Ayumu Iwasa starts from pole position, loses out at the start and finishes 3rd. After back-to-back podiums he moves up to 7th in the championship
The Feature Race of the FIA Formula 2 Round 10 Hungary took place on Sunday, 31 July. Top qualifier Ayumu Iwasa started from pole position.
The morning rain had lifted, and by the start of the formation lap at 11:35am, the conditions were dry with an ambient temperature of 19°C and a track temperature of 27°C despite the thick clouds.
After a sluggish acceleration at the start of the race, Iwasa was passed by one car before the first corner and then by another coming on the outside at Turn 1, which pushed him back to 3rd by the end of the opening lap. Aiming to reclaim his position, the Japanese driver put pressure on the car in front, but lap after lap, he was unable to overtake in close pursuit.
On Lap 9, Iwasa, who had started on soft tyres, made a pit stop for a tyre change. As far as tyre strategy is concerned, the field was split almost fifty-fifty. By Lap 12, when the cars with the same strategy had pitted, the HFDP driver was 13th overall and 3rd among those who had already taken a pit stop. In the attack on the car in front, Iwasa closed the gap, but it was still difficult to overtake. His position remained the same into the second half of the race.
From Lap 20, cars starting on medium rubbers began pitting, and by Lap 29, when the top runners had finished their stops, Iwasa was running 3rd. However, the gap between him and 2nd place had increased to 4.5 seconds as his tyres were failing. Pushing hard in difficult conditions, Iwasa maintained the gap with the car in front, but those that had switched to soft tyres were catching up fast. There was a gap of more than five seconds between him and the trailing car with five laps to go, but it was reduced to 1.5 seconds going into the final lap. However, Iwasa held on to 3rd position to complete the 37-lap race.
Iwasa has finished on the podium in two consecutive rounds, following the Feature Race in France. He has added 15 points in addition to the two points for his pole position, which has promoted him to 7th in the championship with a total of 90 points.