had a five-second penalty and I knew Christian [Lundgaard] had one behind me.

“I knew there was a possibility of fastest lap, so I wanted to try and go for that, and also I wanted to win on track because who doesn’t want to win on track!”

What’s Next?

F2’s final race of the weekend comes in the form of tomorrow’s Feature Race as championship leader Oscar Piastri starts from pole ahead of Prema teammate Robert Shwartzman and ART’s Theo Pourchaire.

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