Felipe Drugovich takes commanding victory in F2 feature race

Drugovich leads the field in Jeddah — Photo: © LAT Images

F2 Saudi Arabia

Drugovich takes commanding victory in F2 feature race

The Brazilian is the fourth winner from four races

Topher Smith

Sunday 27 March 2022 16:40 Updated: 16:58

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Felipe Drugovich dominated the F2 feature race from pole position in Saudi Arabia to claim his first win of the season.

The result gives the MP Motorsport driver the championship lead after the opening two rounds by 11 points from Carlin's Liam Lawson who suffered a botched pit stop.

The victory means Drugovich is the fourth winner in as many races following the opening two rounds of the campaign.

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After the original start was aborted, leading to an extra formation lap, Drugovich held off the attack of Trident's Richard Verschoor into turn one.

Sprint race winner Lawson, meanwhile, jumped Campos' Ralph Boschung and Hitech's Marcus Armstrong on the opening lap to rise from fifth on the grid to third.

The race then settled into an early rhythm as Drugovich maintained the lead ahead of Verschoor and Lawson, while behind them Boschung lost further places as the DAMS of Ayumu Iwasa surged past under DRS before the Hitech of Vips also went through.

There was drama for Lawson during the pit stop phase as he came to a stop at the pit exit with a loose wheel, ending the New Zealander's run of podiums this season.

PREMA's Dennis Hauger assumed the lead through the early pit stops after starting on the medium tyre as opposed to the soft, with the MP Motorsport of Clement Novalak running second on the same strategy.

Hauger finally surrendered his lead at the end of lap 22 as he came in for soft tyres, hoping to use the fresh rubber to rise back up the order as Drugovich retook the lead of the race.

From there the Brazilian controlled the pace and crossed the line to secure the win, while Verschoor came home for his second podium of the season.

The PREMA of Jehan Daruvala completed a strong drive to convert 14th on the grid to the final spot on the podium, while team-mate Hauger ended sixth after his alternate strategy.