FIA Formula 2

Oscar Piastri has further extended his lead on top of the FIA Formula 2 Championship standings after a brilliant performance in Russia. 
 
Heading into Sochi with a slight advantage over fellow Alpine Academy driver Guanyu Zhou, Piastri added more points to his lead in qualifying when he secured his third consecutive pole position. 
 
During the opening reverse grid race, Piastri didn’t have the impact he would have hoped for as he ended up finishing just outside the points in P9 – however with Zhou also scoring no points, it had no major ramifications on the championship. 
 
Heavy rain in Sochi caused the second sprint race to be cancelled, before Piastri picked up his second consecutive feature race win in a solid performance where he defended well against Théo Pourchaire to lead from lights to flag. 
 
With Zhou finishing in P6, Piastri extended his lead in the title race to 36 points ahead of the penultimate round in Saudi Arabia. 

“I’m very happy with our second Feature Race win,” Piastri said. 

“It was a tough race, I had Pourchaire behind me for the whole time and really had to push the whole way to keep him there. 

“It was fun even with a lot of pressure, but I’m very happy to have converted the pole into another win and added up to the championship lead which is even better.” 

The championship won’t be back on track for some months, with the second last round of the season at Jeddah Street Circuit in Saudi Arabia taking place on 4-5 December.  

Indycar

Will Power has finished a challenging year in the NTT Indycar Series with a top 10 finish at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. 
 
Having gone into the series’ season finale with two difficult rounds behind him, Power was up for the task to finish the year on a high and was solid throughout the practice and qualifying sessions. 
 
Although he was unable to get too close to the front in qualifying, a P12 start gave him some of promise about climbing up the order. 
 
Unfortunately, the Queenslander was only able to work his way up as high as 10th in the 85-lap race, crossing the line just one place ahead of three-time Supercars champion and Team Penske teammate Scott McLaughlin. 
 
While Power ended the season in ninth place on the standings, McLaughlin finished his debut season five places lower.  
 
It’s been a brilliant year for the New Zealander, who was crowned as the Rookie of the Year after fellow rookie and former Formula 1 driver Romain Grosjean retired from the final race due to contact. 
 
The 17-round 2022 NTT Indycar Series season gets underway on 27 February on the Streets of St Petersburg. 

French Formula 4

It was a disappointing weekend for Hugh Barter in the French Formula 4 Championship as the young Victorian had his first retirement for the year. 
 
Starting the round at Monza strong, Barter ended qualifying in P2 and looked on track for a big weekend after some good form in practice, however it all turned on its head on the first corner of the first race. 
 
With the whole field running into the first corner, the 16-year-old was attempting to take the lead before he had contact from behind, which spun him around and ended his race in the process. 
 
Showing plenty of maturity, Barter bounced back nicely in a wet second race as he started from last position and made up seven positions to finish in P6.  
 
With the final race of the weekend cancelled due to the poor weather, Barter was unable to add more points to his season tally as he dropped from second to third in the outright standings. 
 
The French Formula 4 Championship season continues this weekend at the Circuit Paul Ricard in Le Castellet.