Shwartzman dominates first Silverstone F2 sprint race, Piastri takes points lead
Starting from fourth on the grid, the Ferrari academy driver made a storming start and took the lead into Turn 1. Shwartzman started higher up on the grid than he’d have liked after only managing seventh in qualifying following a spin at Stowe on his final run.
The Russian driver struggled for form in the opening two rounds of the season in Bahrain and Monaco but has now got his season on track with two wins in the last four races. It’s Shwartzman’s sixth victory in the series having made his debut in 2020.
Juri Vips picked up his fourth podium of the season to also continue his fine run of form. The Red Bull-backed junior won two races in Azerbaijan last time out and finished just under a second behind Shwartzman at the end of the race.
Christian Lundgaard finished third, never troubling the top two while maintaining a comfortable gap over Felipe Drugovich in fourth-place. Theo Pourchaire was an impressive fifth in the second ART Grand Prix, who still continues to recover from a fractured arm sustained in Baku last time out.
Oscar Piastri finished sixth, like teammate Shwartzman, he made an impressive start on the opening lap. Piastri got past Liam Lawson on the second Safety Car restart with a late lunge into Turn 3.
The Australian stole the fastest lap on the final lap to ensure he took the lead of the points standings, rather than fellow Prema driver Shwartzman.
Lawson kept Dan Ticktum at bay for seventh and eighth, with Marcus Armstrong and Richard Verschoor rounding out the top ten. For the second sprint race this afternoon, Armstrong and Verschoor will share the front row on the grid with the top ten result from sprint one reversed.
It was a disastrous race for former points leader Guanyu Zhou who retired on the opening lap of the race. Zhou just lost control of his UNI-Virtuosi car at Turn 4.
That wasn’t the only incident on the opening lap as Roy Nissany ran into the back of Lundgaard, with the two incidents causing the first of three safety cars. Alessio Deledda’s stricken HWA Racelab caused the second stoppage, while Guilherme Samaia’s off at Luffield caused the third Safety Car.
Marino Sato finished 18th and last of the classified finishers, four laps down after a lengthy early pit stop saw the Trident team repair his car.
Click here for the full FIA Formula 2 race results from the first sprint race at Silverstone.
