Liam Lawson has taken a commanding victory in the Formula 2 Sprint race at Spa-Francorchamps.
The New Zealander took to the grass yet still rise to second off the start, moving into the lead soon after.
Once out front, the Red Bull driver never looked back, dominating the race to win from Jack Doohan and Ralph Boschung.
Starting on pole, Boschung had an easy run into the opening turn.
He’d been left solo on the front row after Jehan Daruvala struck trouble en route to the grid, leaving the Swiss driver an unmolested run into La Source.
In the pack, an aggressive start from Lawson saw him take to the grass to avoid contact, claiming second place by the time the field reached the first corner.
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Richard Verschoor held on to third after running three-wide down the Kemmel straight with Jack Doohan slotting in fourth ahead of Theo Pourchaire.
With a good run out of La Source at the start of Lap 2, Lawson eased by Boschung to claim the lead under braking into Les Combes.
After a busy opening two laps, the race then quickly settled down, the front two just easing clear of Verschoor in third.
Running fourth, Doohan was tucked up behind Verschoor, claiming third into Les Combes on Lap 6.
At the end of the lap, Lawson held a 1.3s advantage over Boschung while Doohan was 2.6s further back, the Australian extending a 1.6s advantage in two-thirds of a lap over the fading Verschoor.
A mistake from Logan Sargeant saw the American driver spin out a Pouhon on Lap 10, clouting the barrier to draw the Safety Car.
Running sixth, championship leader Felipe Drugovich headed into the pits for a switch to the soft compound tyres.
He was not alone but was the highest placed runner to make the bold call with just six laps remaining.
It saw the Brazilian rejoin in 12th as Lawson continued to lead from Boschung, Doohan, Verschoor, Pourchaire, and Marcus Armstrong.
Racing resumed at the end of Lap 14, leaving those on fresh option tyres four laps to make progress – Drugovich’s engineer predicting a four-second pace advantage over those ahead.
Lawson made a strong restart to sit well clear of Boschung, holding a 1.3s advantage by the time the field reached La Source.
The race leader all but disappeared at the front, holding a 2.4s lead at the end of Lap 15.
With two laps remaining, Drugovich had stormed up to sixth, regaining the spot he’d held before his pit stop under the Safety Car.
That became fifth at the chicane at the end of the lap as he moved beyond Armstrong, quickly closing up on Verschoor as they began the final tour.
Ahead, Doohan claimed second under braking into Les Combes, moving around the outside of Boschung.
Three corners later, Drugovich was through on Verschoor to climb to fourth.
In the lead, Lawson won at a canter from Doohan, Boschung holding on to third ahead of the charging Drugovich.
However, the Brazilian faces a post-race investigation for leaving the track and gaining an advantage at Les Combes when overtaking Juri Vips earlier in the race.
The result marked Lawson’s third win of the year, and his second Sprint race success having taken out the opening race in Saudi Arabia in March.
The Formula 2 weekend concludes the Feature race on Sunday, starting from 18:20 AEST.
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