F2: Shwartzman beats Vips to win opener

For the second time in as many rounds, Robert Shwartzman was the Sprint Race 1 winner in Formula 2. The Russian put in the hard yards at the start to jump from fourth to first, before going on to control the race at Silverstone.

Reverse polesitter Christian Lundgaard fell to third after a tricky start, watching on as both Shwartzman and Jüri Vips clambered ahead of him when the lights went out. The trio crossed the line in that order, carefully navigating four Safety Cars.

Finishing fourth, Felipe Drugovich took UNI-Virtuosi’s only points of the morning after Guanyu Zhou spun out on Lap 1 – a retirement that cost the Chinese driver the Championship lead. Piastri moves to first in the standings after he followed up his pole lap in Qualifying with a sixth-place finish, behind Théo Pourchaire.

Piastri takes the Championship lead for the first time this season, with 83 points, two ahead of his PREMA teammate Shwartzman. The Russian has jumped to second, with Zhou dropping to third, stuck on 78. Vips is in fourth with 75 and Ticktum is fifth with 61.

In the Teams’ Championship, PREMA are first with 164 points. Hitech and UNI-Virtuosi are tied in second with 127 points, although the former are ahead on countback. Carlin are fourth with 114 and ART fifth with 89.

Race Results