F2 Saudi Arabia: Lawson battles to victory in chaotic Jeddah sprint

The Carlin driver overtook Jake Hughes on the start-finish straight with just two laps remaining to take his second victory in the series.

The race was much interrupted, with the safety car out on track for the first time after Amaury Cordeel went into the wall at Turn 12 on the second tour.

As the safety car started, the drivers were instructed to head through the pitlane, but the call was immediately reversed with a second message from race control.

But race leader Dennis Hauger - who had started on pole - had already followed the first instruction and fell down the field - and his misery was compounded when the Norwegian was handed a 10-second stop-and-go penalty, which was faced with confusion from his team.

The incident handed the lead to Calan Williams (Trident), who ran in front until the end of the second safety car, when he was passed by Hughes.

As the first safety car ended on lap 7, Jack Doohan went into the back of Logan Sargeant on the main straight after a misunderstanding about whether the leader had let the pack go racing again, prompting the Mercedes AMG GT pace car to return to the circuit immediately.

Racing resumed on lap 13, with Hughes taking the lead from Williams around Turn 1.

Much of the field was reshuffled, with Lawson passing Williams for second, while further back Marcus Armstrong passed Vips for fifth and Richard Verschoor took eighth from Ralph Boschung.

Heading into lap 16, Hughes led from Lawson and Williams, with Vips in fourth, before the Estonian driver passed Williams for third at Turn 27.

Dennis Hauger, Prema Racing

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

Lawson took the fastest lap on the 17th tour, shortly before his dramatic pass on Hughes - where the Kiwi blasted past the Van