Matsushita claims Carlin’s first F2 win in over a year

Nobuharu Matsushita took victory in the FIA Formula 2 Austria feature race to claim Carlin’s first win in over a year.

The Honda Formula 1 junior expertly managed his tyre-life to surge up the order, before passing F2 points leader Nyck de Vries late on to seal his first win in the series since 2017, while Carlin registered its first victory since the 2018 Bahrain opener.

Luca Ghiotto followed Matsushita in passing de Vries in the closing stages to finish second, with the ART Grand Prix driver rounding out the podium in third place.

Reigning GP3 champion Anthoine Hubert continued his fine recent form to take fourth, ahead of Sergio Sette Camara, who finished third on the road but was demoted to fifth following a time penalty for colliding with DAMS teammate Nicholas Latifi.

Early in the race Camara clipped the back of Latifi’s car at Turn 3 and sent the F2 title hopeful spinning, before the Canadian driver recovered to finish ninth.

Renault F1 protege Guanyu Zhou was sixth for UNI-Virtuosi despite encountering a gearbox issue, with Carlin’s Louis Deletraz finishing seventh.

MP Motorsport’s Jordan King will start Sunday’s sprint race from reverse grid pole after he claimed eighth, while Latifi and Campos Racing driver Jack Aitken completed the top 10.