Mugello F2: Renault junior Lundgaard routs field for sprint race win

Renault junior Christian Lundgaard controlled proceedings in the final Formula 2 race of the weekend at Mugello to take his second victory of the season.

Lundgaard was leading Saturday’s feature race from pole position before two late safety car periods produced chaotic scenes that resulted in the ART Grand Prix driver been shuffled down to sixth place.

He immediately bounced back at the start of the reverse-grid race by charging past Red Bull junior Juri Vips and reverse-grid polesitter Artem Markelov to vault from third on the grid into the race lead.

As Markelov held up the chasing pack, Lundgaard sprinted clear out front and established an early race advantage that he’d maintain all the way to the chequered flag.

It caps off a successful day for Renault juniors after Lundgaard’s Renault stablemate Oscar Piastri clinched the FIA Formula 3 title in the last race of the season earlier on Sunday.

Haas Formula 1 reserve driver Louis Deletraz made his way from sixth on the grid to third place on the opening lap and passed Markelov around the outside of the first corner on the sixth lap to move into second place.

Charouz Racing System’s Deletraz was unable to make an impression on Lundgaard’s lead but did secure his second podium of the weekend – the first time he has scored a double-podium in his four years in the series.

DAMS’ Vips completed the podium positions to earn his maiden F2 podium in only his third weekend deputising for the injured Sean Gelael.

Mick Schumacher had a muted run to fourth place to extend his lead at the top of the drivers’ championship, while Hitech GP pair Nikita Mazepin and Luca Ghiotto came to blows behind him.

Mazepin, the winner of yesterday’s feature race, locked up at Turn 1 whilst defending from Ghiotto and slid into his team-mate.

A virtual safety car was required to recover Ghiotto’s stricken car while Mazepin pitted from fifth place just as the race restarted for repairs and his misery was compounded when he was slapped with a 10-second penalty.

Renault junior Guanyu Zhou charged from 20th on the grid to finish in fifth place, just behind his ex-Formula 3 team-mate Schumacher.

Zhou’s UNI-Virtuosi team-mate Callum Ilott, who lost the points lead to Schumacher on Saturday, finished in sixth place from 12th on the grid.

Carlin’s Jehan Daruvala pipped reigning Euroformula Open champion Marino Sato to seventh place by just 0.037 seconds, but eighth place still marks Sato’s first points finish in F2.

Red Bull and Honda protege Yuki Tsunoda lost a likely points finish after breaking his front wing following contact with MP Motorsport’s Felipe Drugovich at the Luco left-hand.

DAMS’ Dan Ticktum, who made contact with Tsunoda in the feature race was forced to pit for repairs on the opening lap after tangling with Prema’s Robert Shwartzman.

Shwartzman’s charge from the back of the grid was curtailed by a trip through the gravel whilst fighting for a place just outside the points with fellow Ferrari junior Marcus Armstrong (ART).

F2 Mugello sprint race results – 23 laps

POS	DRIVER	TEAM	GAP
1	Christian Lundgaard	ART Grand Prix	37m51.980s
2	Louis Deletraz	Charouz Racing System	14.321s
3	Juri Vips	DAMS	14.870s
4	Mick Schumacher	Prema Racing	18.018s
5	Guanyu Zhou	UNI-Virtuosi	18.382s
6	Callum Ilott	UNI-Virtuosi	24.421s
7	Jehan Daruvala	Carlin	26.264s
8	Marino Sato	Trident	26.301s
9	Robert Shwartzman	Prema Racing	31.425s
10	Roy Nissany	Trident	32.942s
11	Marcus Armstrong	ART Grand Prix	34.902s
12	Pedro Piquet	Charouz Racing System	35.040s
13	Jack Aitken	Campos Racing	35.254s
14	Nobuharu Matsushita	MP Motorsport	36.983s
15	Felipe Drugovich	MP Motorsport	39.072s
16	Guilherme Samaia	Campos Racing	48.433s
17	Dan Ticktum	DAMS	48.483s
18	Nikita Mazepin	Hitech Grand Prix	50.793s
19	Yuki Tsunoda	Carlin	1m09.649s
20	Artem Markelov	BWT HWA RACELAB	1m21.885s
–	Luca Ghiotto	Hitech Grand Prix	Retirement
–	Giuliano Alesi	BWT HWA RACELAB	Retirement