The Carlin driver swept past his Trident rival on lap 10 to take the lead before roaring into the distance, crossing the line 7.9s clear of Verschoor, who took his fourth podium of the year.
Newly crowned champion Felipe Drugovich rounded off the podium, having started seventh before a late charge saw him snatch third just two laps from the end of the race.
Poleman Verschoor held the lead from Lawson and VAR’s Amaury Cordeel off the line, while further back Theo Pourchaire clipped the rear of Jack Doohan’s Virtuosi-run car, leaving rubber marks on his nose.
Logan Sargeant lost several places in the opening corners, falling from fifth to ninth as Doohan, Felipe Drugovich, Pourchaire and Roy Nissany made up places.
The race was red-flagged midway through lap one after Enzo Fittipaldi and Jehan Daruvala collided and ended up in the wall at the exit of Turn 3.
The Prema driver lost the rear on cold tyres and collected the rear of the Charouz man, ending both their races.
After a lengthy delay, the field was reshuffled slightly for a rolling start, with the order returned to that before the red flag incident. Sargeant was returned to sixth, with Doohan, Nissany and Pourchaire behind him.
The order held off the line, with Doohan and Sargeant battling for sixth as the American successfully defended his position.
Verschoor came under pressure from Lawson soon after, with the gap down to 0.5s by lap nine.
He swept past the following tour at Turn 6, and though Verschoor attempted to regain the place three corners later, he was unable to do so.
Sargeant suffered two lock-ups in as many corners on lap 12, allowing Doohan to close in as he suffered from flat spots on his tyres.
Meanwhile, Drugovich was closing on fourth-place runner Dennis Hauger (Prema), and took his place on lap 17 up the inside down to Turn 9.
He was catching on Cordeel with three laps remaining and made it past at Turn 5 on lap 21 to take third as Cordeel locked up.
Hauger then made it past the Belgian driver the following lap and although he was forced to give the position back after running wide, a second attempt was successful to secure fourth.
Sargeant and Doohan finished in sixth and seventh, with Nissany rounding off the points finishers in eighth.
UPDATE: Correa has been handed a five-second time penalty for causing a collision with Virtuosi Racing’s Marino Sato. Entering Turn 12, Sato had been slightly ahead on the racing line but, on corner entry, Correa tried to back out of an attempted overtake.
Despite braking heavily to avoid a collision, the VAR driver was judged by the stewards to have been wholly responsible for the contact. The penalty means that Correa drops from 15th to 18th, promoting Zane Maloney, Olli Caldwell and Ralph Boschung as a result.
Formula 2 Abu Dhabi sprint race results
| Cla | Driver | Team | Laps | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Liam Lawson |
 Carlin |
23 | |
| 2 |  Richard Verschoor |
 Trident |
23 | 7.900 |
| 3 |  Felipe Drugovich |
MP Motorsport |
23 | 8.800 |
| 4 |  Dennis Hauger |
Prema Powerteam |
23 | 14.900 |
| 5 |  Amaury Cordeel |
Van Amersfoort Racing |
23 | 15.400 |
| 6 |  Logan Sargeant |
Carlin |
23 | 15.900 |
| 7 |  Jack Doohan |
UNI-Virtuosi |
23 | 16.500 |
| 8 |  Roy Nissany |
 DAMS |
23 | 17.300 |
| 9 | Theo Pourchaire |
ART Grand Prix |
23 | 17.500 |
| 10 | Marcus Armstrong |
HitechGP |
23 | 17.900 |
| 11 |  Frederik Vesti |
ART Grand Prix |
23 | 19.200 |
| 12 |  Jüri Vips |
HitechGP |
23 | 22.000 |
| 13 |  Ayumu Iwasa |
DAMS |
23 | 24.100 |
| 14 | Clement Novalak |
MP Motorsport |
23 | 27.000 |
| 15 | Juan Manuel Correa |
Van Amersfoort Racing |
23 | 33.100 |
| 16 |  Zane Maloney |
Trident |
23 | 33.800 |
| 17 | Olli Caldwell |
 Campos Racing |
23 | 34.000 |
| 18 |  Ralph Boschung |
Campos Racing |
23 | 36.400 |
| 19 | Marino Sato |
UNI-Virtuosi |
23 | 58.700 |
| 20 |  Tatiana Calderon |
 Charouz Racing System |
23 | 1'14.800 |
| 21 |  Jehan Daruvala |
Prema Powerteam |
22 | |
| 22 | Enzo Fittipaldi |
Charouz Racing System |
22 | |
| View full results | ||||
