Roundup of a thrilling weekend of action as F2 headed to Imola for the Third Round of the 2022 season.
Despite enduring a schedule reshuffle on Friday due to weather conditions, F2 enjoyed two dry racing crackers across the Sprint and Feature Races which involved plenty of drama and brave defending amidst a lack of data on their first visit to Imola.
In the end, the championship lead eventually changed hands once more and here is all the action from across the weekend.
Practice
Torrential rainfall saw Practice delayed by four hours and five minutes from its original scheduled slot and trimmed from 45 minutes down to just 30 minutes due to a packed schedule.
Once the pit exit light went green in damp conditions, Campos’ Ralph Boschung and Olli Caldwell led the field out but the red flags were out just five minutes into the session after Marcus Armstrong spun out on the run to Acque Minerali.
The session resumed nine minutes later with Boschung and Caldwell again leading the field out onto the track, although it was Juri Vips who set the initial pace of 1m 44.412 just moments before the red flags were back out after Logan Sargeant spun and stalled on the exit of Rivazza.
Eight minutes later, the session resumed with four minutes left of running as Boschung eventually emerged fastest with 1m 41.996 ahead of Vips and Jehan Daruvala, although the Swiss driver did bring the session to a halt as he spun out at Tamburello in the final minute of Practice.
Enzo Fittipaldi and Ayumu Iwasa meanwhile failed to set a lap time despite not causing a red flag unlike Armstrong and Sargeant, who also didn’t post a lap time in the session.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Ralph Boschung | Campos | 1m 41.996 |
| 2 | Juri Vips | Hitech GP | + 0.281 |
| 3 | Jehan Daruvala | PREMA | + 1.366 |
| 4 | Clement Novalak | MP Motorsport | + 1.972 |
| 5 | Marino Sato | Virtuosi | + 2.087 |
| 6 | Felipe Drugovich | MP Motorsport | + 2.320 |
| 7 | Dennis Hauger | PREMA | + 2.633 |
| 8 | Richard Verschoor | Trident | + 2.708 |
| 9 | David Beckmann | Charouz | + 2.745 |
| 10 | Liam Lawson | Carlin | + 2.842 |
| 11 | Jack Doohan | Virtuosi | + 3.106 |
| 12 | Olli Caldwell | Campos | + 4.255 |
| 13 | Theo Pourchaire | Art GP | + 4.759 |
| 14 | Roy Nissany | DAMS | + 5.108 |
| 15 | Frederik Vesti | ART GP | + 5.606 |
| 16 | Calan Williams | Trident | + 8.414 |
| 17 | Amaury Cordeel | VAR | + 10.889 |
| 18 | Jake Hughes | VAR | + 12.426 |
| 19 | Enzo Fittipaldi | Charouz | No Time Set |
| 20 | Ayumu Iwasa | DAMS | No Time Set |
| 21 | Logan Sargeant | Carlin | No Time Set |
| 22 | Marcus Armstrong | Hitech GP | No Time Set |
Qualifying
Due to the decision to run Practice mid-afternoon, Qualifying consequently took place in near darkness on a wet track following the conclusion of a chaotic F1 qualifying session.
Boschung again led the field out once the session began and set the initial benchmark of 1m 45.248 only to find himself trading the fastest lap with MP Motorsport’s Clement Novalak.
Vips however was fastest with 1m 41.599 when the red flag was waved nine minutes into the session after Caldwell spun out at Tamburello, with the session recommencing five minutes later as Vips headed Hughes and Boschung at the top of the timesheets.
Vips and Hughes continued to head the field once everyone had completed their opening runs until Boschung went top with five minutes left, as he posted 1m 40.697 only for Vips to better his lap time to claim pole with a 1m 40.221 ahead of Ayumu Iwasa and Jack Doohan.
Boschung eventually found time on his final flier to settle for fourth ahead of Dennis Hauger, Roy Nissany, Theo Pourchaire, Jehan Daruvala, Marcus Armstrong and Logan Sargeant.
Sargeant consequently inherited reverse-pole for the Sprint Race by finishing tenth with Armstrong alongside him on the front row.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Juri Vips | Hitech GP | 1m 40.221 |
| 2 | Ayumu Iwasa | DAMS | + 0.157 |
| 3 | Jack Doohan | Virtuosi | + 0.210 |
| 4 | Ralph Boschung | Campos | + 0.275 |
| 5 | Dennis Hauger | PREMA | + 0.351 |
| 6 | Roy Nissany | DAMS | + 0.400 |
| 7 | Theo Pourchaire | ART GP | + 0.641 |
| 8 | Jehan Daruvala | PREMA | + 0.665 |
| 9 | Marcus Armstrong | Hitech GP | + 0.783 |
| 10 | Logan Sargeant | Carlin | + 0.841 |
| 11 | David Beckmann | Charouz | + 0.908 |
| 12 | Felipe Drugovich | MP Motorsport | + 0.910 |
| 13 | Clement Novalak | MP Motorsport | + 0.952 |
| 14 | Liam Lawson | Carlin | + 0.978 |
| 15 | Enzo Fittipaldi | Charouz | + 1.014 |
| 16 | Frederik Vesti | ART GP | + 1.213 |
| 17 | Jake Hughes | VAR | + 1.299 |
| 18 | Amaury Cordeel | VAR | + 1.371 |
| 19 | Richard Verschoor | Trident | + 1.923 |
| 20 | Calan Williams | Trident | + 2.277 |
| 21 | Olli Caldwell | Campos | + 2.733 |
| 22 | Marino Sato | Virtuosi | + 3.090 |
Sprint Race
Van Amersfoort Racing’s Amaury Cordeel failed to take the start after he spin on entry to Acque Minerali on his way to the grid, damaging his car beyond repair.
At lights out, reverse-pole sitter, Sargeant got a slow start which enabled Armstrong to leap into the lead from Daruvala, Hauger and Nissany as the American fell to fifth.
Drugovich meanwhile leap from 12th to seventh just behind Boschung who had taken advantage of a poor start from Theo Pourchaire to climb to sixth, whilst Novalak spun Beckmann out at Tamburello to bring out the Safety Car.
The race resumed on Lap Five as Armstrong led the field back racing with strong control to leave Daruvala stuck around one second behind the ex Ferrari Junior, as Armstrong eventually weathered a mid-race fightback to snatch his second F2 victory from Daruvala and Hauger.
Nissany meanwhile survived mid-race pressure to mount a late but futile charge as he rounded out the top four, whilst Sargeant eventually finished sixth following a penultimate lap overtake from Drugovich from fifth.
Pourchaire and Lawson rounded out the top eight after Boschung had retired from seventh with a fuel pump issue on Lap 10, just one lap after he was passed by Drugovich into the Villeneuve chicane.
Drugovich’s fifth-placed finish also saw him extend his championship lead over Lawson to 14 points whilst Daruvala leapt up to third with his second-placed finish, which demoted Richard Verschoor to fourth ahead of Armstrong who rounded out the top five in the driver standings.
| Position | Driver | Team | Laps | Time |
| 1 | Marcus Armstrong | Hitech GP | 25 | 40m 50.545 |
| 2 | Jehan Daruvala | PREMA | 25 | + 1.431 |
| 3 | Dennis Hauger | PREMA | 25 | + 2.243 |
| 4 | Roy Nissany | DAMS | 25 | + 2.803 |
| 5 | Felipe Drugovich | MP Motorsport | 25 | + 7.045 |
| 6 | Logan Sargeant | Carlin | 25 | + 9.821 |
| 7 | Theo Pourchaire | ART GP | 25 | + 12.372 |
| 8 | Liam Lawson | Carlin | 25 | + 12.826 |
| 9 | Ayumu Iwasa | DAMS | 25 | + 13.436 |
| 10 | Frederik Vesti | ART GP | 25 | + 17.714 |
| 11 | Jack Doohan | Virtuosi | 25 | + 20.179 |
| 12 | Enzo Fittipaldi | Charouz | 25 | + 21.059 |
| 13 | Richard Verschoor | Trident | 25 | + 21.493 |
| 14 | Calan Williams | Trident | 25 | + 22.942 |
| 15 | Juri Vips | Hitech GP | 25 | + 23.275 |
| 16 | Marino Sato | Virtuosi | 25 | + 24.216 |
| 17 | Olli Caldwell | Campos | 25 | + 24.637 |
| 18 | Jake Hughes | VAR | 25 | + 25.856 |
| 19 | Clement Novalak | MP Motorsport | 25 | + 26.299 |
| RET | Ralph Boschung | Campos | 9 | Fuel Pump |
| RET | David Beckmann | Charouz | 0 | Collision |
| DNS | Amaury Cordeel | VAR | 0 | Spin |
Feature Race
Following a wet-to-dry F3 race, track conditions had dried out for the F2 Feature Race but the front row of Vips and Iwasa got slow getaways, which forced Doohan to take avoiding action as he unintentionally slammed Hauger into the pit wall.
Hauger consequently retired without completing a single lap as Doohan recovered to the pit lane with a broken steering column as the Safety Car was deployed until the end of Lap Four.
Roy Nissany meanwhile survived the initial chaos as he leapt from sixth to the lead ahead of Boschung and successfully fended off the Swiss driver on the first restart on Lap Five.
The Safety Car was however back out on track a lap later after Vips spun out after getting wide across the exit of the Villeneuve chicane, which caused the Estonian to slide across the track into the barriers.
Everyone who started on the super-soft tyres consequently pitted on Lap Eight as Daruvala, Armstrong, Lawson, Drugovich, Hughes, Marino Sato, Caldwell, Richard Verschoor and Calan Williams stayed out on medium tyres.
Once the race resumed on Lap 10, Daruvala proceeded to control the race ahead of Armstrong and Lawson until Lawson pitted on Lap 26, with Daruvala and Armstrong following suit across the next two laps.
Drugovich and Sato however stayed out in front in hope of a Safety Car which came at the end of Lap 32 after a spin for Lawson, although cruelly just too late for both drivers to pit and retain their places at the head of the field as they both missed the pit entry in time.
Pourchaire consequently inherited a surprise victory ahead of Enzo Fittipaldi after the pair had made crucial overtakes on Boschung on Laps 19 and 32 respectively, with Boschung rounding out the podium ahead of Clement Novalak, Iwasa, Frederik Vesti, Sargeant, Beckmann, Daruvala and Drugovich.
Victory consequently lifted Pourchaire up the championship order to top spot with 52 points and a two-point lead over Drugovich, as F2 prepares to visit to Barcelona, Spain for the fourth round of the season next month across 20-22 May.
| Position | Driver | Team | Laps | Time |
| 1 | Theo Pourchaire | ART GP | 35 | 5.m ….. |
| 2 | Enzo Fittipaldi | Charouz | 35 | + 0.388 |
| 3 | Ralph Boschung | Campos | 35 | + 0.729 |
| 4 | Clement Novalak | MP Motorsport | 35 | + 1.497 |
| 5 | Ayumu Iwasa | DAMS | 35 | + 1.806 |
| 6 | Frederik Vesti | ART GP | 35 | + 2.122 |
| 7 | Logan Sargeant | Carlin | 35 | + 2.592 |
| 8 | David Beckmann | Charouz | 35 | + 3.229 |
| 9 | Jehan Daruvala | PREMA | 35 | + 4.191 |
| 10 | Felipe Drugovich | MP Motorsport | 35 | + 4.396 |
| 11 | Marino Sato | Virtuosi | 35 | + 4.893 |
| 12 | Jake Hughes | VAR | 35 | + 5.044 |
| 13 | Marcus Armstrong | Hitech GP | 35 | + 6.287 |
| 14 | Olli Caldwell | Campos | 35 | + 6.745 |
| 15 | Richard Verschoor | Trident | 35 | + 7.271 |
| 16 | Calan Williams | Trident | 35 | + 7.763 |
| 17 | Amaury Cordeel | VAR | 35 | + 81.403 |
| RET | Liam Lawson | Carlin | 31 | Spin |
| RET | Roy Nissany | DAMS | 19 | Spin |
| RET | Juri Vips | Hitech | 5 | Spin |
| RET | Jack Doohan | Virtuosi | 2 | Steering |
| RET | Dennis Hauger | PREMA | 0 | Collision |
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