Norris and Russell battle through pack to set up sprint finish
FORMULA 2 SPA (B) AUGUST 25-26 ROUND 9/12 The shorter and reversed-grid Formula 2 sprint race is rarely the focal point of the weekend. But at Spa, it proved so as Mclaren junior Lando Norris more than halved the points gap to leader George Russell.
It may be a repeated theme, but rarely have two drivers more ready for Formula 1 met in a support category – meaning the motorsport world is being treated to a once-in-a-generation battle between the pair.
After making his FP1 debut in Fernando Alonso’s Mclaren (and before Alonso vaulted it over Charles Leclerc in Sunday’s F1 race), Norris reported difficulty switching back to the F2 car. But, by Sunday, he hadn’t looked as comfortable since his dominant – and only – F2 win in the opening race of the season at Bahrain. And it’s because he’s still hell-bent on winning F2, regardless of F1 appearances.
“I think F2, at the moment, is just as important,” he said. “Mclaren still wants me to do well in F2. It’s still a nice thing to have on your CV, to say you won Formula 2. I don’t want to finish second, so I still do the best I can.”
Trouble in qualifying followed by rapid race pace has been the story of the year for Norris. In Sunday’s sprint, he started fifth, one spot ahead of Mercedes junior Russell and was determined to take back some points after finishing a place behind him the day before.
A strong early charge was key, Norris jumping into fourth at Turn 1 while spectacular feature race winner Nyck de Vries leapt into third from eighth.
As polesitter Nicholas Latifi drove off into the distance, Norris set about his work. Artem Markelov proved troublesome, repassing Norris at Les Combes after being jumped at La Source at the start.
The two were side-by-side on lap four but to no avail, Norris needed another lap to pass with DRS on the Kemmel Straight.
He then made short work of Luca Ghiotto and closed down de Vries’ two-second gap to nothing on the last lap, diving past his fellow Mclaren junior – who was clearly struggling with tyres – at Les Combes.
But it wasn’t straightforward. Alexander Albon followed Norris through, motivated by the need to beat Norris and Russell regularly to rise from third in the standings (and prove to Helmut Marko he is worthy of a Toro Rosso seat). Albon did everything he could, but Norris – also struggling compared to Albon on his Pirellis – held him off for second. It was Latifi’s first win of a nightmare season, while the gap between Norris and Russell stands at just five points with six races to go.
Russell suffered a nightmare in the sprint race. He initially fell to eighth and, although he got back by Roy Nissany, seventh was as high as he could get.
“This whole weekend was the toughest of the year for us,” said Russell. “I think Spa is a very different circuit to anywhere else we’ve been to. It’s not been resurfaced like 90% of the tracks we’ve had. I don’t think it really suited our car or my driving style.
“I can see a similar story in Monza if we don’t make improvements.”
Luckily, a bad weekend looks like third