Ghiotto closes out F2 season with Abu Dhabi Sprint Race win

Luca Ghiotto scored a swansong Formula 2 victory in the final race of the 2019 season in Abu Dhabi on Sunday, but could not beat Formula 1-bound Nicholas Latifi to second place in the final standings.

Ghiotto grabbed the lead from reverse grid pole-sitter Giuliano Alesi in the opening stages before pulling clear of DAMS rival Latifi, surviving two Virtual Safety Car periods and some front tyre concerns to cross the line seven seconds clear of the field.

It marked Ghiotto's fifth and final victory in F2, having already confirmed he will move into sports car racing for 2020. Ghiotto made his FIA World Endurance Championship debut earlier this year with Ginetta, but is yet to formalise a program.

The result gave Ghiotto a chance of grabbing second place in the final standings, but Latifi managed to hold on to second to secure P2 by seven points ahead of his move into F1 for 2020 with Williams.

Latifi's DAMS teammate, Sergio Sette Camara, followed his Feature Race victory up with a charge through the field to take third place from P8 ono the grid. He ends the year P4 in the standings behind Ghiotto, securing enough Super Licence points in the process.

Callum Ilott took fourth in his final start for Sauber Junior Team by Charouz ahead of Alesi and Louis Deletraz, while Nobuharu Matsushita and Guanyu Zhou rounded out the points-paying positions.

2019 champion Nyck de Vries finished a lowly 13th, making Abu Dhabi his only scoreless round of the season.

The 2020 Formula 2 season gets underway in Sakhir, Bahrain on March 21.