Piastri extends F2 points lead with comfortable Sochi feature race win
Starting from pole position, Piastri made a fantastic start as he retained his lead into the opening sequence of corners.
Piastri and Theo Pourchaire were in a league of their own on race day, finishing over 10s clear of Carlin’s Jehan Daruvala.
While it was a fairly uneventful race in Sochi, the battle for the lead came down to the pit stop phase.
Piastri pit for new tyres on Lap 9, while Pourchaire stopped a lap later, rejoining just ahead of the Australian.
Due to his cold tyres, Piastri was able to get back ahead of the ART Grand Prix driver to reclaim his lead.
From that moment onwards, Piastri controlled the race from the front, taking the win by 1.9s.
It was a lonely race for Daruvala in the end but he spent several laps battling Campos’ Ralph Boschung.
During their battle, Boschung flat-spotted his tyres which ultimately led to his retirement as he picked up a puncture on Lap 26.
Before that, Boschung was already dropping down the field with Robert Shwartzman, Dan Ticktum and Guanyu Zhou all overtaking him.
Shwartzman finished fourth as he continues to close in on Zhou for second in the championship, while Ticktum finished fifth.
Zhou was sixth, losing more ground to Piastri in the race for the title.
Completing the top 10 in Sochi was Liam Lawson, Richard Verschoor, Christian Lundgaard and David Beckmann.
