F2 Abu Dhabi: Zhou wins second sprint as champion Piastri retires
Guanyu Zhou notched up his fourth Formula 2 win of the season after holding off Robert Shwartzman in an incident-filled second sprint race at Abu Dhabi.
Zhou, who will drive for Alfa Romeo in Formula 1 next year, secured his first podium since Monza in September with a faultless drive at the Yas Marina circuit.
The UNI Virtuosi driver climbed from third to second early in the race before inheriting the lead when Marcus Armstrong retired from the head of the field with a mechanical issue on lap 11.
Once ahead, Zhou made no mistakes to clinch the victory comfortably from Prema Racing's Robert Shwartzman, with Campos Racing's Ralph Boschung in third.
The race was halted twice by the safety car with the second stoppage triggered by a clash between Roy Nissany newly crowned champion Oscar Piastri and Juri Vips that put the latter two out of the race.
Reverse grid polesitter Armstrong converted the position into the lead as the field streamed into Turn 1. Boschung followed the Kiwi through into second with Zhou in third.
However, there was plenty of action behind with Piastri in the thick of it. The Australian dived down the inside of his teammate Shwartzman and Liam Lawson as the trio battle over fifth at the first corner.
Piastri then lunged again up the inside of Lawson at Turn 5 forcing the New Zealander off the road, resulting in a five-second penalty for the former, who dropped down the order to 14th at the end of the opening lap.
Lawson recovered from almost glancing the wall to emerge back on track in eighth position.
At the front, Zhou managed to climb to second with a clean pass on Boschung at the Turn 6-7 chicane.
The race was soon neutralised when Olli Caldwell made contact with Alessio Deledda, forcing the pair into a spin at the Turn 9 hairpin that initially drew a virtual safety Car, before it was upgraded to a full safety car. Caldwell was able to continue while Deledda was left stranded on circuit.
Racing resumed on lap 7 but it was short-lived as the safety car was deployed again for an incident that involved Nissany, Vips and Piastri.
Recovering from his opening lap clash with Lawson, Piastri pulled off a head-turning two for one pass on Nissany and Vips into the Turn 6-7.
But on the run to Turn 9 Nissany surprised Piastri by diving up his inside while Vips was on the outside of Piastri. It resulted in contact putting both Piastri and Vips out of the race. The incident was to be investigated after the race.
On the restart, leader Armstrong pulled off the road at Turn 2 with a suspected mechanical issues handing Zhou the lead, the incident triggering a virtual safety car.
Shwartzman made the most of a quick reaction to the green flag allowing the Russian to pass Boschung for second on the restart.
Zhou soon quickly opened up a gap to Shwartzman while Boschung fell into the grasp of Dan Ticktum, while Felipe Drugovich and Jehan Daruvala fought over fifth. Drugovich secured the spot courtesy of an impressive move around the outside at Turn 9.
The top three remained unchanged as Zhou took the win from Shwartzman and Boschung, while Ticktum was forced to out-drag Drugovich to the line for fourth.
The remaining points paying places were filled by Lawson, Daruvala and rookie Jack Doohan.
Christian Lundgaard hit trouble in the race late on after suffering contact from Nissany which necessitated a visit to the pits for the pair.
The field will return on Sunday for the final F2 feature race of the season at 1300 local time and 1000 GMT.
| Cla | Driver | Team | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Guanyu Zhou |  UNI-Virtuosi | |
| 2 |  Robert Shwartzman |  Prema Powerteam | 3.400 |
| 3 |  Ralph Boschung |  Campos Racing | 9.700 |
| 4 | Dan Ticktum | Carlin | 14.200 |
| 5 |  Felipe Drugovich | UNI-Virtuosi | 14.500 |
| 6 |  Liam Lawson | HitechGP | 17.000 |
| 7 |  Jehan Daruvala | Carlin | 19.800 |
| 8 |  Jack Doohan |  MP Motorsport | 21.000 |
| 9 |  Theo Pourchaire | ART Grand Prix | 21.900 |
| 10 | Bent Viscaal | Trident | 22.700 |
| 11 | Richard Verschoor |  Charouz Racing System | 25.800 |
| 12 | Guilherme Samaia | Charouz Racing System | 30.800 |
| 13 | Jake Hughes | HWA Racelab | 31.400 |
| 14 | Clement Novalak | MP Motorsport | 31.800 |
| 15 | Olli Caldwell | Campos Racing | 32.200 |
| 16 |  Marino Sato | Trident | 37.000 |
| 17 |  Roy Nissany | DAMS | 1'06.700 |
| 18 |  Christian Lundgaard | ART Grand Prix | |
| Marcus Armstrong | DAMS | ||
 Jüri Vips | HitechGP | ||
| Oscar Piastri | Prema Powerteam | ||
| Alessio Deledda | HWA Racelab | ||
| View full results | |||
Piastri would be "pretty annoyed" not to land 2023 F1 drive after title treble
Enzo Fittipaldi returns home from hospital after Saudi F2 horror crash
Oscar Piastri: The F1 junior that has run out of places to prove himself
The dominant force of the junior single-seater ranks finds himself without a drive for 2022, but it isn’t stopping Oscar Piastri from plotting his path to the top. With Alpine potentially set for a driver dilemma for 2023, the newly-crowned Formula 2 champion is ready and waiting for his F1 shot.
What next for "too politically incorrect" for F1 Ticktum?
Having by his own admission "blown my chances" of reaching Formula 1, Dan Ticktum is facing an uncertain future. A driver of unquestioned ability who has at times been his own worst enemy, can he apply his lessons and rebuild his career hopes?
How Piastri could be forced to spend 2022 on the bench
Tipped as the next big thing after winning the FIA Formula 3 championship in his rookie season, Oscar Piastri has taken Formula 2 by storm and looks set to clinch that title too. But with no Formula 1 seat available to him for next year, the Alpine junior may have to wait for his time in the spotlight…
How Campos Racing has bounced back from its devastating loss
After the sudden death of its founder in January, Formula 2 stalwart Campos Racing was left facing its hardest season to date. But new team boss Adrian Jr is determined to honour his father’s legacy and has returned the team to its winning ways
How F2 and F3's flawed format changes could prove shortlived
After a chaotic 2020, marred by the coronavirus pandemic, the FIA brought in radical changes to Formula 2 and 3. But less than 12 months later, there are talks of them being reversed after all did not go to plan…
The Red Bull F1 junior aiming to defy geographical odds
It's a long way from Pukekohe New Zealand to Milton Keynes, but Red Bull's Kiwi protege Liam Lawson has defied plenty of odds to reach the rung below F1. He's endured disappointment since winning on his F2 debut in Bahrain, but is determined to turn his season around and prove himself worthy of a place on the F1 grid
How Red Bull's next F1 hopeful turned around his season
Having impressed in Formula 3, Juri Vips looked to be next cab off the rank in Red Bull's prestigious Junior Team before his 2020 schedule was dealt a heavy blow by the COVID-19 pandemic. After a tough start to life in Formula 2, Vips is showing signs of a recovery - could he be the first Estonian to reach Formula 1?
How F1 hopeful Pourchaire is re-writing the F2 record books
He'd marked himself out as a star of the future in last year's FIA Formula 3 championship, but 17-year-old Theo Pourchaire underlined his credentials by winning his first Formula 2 race in the Monaco feature. Sauber junior status gives him a clear route to the top, but with wisdom beyond his years, he's not getting caught up in his own hype.