Dennis Hauger dominated the FIA Formula 2 Sprint Race at the Hungaroring to finish ahead of Ayumu Iwasa.

A tricky start for reverse-grid pole-sitter, Kush Maini, saw him drop to P4 by the end of the first lap of the Sprint.

Hauger took the lead into Turn 1 and was quickly followed forwards by Iwasa, who struggled with his brakes in Friday’s Qualifying session which left him feeling like more could’ve been achieved.

A couple of laps later, Maini fought back to reclaim third position from Ollie Bearman. The pair went wheel-to-wheel throughout Sector 1 after a late, but great move from the Campos driver going into the first corner.

After a few laps of tyre management in the opening stages of the race, Clément Novalak tried to shape a move on Ralph Boschung. This resulted in contact and Boschung was forced to retire from the race.

Arthur Leclerc was also caught up in the incident and dropped further down the grid, but he was able to carry on.

The Virtual Safety Car (VSC) was brought out to recover the stricken Campos of Boschung. As the green flags waved, Théo Pourchaire saw the opportunity to make a move on Bearman for fourth.

Bearman claimed over the radio that Pourchaire overtook him before the VSC was withdrawn but no investigation was noted during the race by the stewards.

Juan Manuel Correa dropped to the back of the field after pitting with a steering wheel issue. He carried on to gain meaningful data for tomorrow’s Feature Race.

Pourchaire retook third place from Maini on Lap 24. Contact was made mid corner but no damage was picked up by either car.

He didn’t stayed third for too long as Bearman found his way through on Lap 26 to take the final place on the podium.

Struggling with tyres, Maini lost fifth position to Jehan Daruvala after running wide on the final lap.

A fourth place finish for Pourchaire means he closes the championship gap to Frederik Vesti who only placed ninth.

Image: Formula Motorsport Limited