The Carlin driver had a great launch off the line from fifth, arriving up the inside of Turn 1 to take second, before snatching the lead from Ralph Boschung on lap two down the Kemmel Straight.
He built up a 4.7s lead by lap 11, before the race was neutralised by a safety car caused after team-mate Logan Sargeant crashed out from ninth at Pouhon after he lost the rear on the exit.
Despite having expressed concerns over his tyres after just five laps, the Red Bull junior driver, who took part in FP1 for AlphaTauri on Friday, held off Boschung on the restart before cruising to cross the line 3.8s ahead of Jack Doohan.
Campos Racing’s Boschung, returning to F2 after three races away due to injury, secured third place for his second podium of the season.
Boschung held the lead off the line, with second-place starter Jehan Daruvala forced to pull over on the lap to the grid, leaving championship contender Theo Pourchaire to start a de facto second for ART.
Lawson got the better of Boschung on the second lap, with Richard Verschoor running in third having passed Pourchaire off the line.
Doohan, who started seventh for Virtuosi Racing but was up to fourth by lap two, then closed in on Verschoor, breezing past on the Kemmel Straight on lap six.
Pourchaire attempted to replicate the move the following lap, with title rival Felipe Drugovich close behind him, but was forced to hold fifth place.
A lock-up from Pourchaire on lap eight brought Drugovich closer, while up ahead Doohan had built a two-second lead to the trio behind.
The lap 12 safety car prompted a surprise pitstop from Drugovich and several other drivers running further back, with the Brazilian driver emerging in 12th on fresh soft tyres.
He immediately set about charging through the field, although he was held up on his first tour after he was pushed wide by Juri Vips, and is under investigation for leaving the track and gaining an advantage.
Drugovich made it past the Hitech driver at Stavelot, before climbing three more places on the same lap, moving ahead of Enzo Fittipaldi (Charouz), DAMS driver Ayumu Iwasa and finally David Beckmann, ending up seventh after just one lap on the softs.
The following lap, he passed Marcus Armstrong (Hitech) at La Source for sixth, before passing Pourchaire at the chicane for fifth.
Despite passing Verschoor for fourth on the final lap, he was unable to complete his podium charge, but will start on pole for Sunday’s feature race.
Doohan snatched second from Boschung on the last lap to secure his fifth podium of the year, while Pourchaire finished in sixth, with Armstrong and Beckmann in seventh and eighth to round off the points positions.
F2 Spa Sprint race result - 18 laps
| Cla | Driver | Team | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
 Liam Lawson |
 Carlin |
|
| 2 |
 Jack Doohan |
UNI-Virtuosi |
3.800 |
| 3 |
 Ralph Boschung |
 Campos Racing |
5.700 |
| 4 |
 Felipe Drugovich |
 MP Motorsport |
6.300 |
| 5 |
Richard Verschoor |
 Trident |
8.400 |
| 6 |
 Theo Pourchaire |
ART Grand Prix |
8.600 |
| 7 |
Marcus Armstrong |
HitechGP |
9.400 |
| 8 |
 David Beckmann |
Van Amersfoort Racing |
10.000 |
| 9 |
 Ayumu Iwasa |
DAMS |
10.800 |
| 10 |
 Dennis Hauger |
Prema Powerteam |
11.100 |
| 11 |
 Roy Nissany |
DAMS |
11.600 |
| 12 |
Marino Sato |
UNI-Virtuosi |
14.000 |
| 13 |
Enzo Fittipaldi |
 Charouz Racing System |
15.800 |
| 14 |
 Jüri Vips |
HitechGP |
16.300 |
| 15 |
 Frederik Vesti |
ART Grand Prix |
16.700 |
| 16 |
Calan Williams |
Trident |
17.600 |
| 17 |
Clement Novalak |
MP Motorsport |
18.500 |
| 18 |
 Amaury Cordeel |
Van Amersfoort Racing |
18.500 |
| 19 |
 Tatiana Calderon |
Charouz Racing System |
19.000 |
| 20 |
Lirim Zendeli |
Campos Racing |
23.200 |
 Logan Sargeant |
Carlin |
||
 Jehan Daruvala |
Prema Powerteam |
||
| View full results | |||
