F2 Spa: Fittipaldi beats Verschoor in sprint race to score maiden win

The Rodin Carlin driver had scored eight podiums before finally taking his first victory in the series on Saturday in Belgium.

Having lined up third, he held position off the line behind poleman Jehan Daruvala (MP Motorsport) and Van Amersfoort Racing driver Richard Verschoor.

Though Daruvala initially took control, he was forced to retire on lap two after his headrest flew off, handing the lead to Verschoor.

Despite the Dutchman building a two second lead, Fittipaldi fought back, taking the lead into Les Combes on lap 16 with the help of DRS.

He immediately built over a second lead to ensure Verschoor would be unable to replicate the move, crossing the line for his maiden victory, with championship contender Theo Pourchaire in third for ART.

The start of the race was delayed by 35 minutes after the earlier Formula 1 sprint shootout was pushed back due to rain.

Joshua Mason, making his F2 debut for PHM Racing by Charouz this weekend, stalled on the grid, prompting a 10-second penalty for a start procedure infringement.

After a second formation lap, racing got underway, with Daruvala leading from Verschoor and Fittipaldi, while Pourchaire slotted into fourth after a good start.

Dennis Hauger had attempted to fire up the inside in his MP Motorsport but fell back again, before title contender Frederik Vesti (Prema) passed him for seventh at Les Combes.

Vesti then passed Campos driver Ralph Boschung on the Kemmel Straight for fifth, with Hauger following him through as Boschung struggled for grip.

Daruvala’s race ended on lap two after a bizarre incident involving his headrest which will be investigated after the race.

The safety car was then deployed after Virtuosi driver Amaury Courdeel spun and stalled at Stavelot.

Racing resumed on lap five, with Jack Doohan (Virtuosi) and Hitech driver Zane Maloney fighting over eighth, the latter emerging in front.

Verschoor was 1.4s clear of Fittipaldi by lap seven, with DAMS driver Ayumu Iwasa and Ollie Bearman (Prema) tussling for 10th at Les Combes, the Japanese driver holding the position.

Doohan then passed Maloney for eighth before passing Boschung on lap 10.

Verschoor was two seconds clear of Fittipaldi by lap 10, with Pourchaire another two seconds behind him in third.

Bearman and Leclerc tangled on lap 13 at Les Combes, with the Briton running onto the gravel and dropping back two places to 13th.

Up front, Fittipaldi was closing on Verschoor, the gap down to 1.2s by lap 14, while Pourchaire dropped off behind.

The gap was down to just 0.7s the following tour, with Fittipaldi finally making it past Verschoor into Les Combes with DRS on lap 16.

He managed to quickly build over a second's lead to break DRS, with Verschoor settling for second after late tyre struggles.

Hauger took fourth, with ART driver Victor Martins in fifth ahead of Doohan. Vesti finished sixth, with Iwasa, Boschung and Leclerc rounding out the top 10.

F2 Spa: Race 1 Results (17 laps): 

Pos	#	driver	Team	time	gap
1	4	Enzo Fittipaldi	Rodin Carlin	-
2	22	Richard Verschoor	Van Amersfoort Racing	2.3	2.300
3	5	Théo Pourchaire	ART Grand Prix	5.1	5.100
4	1	Dennis Hauger	MP Motorsport	5.9	5.900
5	6	Victor Martins	ART Grand Prix	6.7	6.700
6	14	Jack Doohan	Invicta Virtuosi Racing	12.7	12.700
7	7	Frederik Vesti	PREMA Racing	15.3	15.300
8	11	Ayumu Iwasa	DAMS	15.5	15.500
9	25	Ralph Boschung	Campos Racing	16.2	16.200
10	12	Arthur Leclerc	DAMS	18.4	18.400
11	3	Zane Maloney	Rodin Carlin	22.8	22.800
12	10	Isack Hadjar	Hitech Pulse-Eight	23.0	23.000
13	8	Oliver Bearman	PREMA Racing	26.0	26.000
14	16	Roy Nissany	PHM Racing by Charouz	26.9	26.900
15	9	Jak Crawford	Hitech Pulse-Eight	27.6	27.600
16	20	Roman Staněk	Trident	29.2	29.200
17	23	Juan Manuel Correa	Van Amersfoort Racing	31.3	31.300
18	21	Clement Novalak	Trident	55.6	55.600
19	24	Kush Maini	Campos Racing	57.4	57.400
20	17	Joshua Mason	PHM Racing by Charouz	1'42.4	1'42.400
-	2	Jehan Daruvala	MP Motorsport	15 laps
-	15	Amaury Cordeel	Invicta Virtuosi Racing	16 laps