Latifi imperious in Spa Sprint Race victory

Lando Norris (Carlin), Nicholas Latifi (DAMS), Alexander Albon (DAMS)
Lando Norris (Carlin), Nicholas Latifi (DAMS), Alexander Albon (DAMS)

Nicholas Latifi led from lights to flag for victory in the FIA Formula 2 Championship Sprint Race at Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium, converting a reverse-grid pole into his first win of 2018. Disappearing into the distance in the opening laps, Latifi was well ahead of a final-lap battle for second place, which was ultimately won by Carlin’s Lando Norris who was able to hold off Latifi’s DAMS teammate Alexander Albon – who joined the duo on the podium.

In cold, sunny conditions, Latifi enjoyed a strong getaway at the start as Feature Race winner Nyck de Vries rocketed off the line to swoop from eighth to third by the first corner. Meanwhile, Norris briefly surged ahead of Artem Markelov for fourth before dropping behind the Russian as Albon drew closer, as continued battles down the field made for a frenetic first lap. At the opening of the next lap, Latifi’s lead over second-placed Luca Ghiotto stood at 1.2s.

Norris was all over Markelov once more by the end of lap 2, and attempted to fire past on the Kemmel Straight – although the RUSSIAN TIME driver was resolute in his defense. The British driver kept pushing, and his persistence was rewarded two laps later as he found his way past on the back straight with DRS, while de Vries cannoned past Ghiotto ahead of them.

Although de Vries was quick, Latifi was able to extend his lead to 3.1s, while Ghiotto fell into the clutches of Norris and Markelov – both passing the Italian ahead of the race’s midpoint. Albon was next to challenge the Campos driver, having overcome the threat of championship leader George Russell earlier on in the race. A wide moment at Raidillon for Ghiotto on the tenth lap was all Albon needed to charge past, allowing the Thai driver to chase after Markelov.

Latifi seemed untouchable at the front, and despite de Vries’ best efforts the Canadian was able to keep his lead completely intact, before beginning to build it up even further in the final five laps. Further down the field, the action raged on; BWT Arden’s Maximilian Gunther had seemingly started to struggle with tire wear, and was easy pickings for the trio of Tadasuke Makino, Louis Deletraz and Arjun Maini before retreating to the pitlane.

With three laps remaining, de Vries had fallen five seconds behind Latifi, and was beginning to drop back towards the chasing Norris. Albon, meanwhile, had passed Markelov to begin his pursuit of Norris – bringing the Russian in tow to set up a thrilling final-lap showdown for second position. De Vries was in an uncomfortable position as the three cars behind him hunted him down with DRS, and the PREMA driver lost places to both Norris and Albon into Les Combes.

Albon wasn’t quite done, and was immediately looking to cruise past Norris into the downhill run to Bruxelles. However, he had to concede defeat as Norris was inch perfect in keeping Albon at bay, and the pair crossed the line 10 seconds behind Latifi. De Vries managed to hang on from the advances of Markelov on the final lap, while Ghiotto was a further 8.7s behind the pair. Russell was seventh, beating Maini who had masterminded a late surge to eighth to dispatch Sergio Sette Camara late on.

In the Drivers’ Championship, Russell’s lead to Norris has been slashed to just five points, with the leader sitting on 188 points. Albon remains third with 161 points. Carlin continue to lead the Teams’ Championship with 307 points, with ART Grand Prix second on 249. DAMS are third with 216. The next round will take place at Monza, Italy next weekend from the 31 August – 2 September.

Results

POS DRIVER TEAM LAPS BEHIND
1 Nicholas Latifi DAMS 18 0.000s
2 Lando Norris Carlin 18 10.402s
3 Alexander Albon DAMS 18 10.766s
4 Nyck de Vries Pertamina Prema Theodore Racing 18 13.210s
5 Artem Markelov RUSSIAN TIME 18 13.448s
6 Luca Ghiotto Campos Vexatec Racing 18 22.179s
7 George Russell ART Grand Prix 18 23.357s
8 Arjun Maini Trident 18 31.864s
9 Sergio Sette Camara Carlin 18 33.578s
10 Jack Aitken ART Grand Prix 18 34.567s
11 Tadasuke Makino RUSSIAN TIME 18 40.032s
12 Ralph Boschung MP Motorsport 18 40.100s
13 Louis Deletraz Charouz Racing System 18 42.899s
14 Roy Nissany Campos Vexatec Racing 18 44.631s
15 Alessio Lorandi Trident 18 52.568s
16 Maximilian Gunther BWT Arden 18 55.305s
17 Nirei Fukuzumi BWT Arden 18 59.007s
18 Dorian Boccolacci MP Motorsport 18 1m00.115s
19 Antonio Fuoco Charouz Racing System 18 1m06.936s
Sean Gelael Pertamina Prema Theodore Racing 2 Retirement

Drivers' standings

POS DRIVER POINTS
1 George Russell 188
2 Lando Norris 183
3 Alexander Albon 161
4 Nyck de Vries 153
5 Artem Markelov 128
6 Sergio Sette Camara 124
7 Antonio Fuoco 112
8 Luca Ghiotto 89
9 Louis Deletraz 62
10 Jack Aitken 61
11 Nicholas Latifi 55
12 Maximilian Gunther 41
13 Roberto Merhi 41
14 Sean Gelael 29
15 Arjun Maini 24
16 Tadasuke Makino 20
17 Ralph Boschung 13
18 Nirei Fukuzumi 11
19 Santino Ferrucci 7
20 Roy Nissany 1
21 Alessio Lorandi 0
22 Dorian Boccolacci 0

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