MP Motorsport’s Felipe Drugovich continues to march towards the 2022 F2 title following an entertaining French round.
Drugovich came into this round with a sizeable lead over title rivals, Logan Sargeant and Theo Pourchaire but a crazy weekend threw up more curveballs in the title race, yet the Brazilian left France with his title lead largely intact.
This weekend also served as the home race for Pourchaire and Clement Novalak who were looking to impress on their home soil, as were DAMS who chased their first Feature Race victory since 2019.
Now, here is a full roundup of all the action in the ninth round of 2022 F2 season.
Practice
Title contenders, Drugovich and Pourchaire were first out on track ahead of everyone else but Frederik Vesti, who was kept back in his pit box due to an electrical issue.
Vesti eventually made it out but caused a Virtual Safety Car (VSC) as he pulled over on the Mistral Straight in the 10th minute, due to his electrical issue which forced him to sit out the remainder of the session.
Once the VSC had been withdrawn, Dennis Hauger went top with 1m 48.949 but times soon began to tumble as Drugovich went 1.398 seconds quicker in the 15th minute, only for Iwasa to emerge fastest at the halfway mark of the session with 1m 46.755 ahead of Juri Vips.
Pourchaire then went top in the 24th minute by 0.032s but was displaced by Iwasa then Vips, with the latter eventually finishing top as he posted 1m 46.501 in the 42nd minute, just as Hauger caused a second VSC after he stopped on the main straight with a mechanical issue.
Iwasa finished second-fastest ahead of Pourchaire, Drugovich and Daruvala who rounded out the top five.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Juri Vips | Hitech GP | 1m 46.501 |
| 2 | Ayumu Iwasa | DAMS | + 0.166 |
| 3 | Theo Pourchaire | ART GP | + 0.222 |
| 4 | Felipe Drugovich | MP Motorsport | + 0.348 |
| 5 | Jehan Daruvala | PREMA | + 0.398 |
| 6 | Richard Verschoor | Trident | + 0.416 |
| 7 | Marcus Armstrong | Hitech GP | + 0.456 |
| 8 | Jack Doohan | Virtuosi | + 0.493 |
| 9 | Logan Sargeant | Carlin | + 0.590 |
| 10 | Enzo Fittipaldi | Charouz | + 0.661 |
| 11 | Dennis Hauger | PREMA | + 0.767 |
| 12 | Olli Caldwell | Campos | + 0.909 |
| 13 | Liam Lawson | Carlin | + 1.044 |
| 14 | Calan Williams | Trident | + 1.068 |
| 15 | David Beckmann | VAR | + 1.098 |
| 16 | Amaury Cordeel | VAR | + 1.106 |
| 17 | Roberto Merhi | Campos | + 1.143 |
| 18 | Roy Nissany | DAMS | + 1.234 |
| 19 | Clement Novalak | MP Motorsport | + 1.619 |
| 20 | Marino Sato | Virtuosi | + 1.640 |
| 21 | Cem Bolukbasi | Charouz | + 2.359 |
| 22 | Frederik Vesti | ART GP | No Time Set |
Qualifying
MP Motorsport’s Drugovich and Clement Novalak led the field out for the opening stints as everyone opted for two warm-up laps, although it proved to be Virtuosi’s Jack Doohan who set the initial pace by 0.007s from Hitech GP’s Juri Vips once opening fliers were completed.
Several drivers then found improvement on their second fliers as Sargeant posted 1m 44.599 to leap onto provisional pole, ahead of Iwasa and Pourchaire after Doohan saw his second lap deleted for track limits which left him sat fifth rather than in third place.
Once everyone had returned to the pit lane and prepared for their final runs, Charouz’s Enzo Fittipaldi was ruled out of the final ten minutes with a mechanical issue.
Hauger then stopped on the exit of Turn 2 which caused a six-minute red flag with seven minutes and 16 seconds left on the clock, as Drugovich then led the field out for their final fliers with some opting for one warm-up lap unlike other drivers.
At the checkered flag, Drugovich initially went top but was swiftly displaced by Vesti who then was knocked off pole position by 0.023s from Iwasa, until Sargeant posted a stunning 1m 43.871 to claim his second Feature Race pole position in three races.
Doohan qualified fifth ahead of Pourchaire, Vips, Armstrong, Lawson and Daruvala who claimed reverse-pole for the Sprint Race.
Drugovich however found himself demoted to sixth after his fastest lap was deleted post-session because he exceeded track limits at the apex of Turn 3, whilst his title lead was reduced to 37 points due to Sargeant picking up two points for pole position.
DAMS’ Roy Nissany meanwhile qualified 20th but was hit with a four-place grid penalty in total – three grid place demotion for failing to re-join the track safely, plus an one-place grid drop for impeding Campos’ Olli Caldwell.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Logan Sargeant | Carlin | 1m 43.871 |
| 2 | Ayumu Iwasa | DAMS | + 0.006 |
| 3 | Frederik Vesti | ART GP | + 0.029 |
| 4 | Jack Doohan | Virtuosi | + 0.163 |
| 5 | Theo Pourchaire | ART GP | + 0.290 |
| 6 | Felipe Drugovich | MP Motorsport | + 0.370 |
| 7 | Juri Vips | Hitech GP | + 0.437 |
| 8 | Marcus Armstrong | Hitech GP | + 0.506 |
| 9 | Liam Lawson | Carlin | + 0.612 |
| 10 | Jehan Daruvala | PREMA | + 0.755 |
| 11 | Richard Verschoor | Trident | + 0.887 |
| 12 | Marino Sato | Virtuosi | + 0.968 |
| 13 | Calan Williams | Trident | + 1.047 |
| 14 | Enzo Fittipaldi | Charouz | + 1.164 |
| 15 | Roberto Merhi | Campos | + 1.230 |
| 16 | Clement Novalak | MP Motorsport | + 1.246 |
| 17 | David Beckmann | VAR | + 1.432 |
| 18 | Dennis Hauger | PREMA | + 1.526 |
| 19 | Amaury Cordeel | VAR | + 1.634 |
| 20 | Roy Nissany | DAMS | + 1.871 |
| 21 | Olli Caldwell | Campos | + 1.872 |
| 22 | Cem Bolukbasi | Charouz | + 1.902 |
Sprint Race
Richard Verschoor, Enzo Fittipaldi and Novalak all stalled on the grid as the formation lap, with the latter pair starting from the pits whilst Verschoor joined mid-race several laps down focused on data gathering.
Once the race began, reverse pole-sitter, Daruvala got a clean start as Armstrong leapfrogged a sluggish Lawson to claim second, whilst Pourchaire dived up the inside of Drugovich into Turn 3 to claim fourth with Doohan sat sixth ahead of Vips and Vesti.
Everyone soon afterwards quickly settled into position whilst Lawson rapidly pressurised Armstrong and made a crucial overtake for second into Montreal chicane on Lap 4.
Daruvala meanwhile built a steady gap up front despite Lawson slowly eroding his lead and was within a second of his fellow Red Bull junior on Lap 9, when the Safety Car was deployed following a spin for Fittipaldi at the Montreal chicane.
Fittipaldi’s spin also ended Amaury Cordeel’s race after the Belgian wiped out the Charouz driver’s front wing and consequently bent his left-rear suspension beyond repair.
Stewards post-race adjudged Fittipaldi at fault for his collision with Merhi and hit him with a five place grid penalty, meaning that he started the Feature Race from 19th rather than 14th on the grid.
The race resumed at the end of Lap 12 with Daruvala fending off immense pressure from Lawson, until the New Zealander passed him on the inside of Montreal on Lap 16 to claim the lead and victory.
Daruvala eventually finished second after he saw off a challenge from Armstrong on Lap 19 as the Kiwi briefly passed him for second, only for Pourchaire to follow through and tangle with Armstrong at Beausset which allowed Daruvala back through into second.
Armstrong however tumbled to sixth as a consequence of his scrap with Pourchaire, only to find himself pushed wide by Hitech GP teammate, Vips at the end of the penultimate lap which became ninth after Iwasa passed him on the final lap.
Pourchaire meanwhile finished third ahead of Drugovich, Doohan, Vips, Vesti and Iwasa who rounded out the top eight finishers.
Time penalties however were handed out post race as Armstrong got penalised five seconds for forcing Daruvala wide during his overtake which dropped him to 14th in the classification, whilst Pourchaire and Vips were penalised 5s for their own collisions with Armstrong.
Pourchaire consequently dropped from third to seventh behind; Drugovich, Doohan, Vesti and Iwasa but ahead of his nearest title rival, Sargeant who picked up the final point in eighth place.
Armstrong meanwhile was classified 14th in a drop of five places from his initial finish.
Drugovich consequently extended his championship lead to 42 points over Sargeant who now sits just two points ahead of Pourchaire in third.
| Position | Driver | Team | Laps | Time |
| 1 | Liam Lawson | Carlin | 21 | 41m 22.995 |
| 2 | Jehan Daruvala | PREMA | 21 | + 3.206 |
| 3 | Felipe Drugovich | MP Motorsport | 21 | + 4.835 |
| 4 | Jack Doohan | Virtuosi | 21 | + 5.709 |
| 5 | Frederik Vesti | ART GP | 21 | + 7.948 |
| 6 | Ayumu Iwasa | DAMS | 21 | + 8.260 |
| 7 | Theo Pourchaire | ART GP | 21 | + 9.552 |
| 8 | Logan Sargeant | Carlin | 21 | + 9.654 |
| 9 | Marino Sato | Virtuosi | 21 | + 10.586 |
| 10 | David Beckmann | VAR | 21 | + 10.979 |
| 11 | Juri Vips | Hitech GP | 21 | + 12.087 |
| 12 | Dennis Hauger | PREMA | 21 | + 12.477 |
| 13 | Calan Williams | Trident | 21 | + 12.477 |
| 14 | Marcus Armstrong | Trident | 21 | + 14.433 |
| 15 | Cem Bolukbasi | Charouz | 21 | + 15.861 |
| 16 | Roy Nissany | DAMS | 21 | + 16.536 |
| 17 | Clement Novalak | MP Motorsport | 21 | + 16.643 |
| 18 | Olli Caldwell | Campos | 21 | + 17.338 |
| 19 | Roberto Merhi | Campos | 17 | + 4 Laps |
| 20 | Richard Verschoor | Trident | 16 | + 5 Laps |
| 21 | Amaury Cordeel | VAR | 9 | Suspension |
| 22 | Enzo Fittipaldi | Charouz | 8 | Spin |
Feature Race
At lights out following a ten minute delay, Sargeant suffered wheelspin which slowed his getaway as Doohan swept from fourth into the lead at Turn One, only for Iwasa to fight back into the Montreal chicane to take the lead as Sargeant settled into third.
Marino Sato meanwhile spun out at that same corner whilst Armstrong got spun out by David Beckmann at Garlaban, in an incident during which Hauger suffered front wing damage to end any prospects of points as the Safety Car was deployed.
The race resumed on Lap Six as Iwasa quickly built up a solid lead over Doohan, Sargeant, Vesti and Pourchaire, whilst Lawson passed Drugovich for seventh on the inside of Turn One on the restart.
Daruvala meanwhile found himself passed by Nissany for 10th into Montreal chicane but fought back to regain the position on outside of Signes.
Up front, Pourchaire was the first to pit on Lap 11 for hard tyres with Sargeant following suit two laps later, only for the American to stall his engine during his stop which ended his race.
Doohan nevertheless responded one lap later as did Drugovich as the former pitted for hard tyres whilst Drugovich stopped for softs, having started on the alternate strategy initially.
Iwasa meanwhile continued to build his lead until he pitted at the start of Lap 15 and re-joined in fourth with the net lead intact, behind Lawson, Daruvala and Calan Williams who all needed to pit.
Behind Iwasa, Doohan attempted a pass on Pourchaire for net second place at Montreal chicane but mistimed his braking and spun, narrowly avoiding a collision with the home favourite as Pourchaire ultimately sprinted away to second behind Iwasa but ahead of Vesti.
Iwasa’s victory also marked the first time that DAMS had won their home race in the second-tier as well as their first Feature Race win since 2019 in Abu Dhabi for then-driver Sergio Sette Camara.
Doohan meanwhile soon struggled for tyre grip as Drugovich closed in and eventually passed the Aussie for fourth into the Montreal chicane on Lap 27 for fourth, before Drugovich also set the fastest lap on Lap 29 to clinch the bonus point.
Doohan settled for fifth ahead of Lawson and Daruvala who had passed Richard Verschoor and Nissany in the closing laps, although Verschoor’s engine eventually failed at the start of the final lap as Novalak’s 23-lap soft tyre gamble paid off with eighth ahead of Nissany and Fittipaldi.
In the driver standings, Drugovich’s title lead was eroded slightly as Pourchaire took advantage of Sargeant’s retirement to climb to second, which put the Sauber junior 39 points behind Drugovich with five rounds left of the season.
| Position | Driver | Team | Laps | Time |
| 1 | Ayumu Iwasa | DAMS | 30 | 57m 54.568 |
| 2 | Theo Pourchaire | ART GP | 30 | + 8.649 |
| 3 | Frederik Vesti | ART GP | 30 | + 9.887 |
| 4 | Felipe Drugovich | MP Motorsport | 30 | + 10.253 |
| 5 | Jack Doohan | Virtuosi | 30 | + 16.050 |
| 6 | Liam Lawson | Carlin | 30 | + 19.680 |
| 7 | Jehan Daruvala | PREMA | 30 | + 27.558 |
| 8 | Clement Novalak | MP Motorsport | 30 | + 32.852 |
| 9 | Roy Nissany | DAMS | 30 | + 36.514 |
| 10 | Enzo Fittipaldi | Charouz | 30 | + 37.686 |
| 11 | Calan Williams | Trident | 30 | + 40.214 |
| 12 | Juri Vips | Hitech GP | 30 | + 45.584 |
| 13 | Olli Caldwell | Campos | 30 | + 46.476 |
| 14 | David Beckmann | VAR | 30 | + 48.501 |
| 15 | Amaury Cordeel | VAR | 30 | + 49.092 |
| 16 | Dennis Hauger | PREMA | 30 | + 85.136 |
| 17 | Richard Verschoor | Trident | 28 | + 2 Laps |
| 18 | Cem Bolukbasi | Charouz | 24 | + 6 Laps |
| RET | Logan Sargeant | Carlin | 12 | Engine |
| RET | Roberto Merhi | Campos | 10 | Mechanical |
| RET | Marcus Armstrong | Hitech GP | 0 | Collision |
| RET | Marino Sato | Virtuosi | 0 | Spin |
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