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.

Robert Shwartzman; during sprint race 1 of Round 4:Silverstone of the Formula 2 Championship at Silverstone on July 17, 2021 in Northampton, England. (Photo by Lars Baron/Getty Images)

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.

L to R: Robert Shwartzman, Juri Vips and Christian Lundgaard (Photo by Joe Portlock – Formula 1/Formula Motorsport Limited via Getty Images)

Race Results

Pos Driver Team Laps Behind Gap
1 Robert Shwartzman Prema Powerteam 21 0.000s 0.000s
2 Jüri Vips HitechGP 21 0.900s 0.900s
3 Christian Lundgaard ART Grand Prix 21 2.500s 2.500s
4 Felipe Drugovich UNI-Virtuosi 21 5.000s 5.000s
5 Theo Pourchaire ART Grand Prix 21 5.500s 5.500s
6 Oscar Piastri Prema Powerteam 21 8.400s 8.400s
7 Liam Lawson HitechGP 21 11.600s 11.600s
8 Dan Ticktum Carlin 21 12.300s 12.300s
9 Marcus Armstrong DAMS 21 12.700s 12.700s
10 Richard Verschoor MP Motorsport 21 13.600s 13.600s
11 Lirim Zendeli MP Motorsport 21 14.200s 14.200s
12 Jehan Daruvala Carlin 21 16.600s 16.600s
13 David Beckmann Charouz Racing System 21 17.200s 17.200s
14 Ralph Boschung Campos Racing 21 19.300s 19.300s
15 Matteo Nannini Campos Racing 21 20.100s 20.100s
16 Bent Viscaal Trident 21 21.000s 21.000s
17 Jack Aitken HWA Racelab 21 22.600s 22.600s
18 Marino Sato Trident 17 4 laps
19 Guilherme Samaia Charouz Racing System 11 10 laps
20 Alessio Deledda HWA Racelab 3 18 laps
21 Roy Nissany DAMS 0
22 Guanyu Zhou UNI-Virtuosi 0