It was a weekend of smiles all round in Abu Dhabi for Carlin’s FIA Formula Two team as the 2022 season drew to a dramatic conclusion. Liam Lawson claimed his fourth win of the season in Saturday’s Sprint Race, Logan Sargeant finished perfectly to secure a super licence and subsequent Formula One seat and the joint Carlin team effort ensured they took the runner’s up spot in the team standings.
After a long break in the season, the F2 championship got back underway this weekend in Abu Dhabi with the team’s title still up for grabs. Carlin, coming into the weekend in third position, put themselves in a solid position following qualifying on Friday with Sargeant sitting sixth and Lawson ninth. This gave them both good positions for the Sprint Race on Saturday.
Lawson started well from the front row of the grid while Sargeant took a far more cautious approach as he weighed up the pressure on his shoulders to finish well to gain the necessary points for a Super Licence. However, a red flag came out in the opening stages following a heavy crash into the barriers for Jehan Daruvala and Enzo Fittipaldi; thankfully the pair were ok, but the same couldn’t be said for the barriers which needed extensive repairs.
When the race was able to resume, Lawson saw to making his move, holding nothing back he began to pile the pressure on Richard Verschoor and by lap ten had him nicely within the DRS window where he was able to make an incredible late breaking move to sweep into the lead of the race.
Sargeant continued to drive well within himself and was running in sixth position and holding off Jack Doohan behind; the Carlin driver maintained his position well to cross the line sixth taking all-important points. At the very front, Lawson had pulled a fantastic lead over Verschoor and came home to take his fourth victory of the season – moving him up in the standings as a result.
Sunday: the final Feature Race of the 2022 season. As the lights extinguished Lawson got the better start of the Carlin duo and soon came up against Sargeant as he looked to add to his earlier win. The Carlin pair ran wheel to wheel with Lawson taking the position cleanly from Sargeant at turn six.
The pit stops came soon after as those on soft tyres, the majority of the field, made the switch to the medium compound. Lawson pitted first, followed by Sargeant a couple of laps later; both stops were superbly clean for the Carlin pit crew with Lawson’s even seeing him undercut Theo Pourchaire in the process.
From there, the race settled until the final pit stops came for those on the alternate strategy. Lawson by this point had secured himself a podium position in third, while Sargeant was fifth on the road – easily more than enough to guarantee him everything he needed for the coveted Formula One super licence.
The incredible team effort saw Carlin clinch second overall in the team standings, Lawson ended the season third and Sargeant fourth; with the latter being officially confirmed as a 2023 Williams F1 driver.
The Carlin team will be out later this week for official post-season testing with their line-up to be confirmed shortly.
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