Logan Sargeant picks up his maiden F2 pole position after dominating Friday’s qualifying session.
Sargeant hit the ground running at Silverstone. After leading the way as fastest driver on track in Free Practice, his trajectory continued upwards with him posting a time of 1m 38.432s in qualifying – over a tenth clear of Vesti in P2.
In the post-qualifying press conference the American notes that
“This track just suits me. Every time I come here, I seem to be quick”.
Logan Sargeant- Post Quali Press conference
No only did he out-qualify his ART team mate, P2 marks Frederik Vesti’s best qualifying result so far this season; Following his maiden F2 win in Baku, the current run of form of the Mercedes junior is very promising.
“I’m working really hard to make it more consistent in Qualifying because starting ahead in the races is just so much easier”
Frederik Vesti – Post Quali Press Conference
Drugovich’s qualifying looked to be a game of two halves. After running wide off track earlier in the session, he redeemed himself by posting a lap time of, placing him in P3, his highest qualifying position since Monaco. The Brazilian set an identical time to his nearest championship rival – Theo Pourchaire – however secured P3 after setting the lap time first.
Sprint Race
For the first time in the Formula 2 2022 season, we saw a wet race for the drivers. We also had a reduced race due the rain after the cars followed the safety car for the formation lap which equated to 2 laps around the track before eventually starting with a rolling start. The first lap was calm with many drivers playing it safe and wanting to watch their tyres on a ever changing track. All drivers except for Jake Hughes, who was the only driver to capitalise and gain a place in the opening lap.
As the track continued to dry and drivers complained of overheating wet tyres, Doohan was finding a rhythm. He took third from Jüri Vips into Village on Lap Five, diving down the inside and claiming the place.
Daruvala had already been complaining of graining rear tyres and Fittipaldi took full advantage. He dived to the inside of the final corner with more grip to take the lead. Doohan was soon through as well at his favourite passing place in Village.
Ayumu Iwasa has been a consistent driver moving up positions in all races this season, saw the opportunity to over take Vips for 5th and then he was through on Daruvala into the Vale chicane at the end of that lap too. So strong was his pace in the drying conditions it created oppotunities to get closer to the podium.
Around lap seven gave Doohan an opportunity to pass Enzo Fittipaldi to secure the lead; after the Brazilian went a bit too deep. The following lap Fittipaldi went a bit too wide allowing Iwasa to move into the P2 spot.
Iwasa was the quickest man on track in the closing laps and he was rapidly closing in on Doohan.
Entering the final lap, the gap stood at 1.8s. The Japanese driver was pushing hard, going sideways on corner exit multiple times but just couldn’t close the gap in time. Doohan claimed his maiden victory by just 0.9s across the line over Iwasa, having led by four seconds at the midway stage.
Fittipaldi held off Pourchaire to claim his second podium of the season while Drugovich ended up four seconds behind his closest rival in the Championship in P5. Vesti and Sargeant followed in sixth and seventh while Daruvala’s disappointing race ended with P8 after starting on pole. Armstrong and Verschoor rounded out the top 10.
After the race Jack Doohan had this to say:
“I just won my first Formula 2 race, so I’m absolutely stoked! Difficult day yesterday but we kept cool and stayed positive. The conditions were tricky, but it was key those first few laps to keep it smooth and calm because we knew the track was going to be drying, there was going to be a lot of track evolution and luckily, we did that. But it’s only a Sprint Race so all eyes ahead for tomorrow.”
Jack Doohan – Post Sprint rave press conference
What can we expect for tomorrow?
Formula 2 feature race takes place at 10:05 local time, sees Logan Sargent starting from pole. Will it be another wet race?
Currently in the championship Felipe Drugovich’s lead is down to 48 points, dropping a single point to Pourchaire after the sprint race. The Brazilian is now on 136 and the ART driver now has 88 points. Daruvala and Sargeant remain in third and fourth places with 74 and 63 points respectively. Fittipaldi moves up to fifth with 56 points.
In the Teams’ Standings, MP Motorsport is now on 158 points in the lead from ART, who move back into second place on 132 points. PREMA now slips back to third, on 129 points.
Who do you think will win the feature race? Will the American of Logan Sargent convert his pole to podium? Let us know in the comments!