Full GP2 sprint race 2 results from Sochi Autodrom.
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Stanaway, who started on the front row of the grid in second position, made an incredible getaway from the line to pass Arthur Pic.
Ferrari protege Marciello eventually go the move down at Turn 2 before the pair ran side by side around Turn 3, where Pic went wide. The Kiwi couldn’t maintain his place though and had to settle for eighth, edging out Norman North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and Sergey Sirotkin, who once again struggled to keep his Rapax auto on track at his home event. Rene Binder tried to check up in the MP Motorsport to avoid running into the stricken Carlin only to end up being mounted from the rear by the unsighted Status Grand Prix of Marlon Stöckinger, and the resulting mess triggered an immediate safety vehicle to enable the stacked cars to be retrieved.
Pic initially ran third but faded, with Raffaele Marciello taking the final podium position and defending it from Vandoorne. (Trident) rounding out the points-paying positions. Pierre Gasly looked like he had done the job into the first corner before the Red Bull Junior driver ran too deep and hit the kerb, dropping into sixth place, undoing all of the hard work he had just managed to do.
Stanaway and Haryanto both pulled clear after the restart, but there was a train forming behind third-place man Pic. Gasly made his own stop on Lap 8.
The last three GP2 champions – Jolyon Palmer, Fabio Leimer and Davide Valsecchi – have all failed to make the step up to F1, but Vandoorne’s achievement is made more impressive by managing to take the title in just his second year in the championship. Securing fourth place – and with it the title – now became Vandoorne’s primary concern.
Haryanto contested on the podium afterwards that he was ahead when the safety auto came out and said he would wait to see if the stewards choose to take any action.
Debutant Dean Stoneman was two seconds off the pace and finished the session in 19th, beating five series regulars.
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Fresh off the back of two F1 races with Manor, Alexander Rossi also struggled with the slippery track conditions.
