Fourth on the grid, third at the end of the opening lap and in the lead after three laps. Robert Shwartzman had a great drive, soon pulling out a comfortable lead, crossing the line after the 18 laps with a 9 second advantage over Prema and Ferrari Driver Academy (FDA) team-mate Mick Schumacher. “It’s great to be winning again, I’d missed that feeling for a while!” commented Shwartzman. “Today’s race went well after I got a good start. Then the two ahead of me collided and I managed to get by easily. After that, I concentrated on building a good lead and managing the tyres. The car was perfect and I also got the fastest race lap, which adds a few more championship points to my total.”
Leading the championship. At the end of the Belgian round, Shwartzman, the first driver to take three wins this season, now leads the classification on 132 points, ten more than Callum Ilott who had a very unlucky Sunday. The English FDA driver started tenth and was hit and spun round on the opening lap by Yuki Tsunoda, for which Carlin’s Japanese driver was given a 5 second penalty, putting an end to Ilott’s race.
Positive weekend. Schumacher had an excellent weekend in Belgium. The German did not make the best of starts from sixth on the grid, but staged a brilliant climb up the order, all the way to the runner-up spot for his second podium finish of the weekend. “It was a shame about the start,” commented Schumacher. “But I rolled up my sleeves and lap after lap I managed to move up the order. In the end I got a good result, which confirms that along with the team, we are performing consistently. That is definitely very important for the rest of the season.” Schumacher consolidated his fourth place in the championship, 26 points down on the leader, Shwartzman.
To Monza. Marcus Armstrong’s Sunday did not go well, forced to retire after just nine laps, while Giuliano Alesi moved up from 18th on the grid, finishing 14th and missing out on the top 10 by just a second. The long F2 season continues next weekend at the high speed Monza circuit.