Roundup of the 12th round of 2022 F2 season as the title fight rumbled into Zandvoort, Netherlands.
Felipe Drugovich entered this round with a 43 point title lead over Theo Pourchaire and with 117 points left on offer with three rounds – including this round in Zandvoort – remaining of this season, the Brazilian knew that the title destiny was now in his own hands.
A dramatic weekend only further enhanced that fact with the title fight left virtually all but mathematically over by the conclusion of this round.
Now, here is a full roundup of the all the F2 action in Zandvoort, as the title fight began to draw towards its close.
Practice
Van Amersfoort Racing’s (VAR) Amaury Cordeel was first out on track as everyone ran the hard tyre compound, and set the initial benchmark time of 1m 25.210 in the ninth minute, ahead of Dennis Hauger, Ayumu Iwasa and Marcus Armstrong.
The red flag however was out a minute later after Cordeel’s teammate, David Beckmann spun off at Turn 13 but he recovered back to the pit lane without assistance, which led the session to resume nine minutes later after a sweep of the track to remove gravel.
Cordeel was again first out onto the circuit with DAMS’ Roy Nissany initially going top with 1m 24.297, only to be displaced by Jack Doohan who went 0.029 seconds quicker to head the Israelian driver after the latest round of fliers at the halfway mark of the session.
Vesti displaced Doohan with 1m 23.453 in the 25th minute but the Aussie hit back with 1m 23.133 to go back to the top of the timesheets.
Vesti then spun out at Turn 2 after getting onto the gravel as he tried to reclaim the fastest lap, which caused another red flag with the session resuming eight minutes later, as Cordeel again was first back onto the circuit.
A frantic finish ensured as everyone tried to improve their lap times but in the end, Doohan with three minutes left posted 1m 22.967 to finish fastest ahead of Iwasa, Felipe Drugovich, Liam Lawson, Dennis Hauger, Vesti, Logan Sargeant, Cordeel, Pourchaire and Richard Verschoor.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Jack Doohan | Virtuosi | 1m 22.967 |
| 2 | Ayumu Iwasa | DAMS | + 0.323 |
| 3 | Felipe Drugovich | MP Motorsport | + 0.402 |
| 4 | Liam Lawson | Carlin | + 0.435 |
| 5 | Dennis Hauger | PREMA | + 0.447 |
| 6 | Fredrik Vesti | ART GP | + 0.486 |
| 7 | Logan Sargeant | Carlin | + 0.496 |
| 8 | Amaury Cordeel | VAR | + 0.570 |
| 9 | Theo Pourchaire | ART GP | + 0.617 |
| 10 | Richard Verschoor | Trident | + 0.628 |
| 11 | Jehan Daruvala | PREMA | + 0.872 |
| 12 | David Beckmann | VAR | + 0.988 |
| 13 | Marino Sato | Virtuosi | + 1.003 |
| 14 | Juri Vips | Hitech GP | + 1.020 |
| 15 | Calan Williams | Trident | + 1.041 |
| 16 | Marcus Armstrong | Hitech GP | + 1.066 |
| 17 | Clement Novalak | MP Motorsport | + 1.110 |
| 18 | Olli Caldwell | Campos | + 1.159 |
| 19 | Roy Nissany | DAMS | + 1.330 |
| 20 | Ralph Boschung | Campos | + 1.509 |
| 21 | Enzo Fittipaldi | Charouz | + 1.641 |
| 22 | Tatiana Calderon | Charouz | + 2.857 |
Qualifying
VAR’s Beckmann and Cordeel led the field out onto the track as everyone ran the soft tyre, but it was Drugovich who set the initial benchmark time of 1m 21.915 in the sixth minute, although he was displaced by the in-form Doohan a minute later with 1m 21.760.
Pourchaire however brought out the first red flag with 21 minutes and 47s left on the clock as he crashed at Turn 3, having lost the rear-end of his ART GP car mid-corner which sent him into the barriers.
The session resumed 15 minutes later with Beckmann and Cordeel again leading the field out onto the track, from which Doohan proceeded to extend his provisional pole time to 1m 21.487 as Iwasa and Sargeant leap up to second and third respectively.
Both drivers then displaced Doohan in the 23rd minute, only for Drugovich to post a shock 1m 20.713 to go top, which Doohan eventually wasn’t able to match as he fell 0.226s short.
The red flag however was soon deployed again with 3m and 57s left on the clock after Daruvala spun out between Turns 7 and 8, although stewards opted to resume the session eight minutes later despite everyone having used the best of their tyres.
Some drivers decided to venture back out but there was ultimately no further improvement as Drugovich claimed pole and extended his title lead over Pourchaire to 45 points, having picked up the two bonus points for his fourth pole position of the season.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Felipe Drugovich | MP Motorsport | 1m 20.713 |
| 2 | Jack Doohan | Virtuosi | + 0.226 |
| 3 | Logan Sargeant | Carlin | + 0.528 |
| 4 | Richard Verschoor | Trident | + 0.529 |
| 5 | Ayumu Iwasa | DAMS | + 0.530 |
| 6 | Liam Lawson | Carlin | + 0.568 |
| 7 | Dennis Hauger | PREMA | + 0.634 |
| 8 | Juri Vips | Hitech GP | + 0.730 |
| 9 | Marcus Armstrong | Hitech GP | + 0.741 |
| 10 | Clement Novalak | MP Motorsport | + 0.846 |
| 11 | Frederik Vesti | ART GP | + 0.867 |
| 12 | Amaury Cordeel | VAR | + 0.906 |
| 13 | Enzo Fittipaldi | Charouz | + 1.020 |
| 14 | Roy Nissany | DAMS | + 1.025 |
| 15 | Marino Sato | Virtuosi | + 1.210 |
| 16 | Theo Pourchaire | ART GP | + 1.271 |
| 17 | Jehan Daruvala | PREMA | + 1.294 |
| 18 | David Beckmann | VAR | + 1.362 |
| 19 | Olli Caldwell | Campos | + 1.371 |
| 20 | Calan Williams | Trident | + 1.409 |
| 21 | Ralph Boschung | Campos | + 1.686 |
| 22 | Tatiana Calderon | Charouz | + 2.400 |
Sprint Race
At lights out, Armstrong jumped Novalak to claim the lead on the inside of Turn One whilst Hauger passed Vips via the low line of Turn Three for third with the latter then demoted to fifth by Lawson at Turns 11-12 chicane.
Verschoor meanwhile jumped Iwasa for sixth as Sargeant, Doohan and Drugovich rounded out the top ten, which stayed stable throughout the race as everyone struggled to get close enough for an overtake.
Further down the order, Pourchaire improved two positions to 14th but ran wide at Turn One on Lap Two, which dropped him to 21st, although he was soon elevated to 20th after Olli Caldwell crashed at the same corner two laps later but continued until he retired on Lap 13 with heating issues.
Up front, Armstrong kept Novalak at around one second behind him but the Safety Car was deployed on Lap 26 after Charouz’s Tatiana Calderon spun at Turn One.
The race resumed at the end of Lap 28 which led to an one-lap showdown as Armstrong fought off Novalak, Hauger, Lawson and Vips, whilst Iwasa passed round the outside of Verschoor into Turn One for sixth with Sargeant picking up the final point in eighth place.
In the driver standings, Drugovich extended his lead over Pourchaire to 46 points after claiming the point for fastest lap in this race as Pourchaire only finished 20th, whilst Armstrong climbed to 10th as a result of his victory.
| Position | Driver | Team | Laps | Time |
| 1 | Marcus Armstrong | Hitech GP | 29 | 43m 42.549 |
| 2 | Clement Novalak | MP Motorsport | 29 | + 0.880 |
| 3 | Dennis Hauger | PREMA | 29 | + 1.990 |
| 4 | Liam Lawson | Carlin | 29 | + 2.517 |
| 5 | Juri Vips | Hitech GP | 29 | + 3.026 |
| 6 | Ayumu Iwasa | DAMS | 29 | + 3.318 |
| 7 | Verschoor | Trident | 29 | + 4.268 |
| 8 | Logan Sargeant | Carlin | 29 | + 4.650 |
| 9 | Jack Doohan | Virtuosi | 29 | + 4.840 |
| 10 | Felipe Drugovich | MP Motorsport | 29 | + 5.458 |
| 11 | Frederik Vesti | ART GP | 29 | + 6.287 |
| 12 | Amaury Cordeel | VAR | 29 | + 6.719 |
| 13 | Enzo Fittipaldi | Charouz | 29 | + 7.416 |
| 14 | David Beckmann | VAR | 29 | + 8.103 |
| 15 | Roy Nissany | DAMS | 29 | + 8.940 |
| 16 | Jehan Daruvala | PREMA | 29 | + 9.719 |
| 17 | Ralph Boschung | Campos | 29 | + 9.818 |
| 18 | Calan Williams | Trident | 29 | + 10.445 |
| 19 | Marino Sato | Virtuosi | 29 | + 11.288 |
| 20 | Theo Pourchaire | ART GP | 29 | + 11.470 |
| RET | Tatiana Calderon | Charouz | 25 | Crash |
| RET | Olli Caldwell | Campos | 12 | Heating |
Feature Race
At lights out, Drugovich made a clean start to fend off Doohan who moved across to the outside line of Turn 1, only to lock up and forced Sargeant wide in taking evasive action as Hauger fought off Verschoor and Iwasa to go third.
Sargeant’s race however was ended at Turn 7 after he clipped a slowing Ralph Boschung, which sent the American hurtling straight on into the barriers but he escaped unhurt, which brought out the Safety Car under which Beckmann and Nissany collided after tangling with Sato.
The red flag however was waved on Lap 4 due to extensive barrier damage as Drugovich headed Doohan and Hauger, whilst Pourchaire improved three positions from 16th on the grid to 13th in the order at time of stoppage.
Racing resumed 23 minutes later under the Safety Car on Lap 5 with Drugovich then leading the field back to green flag racing, as he fought off Doohan whilst his teammate – Novalak squeezed Armstrong as he defended seventh position.
Those who started on the soft tyres soon began to pit with Doohan waiting until the end of Lap 12 before he made his first stop, with Drugovich following suit a lap later as he rejoined ahead of Doohan with the net lead as the Aussie got stuck behind Tatiana Calderon who hadn’t pitted.
Doohan passed Calderon on Lap 14 then swept round the high line of Turn 3 to pass Verschoor a lap later, after the Dutchman had initially rejoined in ninth between Drugovich and Doohan following his pit stop.
Lawson consequently inherited the lead but the Safety Car was deployed on Lap 17 after Marino Sato had crashed at Turn 2 on his outlap, as the result of a loose front-left tyre.
The Safety Car pitted at end of Lap 21 but Lawson decided to keep the pack bunched up through the final corner, which sparked chaos with multiple collision as Doohan got spun out whilst Novalak and Calderon were eliminated due to extensive damage as they dived for the pit lane.
Stewards swiftly sent the Safety Car back out in order to allow safe removal of Doohan’s Virtuosi and debris, with the race resuming on Lap 26 in a more orderly fashion, as Armstrong pitted straight away from second.
Pourchaire, Lawson and Vesti pitted in the following laps, which left Drugovich free to scramble away to his fifth victory of the season ahead of home hero, Verschoor as Ayumu Iwasa rounded out the podium ahead of Hauger and Fittipaldi.
Amaury Cordeel collected his first points in F2 with a sixth-placed finish ahead of Juri Vips, Beckmann, Caldwell and Pourchaire who rounded out the top ten.
Post-race, Beckmann and Nissany were both penalised 10s for their collision under the first Safety Car period, which dropped Beckmann from eighth to 13th and Nissany from 15th to 17th.
Nissany also was slapped with two penalty points which took his total points haul to 13, meaning that he is banned from racing in the next round at Monza, Italy next weekend.
In the driver standings, Drugovich now holds a 69 point lead over Pourchaire and can win the title in Italy, should he manage to keep his lead above 39 points by the conclusion of the Feature Race.
| Position | Driver | Team | Laps | Time |
| 1 | Felipe Drugovich | MP Motorsport | 38 | 1h 25m 22.484 |
| 2 | Richard Verschoor | Trident | 38 | + 2.405 |
| 3 | Ayumu Iwasa | DAMS | 38 | + 3.645 |
| 4 | Dennis Hauger | PREMA | 38 | + 6.947 |
| 5 | Enzo Fittipaldi | Charouz | 38 | + 7.987 |
| 6 | Amaury Cordeel | VAR | 38 | + 10.872 |
| 7 | Juri Vips | Hitech GP | 38 | + 12.400 |
| 8 | Olli Caldwell | Campos | 38 | + 14.609 |
| 9 | Theo Pourchaire | ART GP | 38 | + 15.562 |
| 10 | Jehan Daruvala | PREMA | 38 | + 17.281 |
| 11 | Calan Williams | Trident | 38 | + 18.499 |
| 12 | Liam Lawson | Carlin | 38 | + 20.264 |
| 13 | David Beckmann | VAR | 38 | + 23.196 |
| 14 | Marcus Armstrong | Hitech GP | 38 | + 25.601 |
| 15 | Frederik Vesti | ART GP | 38 | + 29.385 |
| 16 | Roy Nissany | DAMS | 38 | + 37.144 |
| 17 | Ralph Boschung | Campos | 38 | + 50.639 |
| 18 | Tatiana Calderon | Charouz | 21 | Collision |
| 19 | Clement Novalak | MP Motorsport | 21 | Collision |
| 20 | Jack Doohan | Virtuosi | 20 | Collision |
| 21 | Marino Sato | Virtuosi | 1 | Tyre |
| RET | Logan Sargeant | Carlin | 0 | Collision |
Leave a Reply