Champion Piastri beats F1-bound Zhou in F2 Abu Dhabi finale

Piastri had already secured this year’s drivers’ title in the first sprint race of the weekend so had nothing to lose going into the final 33 laps of the season.

The Prema driver retained the lead on the opening lap ahead of Zhou, who was dicing with Jack Doohan - who started on the harder tyre as he looked to do the alternate strategy. 

Zhou and Doohan went side-by-side through Turn 9 and the exit of the corner, with the latter running off the circuit.

As Doohan rejoined, he spun into the barriers resulting in an early Safety Car period.

Right behind them, Shwartzman got back ahead of Liam Lawson into Turn 9 with a late lunge.

It was nearly a carbon copy for Lawson - who like Doohan - ran wide on the approach to Turn 10, spinning 360 degrees before continuing in seventh after rejoining the circuit. 

Once the race got back underway, Piastri led Zhou and Shwartzman - all three drivers started on the softest rubber meaning they’d pit early.

Shwartzman stopped on Lap 8, while Piastri and Zhou responded a lap later for medium tyres - with the order remaining unchanged.

Theo Pourchaire and Felipe Drugovich were ones to watch as they started on the mediums, opting for the alternate strategy.

The duo’s impressive pace meant they had a serious shot at the podium as they made their mandatory pit stops on Lap 28 and Lap 29 respectively.

A slow stop by ART Grand Prix allowed Drugovich to get ahead of Pourchaire, although due to the difficulties in getting the tyres up to temperature, the Frenchman was able to overtake.

Shwartzman struggled with his tyres in the closing laps as he dropped from third to fifth, losing out to Drugovich who got back ahead of Pourchaire.

Piastri secured his sixth victory of the season ahead of Zhou - who finishes the season third overall in the drivers’ championship.

Drugovich, Pourchaire and Shwartmzan complete the top five, with the Russian ending the season as vice-champion behind teammate Piastri.

Dan Ticktum continued his impressive run of consistent results with sixth - his final race in the series before making the switch to Formula E.

Marcus Armstrong was on the alternate strategy as well and finished seventh ahead of Juri Vips, Ralph Boschung and Richard Verschoor.

Click here for the full FIA Formula 2 feature race results from Abu Dhabi