Ghiotto holds on for Sochi F2 Sprint Race victory

Luca Ghiotto picked up his third victory of the FIA Formula 2 season in Sunday's Sprint Race at the Sochi Autodrom, holding on to deny champion Nyck de Vries a weekend double in Russia.

Ghiotto moved into the lead on the opening lap after a crash at Turn 2 involving Jack Aitken, Nikita Mazepin and Nobuharu Matsushita that resulted in the race being suspended for 49 minutes. Both Mazepin and Matsushita were reported to have not sustained any fractures, but have been taken to hospital for further evaluations.

Ghiotto led the field away to restart the shortened 15-lap race, with de Vries moving up to second ahead of Callum Ilott through Turn 3 before setting his sights on the leader.

De Vries was unable to cap off his title-winning weekend with a second straight victory, though, failing to pass Ghiotto at Turn 2 on the final lap, allowing the UNI-Virtuosi driver to clinch his third win of the season.

De Vries took second ahead of Ilott, who scored his first podium since Barcelona in May, while Nicholas Latifi took fourth ahead of Guanyu Zhou. Sergio Sette Camara was left a frustrated sixth for DAMS ahead of Sean Gelael, while Giuliano Alesi rounded out the points for Trident.

Mick Schumacher suffered his third retirement in the last four races after being on-course for points, being forced to pit and park his car up eight laps in.

The final round of the 2019 F2 season will take place at the end of November, supporting the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.