Shwartzman charges to victory in Hungary F2 opener

Ferrari Formula 1 protege Robert Shwartzman rose from 11th on the grid to claim his second consecutive feature race victory in the FIA Formula 2 championship in Hungary.

The Prema driver had only qualified 11th after being caught out by a red flag during a wet qualifying session on Friday, but recovered through the order by running on an alternative tyre strategy.

It allowed Shwartzman to overcome Nikita Mazepin, who was on his own recovery charge from 16th, as the Hitech Grand Prix racer finished some 15.5s behind his fellow countryman after pitting one lap later than his chief rival.

Mick Schumacher completed the podium in third to make it a Prema 1-3, ahead of Luca Ghiotto and Felipe Drugovich, who sealed fifth for MP Motorsport thanks to a last-lap move.

Red Bull-backed Jehan Daruvala was sixth ahead of the close trio of Louis Deletraz, polesitter Callum Ilott and fellow Briton and Williams F1 junior Dan Ticktum.

Renault protege Guanyu Zhou dropped down the order and could only manage to claim the final point on offer in 10th, however, he will start from reverse grid pole for Sunday’s sprint race when the top-10 finishers are switched around.

F2 frontrunning pair Christian Lundgaard and Marcus Armstrong suffered a nightmare race for ART Grand Prix, with the former finishing well down the order after breaking his front wing and puncturing his tyre after contact with Ghiotto.

Armstrong was caught up when attempting to take avoiding action of the out of control Artem Markelov, both of whom were forced into retirement.

"I had a different strategy which worked out really good," said race-winner Shwartzman. "Every lap was on the limit [on the medium tyres].

“When I came out of the pits I locked up – that was unacceptable, but I had much fresher tyres. I had a massive vibration [from the flat spots]."