Austria Grand Prix – F2 Sprint Race: Crawford wins ahead of Martins and Novalak
With changing weather conditions, Jack Crawford managed to overcome all the obstacles and come out on top. Behind him, 4 Frenchmen are following: Martins in 2nd place, Novalak in 3rd place, and Hadjar in 4th place.

On a wet track, the drivers’ tire choices are not the same: Vesti and Pourchaire opt for intermediate tires while Victor Martins goes for slicks. The strategies are going to prove crucial.
Jack Crowford takes off from the pole position ahead of Daruvala and Arthur Leclerc.
Leclerc overtakes Daruvala as soon as the lights go out and attacks Crawford: the Monegasque takes the lead of the race. Behind, Jack Doohan makes a mistake just like Daruvala. The safety car is deployed.
These are the drivers with rain tires who had the best grip at the start. Pourchaire is in 2nd place when the safety car intervenes. Vesti closely follows in 3rd position.
But under safety car, some drivers go into the pit lane: Forchaire and Vesti in particular, switch to dry tires. Leclerc keeps his wet tires, just like Richard Verschoor who takes second place with the pit stops of others.
The race resumes on the 5th lap. Arthur Leclerc relaunches perfectly. At the exit of the first turn, Verschoor, who was in 2nd place, crashes his car into the wall, and once again, the safety car is deployed. Immediately, Leclerc goes to the pits to switch to dry tires.
The one who is impressing is Zane Maloney, the young Red Bull driver: starting 15th, he is 3rd after 6 laps.
The safety car pulls in at the end of the 7th lap with Crawford leading. There is a pile up at turn 3 and Martins takes advantage, moving into 3rd place. Hadjar, starting from 21st, is in 4th place in his Hitech, a great strategy for the French driver. Maloney falls to last place after entering the pits to change his tires. As for Novalak, he is doing well in the early stages of the race, battling with Hadjar at the front.
At the halfway point, Jack Crawford increases the gap with Correa. Victor Martins takes advantage of this to overtake him and take second place. On the 14th lap, he is two seconds behind Crawford.
The favorites for the championships are a little further back: Vesti is in 12th place, ahead of Pourchaire in 15th.
On the 18th lap, the French put on a show. Novalak and Hadjar overtake Correa and take the 3rd and 4th place respectively. At the same time, Fittipaldi is pushed off by Kush Maini and has to retire. Virtual safety car deployed.
At the resumption of the race, Théo Pourchaire is given a 5-second penalty for an “unsafe release” with Oliver Bearman. This does not affect the Frenchman’s race, as he is far from scoring any points.
In the last laps, Jack Crawford holds strong over Martins. Hauger manages to grab 7th place in the final lap, impressive pace from the Norwegian driver.
Crawford wins this sprint race without ever being challenged. Victor Martins finishes 2nd followed by Clément Novalak in 3rd. Isack Hadjar finishes just behind in 4th place. 3 French drivers are in the top 4.
No leader scores any points. You will have to be present tomorrow morning to see them fight. Vesti and Pourchaire will start 2nd and 3rd behind Martins.