The morning session was characterized by the usual rhythm of installation laps and systems checks as teams shook down their machinery for the new campaign. MP Motorsport initially set the benchmark with Oliver Goethe and Gabriele Minì leading the way for much of the early running. However, the momentum was briefly halted by the day’s first Red Flag when Nikola Tsolov came to a stop at the end of the main straight in his Campos car. Once the track was cleared, the final hour turned into a flurry of improvements. While Minì briefly moved back to the top, it was the Rodin Motorsport duo of Martinius Stenshorne and Alexander Dunne who stole the show in the closing stages. Stenshorne ended the morning fastest with a 1:25.437, just 0.015s ahead of his teammate.

When the afternoon session got underway, the focus shifted toward high-fuel simulations and race-pace evaluations. Stenshorne picked up right where he left off by setting a 1:25.712, but the leaderboard remained relatively static for several hours as drivers worked through their long-run programs. The quiet was eventually broken by a second Red Flag after Joshua Duerksen spun at Turn 3. Upon the restart, the Invicta driver switched to the Soft Pirelli compound and jumped to the top of the screens with a 1:25.274.

The final fifteen minutes saw a shift back to performance runs, providing León with the opportunity to set his blistering benchmark that eclipsed the rest of the field by over six-tenths of a second. Varrone also made a late move to secure P2 before a final Red Flag, triggered by Sébastian Montoya sliding into the gravel at Turn 1, brought an early end to the day’s action. With the session not resumed, the top ten was rounded out by Ritomo Miyata, Stenshorne, Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak, Dunne, Rafael Câmara, Tsolov, and Colton Herta.

Day 1 Combined Standings (Top 10)

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Starting from second, Zhou got the jump on polesitter Piastri when the lights went out and went on to control the race, surviving a failed attempt at the undercut from Piastri, which cost the Championship leader second place at the flag.

It was Ticktum who benefitted from the PREMA’s pitstop, overtaking the Australian shortly after his return to clinch second on home turf.

Piastri survived a late challenge from Richard Verschoor for third, as Robert Shwartzman kept pace with the Championship leaders thanks to a P5 finish, although the Russian does drop back to third in the standings, below Zhou.

AS IT HAPPENED

35-degree track heat meant that the grid were heading out into different conditions for the third time in as many races, with the temperature sitting between what it was for the two Saturday races.

After a disastrous couple of days that saw him lose the Championship lead and drop to fourth in the title fight, Zhou desperately needed to claw back some points off the leaders, including the man lining up alongside him, polesitter Piastri.

And the UNI-Virtuosi ace got off to a great start, bolting in front of the PREMA ahead of the first turn with a mega launch. Piastri simply couldn’t keep up and settled into second, as Ticktum stole third from Verschoor.

Théo Pourchaire suffered a difficult opening stint, losing places to Shwartzman and Felipe Drugovich off the line. Shwartzman wasn’t enjoying the medium tyre, though, asking his team for a pitstop at the first opportunity. Ticktum joined the Russian in ditching the options straight away, with the softer tyres suffering in the blistering heat.

Piastri tried the undercut on Zhou, pitting a lap later from P2, but ended up getting jumped by Ticktum on warmer tyres. Zhou dove in on the following tour and returned directly in front of the Carlin, but with a handy 2.9s buffer.

Verschoor was the final driver to change his mediums, handing Jüri Vips the lead on an alternate strategy, as Zhou put Marino Sato between himself and Ticktum.

With 10 laps to go, Vips decided it was time for fresh rubber and returned in 11th on the medium. Zhou reclaimed the lead on Lap 24 when Jehan Daruvala finally headed into the pitlane from P1. Following the Virtuosi was Ticktum, while Oscar Piastri was struggling down in fourth, stuck behind Matteo Nannini on the hard tyre.

The Campos driver finally pitted, but Piastri had already lost significant time and was 14s behind the front two. He also had Verschoor hounding the back of him from fourth. Although the MP Motorsport man was struggling to find a way through, and the duo came within an inch of kissing tyres. After narrowly avoiding contact, the battle waned, and they crossed the line in P3 and P4.

Back at the front, Ticktum ran out of road in his chase of Zhou and settled for second at the line, 4s behind the Virtuosi racer.

Shwartzman, Drugovich and Vips took fifth, sixth and seventh, with Pourchaire claiming P8. Lirim Zendeli and Daruvala took the final two points’ places.

THE CHAMPIONSHIP VIEW

Piastri has the Drivers’ Championship lead at the halfway point of the season, with 108 points. Zhou is up to second with 103, with Shwartzman in third on 91. Ticktum is fourth with 89 and Vips fifth with 85.

In the Teams’ Championship, PREMA Racing are first with 199, ahead of UNI-Virtuosi in second on 162 and Carlin in third on 145. Hitech Grand Prix are fourth with 143, ahead of ART Grand Prix on 93.

WHAT’S NEXT?

The Championship heads into a summer break with a new leader in Oscar Piastri, but Zhou will be determined to return to the top when action resumes in Monza, 10-12 September.

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The Dutchman controlled the race from lights-to-flag, with the DAMS and Carlin drivers in tow. A late move on Liam Lawson earned Oscar Piastri fourth and further strengthened his Championship lead.

It wasn’t such a productive afternoon for his teammate, Robert Shwartzman. The Russian failed to follow up his Sprint Race 1 win with further points, spinning from ninth on the penultimate lap. While Guanyu Zhou lost further ground in the title fight, despite making up nine places to 11th.

AS IT HAPPENED

With track temperature increasing by more than 20 degrees since the morning’s Sprint Race 1, the grid lined up tentatively ahead of what was an unusually relaxed race start, with Verschoor pulling away from reverse grid pole entirely untroubled, followed by Armstrong.

After stalling on the formation lap, Christian Lundgaard was forced into a pitlane start, giving the ART Grand Prix driver plenty to do from the back of the order. Joining the Dane at the back was Zhou, lining up from last on the grid following his Sprint Race 1 retirement.

The action was brought to a halt at the end of the opening lap following a nasty collision between Ralph Boschung and Alessio Deledda. The Campos racer spun on track before being collected by the HWA RACELAB, with Zhou narrowly evading the stranded pair. Both clambered out unharmed, but a Safety Car was required to clear up the debris.

Verschoor aced the restart and continued out in front, with the only real movement in the top 10 coming from David Beckmann, who had waltzed up to eighth from a starting position of 13th.

The Safety Car was called back into action just two laps later after Jehan Daruvala lost control of his Carlin during a battle with Bent Viscaal. The Indian lost the rear and was unable to make the corner, taking both himself and the Trident into the gravel.

Viscaal’s race was run, but Daruvala managed to get going again and dove into the pits for a fix-up. Although, the Indian was slapped with a 10s-time penalty.

Verschoor aced the restart once again, with Armstrong and Ticktum following him in the provisional podium positions. From there, the MP Motorsport man began to build up a gap, leaving the DAMS and the Carlin the tussle for second.

Piastri was chasing down Lawson for fourth and attempted to DRS past the Hitech on the main straight, but the PREMA racer ran out of tarmac and was forced to back off. The new Championship leader refused to relent, though, and got the job done two laps later, with a late braking move into Brooklands.

Further back, Felipe Drugovich attempted to capitalise on a wide moment from Jüri Vips, who was up from ninth to sixth, but the Estonian stood firm and retained the spot with some strong defensive covering.

Just as the order appeared settled, there was a late spin from Sprint Race 1 winner Robert Shwartzman, who clipped the curb at the final corner of the penultimate lap and dropped from ninth to 15th.

Verschoor carried on at the front to cross the line with a 1.2s advantage over Armstrong, who beat Ticktum to second. Piastri retained fourth following his late move on Lawson, with Vips in sixth ahead of Drugovich and Beckmann.

Piastri has increased his lead at the top of the Drivers’ Championship to 97 points, 16 ahead of Shwartzman. Vips is up to third on 79 points, with Zhou one back in fourth and Ticktum fifth on 71.

In the Teams’ Championship, PREMA are first with 174, ahead of Hitech Grand Prix on 137 and UNI-Virtuosi on 129. Carlin are fourth with 124 and ART Grand Prix fifth with 89.

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The Russian put in the hard yards at the start to jump from fourth to first, before going on to control the race at Silverstone.

Reverse polesitter Christian Lundgaard fell to third after a tricky start, watching on as both Shwartzman and Jüri Vips clambered ahead of him when the lights went out. The trio crossed the line in that order, carefully navigating four Safety Cars.

Finishing fourth, Felipe Drugovich took UNI-Virtuosi’s only points of the morning after Guanyu Zhou spun out on Lap 1 – a retirement that cost the Chinese driver the Championship lead, as Piastri followed up his pole lap in Qualifying with a sixth-place finish, behind Théo Pourchaire.

AS IT HAPPENED

Shwartzman enjoyed a flying start from fourth, launching his PREMA into the lead at the first turn and battling off a challenge from Vips, who had gotten a strong getaway himself.

The Hitech Grand Prix driver joined the Russian in pulling ahead of Lundgaard off the line but exited Turn 1 in the same position he started.

However, Schwartzman was unable to build up a buffer as the Safety Car was called out to clear up a couple of early casualties in the top 10. Roy Nissany was the first of those, getting sandwiched and nudged off track.

The DAMS’ driver got a good view of the second retirement as he was pulling to a stop on the gravel, with Zhou losing control of his Virtuosi and spinning 180 degrees.

The Safety Car returned on Lap 3 but was called back into action just moments later as Alessio Deledda went skidding off track, before eventually spinning to a stop back on it. Meanwhile, Liam Lawson was on team radio complaining of a lack of grip, with it perhaps showing that this was the first on-track action of the day around Silverstone.

The field got back to racing on Lap 7 and Piastri wasted no time in nabbing sixth from Lawson, making his fourth move of the morning. Dan Ticktum – who had lost P7 to Piastri early on – was also eying up the Hitech, although the Brit appeared to have slight damage on the nose of his Carlin.

Shwartzman and Vips were playing metaphorical chess at the front, with the Estonian beginning to eat into the PREMA’s lead, but the Russian responded by setting the fastest lap of the race to clamber out of DRS range.

Lundgaard was told to get a move on by his engineer, with the Dane having driven himself into contention with some strong race pace, but his pursuit was brought to a halt by another Safety Car as Guilherme Samaia stopped off track.

The top 10 remained in place when action restarted once more. Ticktum took a look down the side of Lawson but backed off when things got a bit tight after some gallant defensive work by the Hitech.

Verschoor made up three places in three laps to put himself on reverse grid pole for the second Sprint Race, dispatching of David Beckman, Jehan Daruvala and his MP Motorsport teammate Lirim Zendeli for P10. Marcus Armstrong would prove an overtake too far in ninth.

Vips ran out of road in his chase of Shwartzman, with the Estonian crossing the line in second, behind Shwartzman. Lundgaard held onto third with Drugovich in fourth and Pourchaire finishing where he started in fifth. Piastri, Lawson and Ticktum also all retained their places at the flag.

THE CHAMPIONSHIP VIEW

Piastri takes the Championship lead for the first time this season, with 83 points, and now holds a two-point advantage over his PREMA teammate Shwartzman.

The Russian has jumped to second, with Zhou dropping to third, stuck on 78. Vips is in fourth with 75 and Ticktum is fifth with 61.

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Championship leader Guanyu Zhou snuck into second with a late lap but was 0.221s off Piastri’s poletime of 1:39.854. MP Motorsport’s Richard Verschoor scored his best Qualifying position with third, just over four-tenths off the leader.

Christian Lundgaard escorted the field out onto a hot and sunny Silverstone circuit, with a track temperature of 42 degrees. Lapping at 1:40.962, Felipe Drugovich led the first round of fast runs, beating Dan Ticktum’s Free Practice topping time by more than a second.

There was enough life left in the medium Pirellis for another flyer and Piastri was determined to make the most of it, lunging to first with 1:39.854. Meanwhile, Drugovich was bumped down to third by Ticktum, although the Carlin driver remained half a second off Piastri.

After a stint in the pits for fresh rubber, the field returned to the track with just a second separating the top 12. Piastri couldn’t make any improvements on his quickest time, but neither could his rivals, with the Australian retaining his half a second buffer in first.

Zhou was left thanking his lucky stars as the UNI-Virtuosi racer crossed the line just moments before a Red Flag ended the session. And it was a significant improvement too, with the Chinese racer leaping from 10th to second in the order, thanks to a purple first sector and a personal best second sector.

The session-ending Red Flag came when Schwartzman spun and beached his PREMA in the gravel at Stowe with just two minutes to go. Although, the Russian could consolidate himself with a solid finishing position of P7.

Like Zhou, Verschoor had also managed to beat the Red Flag and nabbed himself a top-three spot, setting 1:40.259s to drop Ticktum down to P4.
Théo Pourchaire completed the top five for ART Grand Prix, ahead of early pacesetter Felipe Drugovich. Roy Nissany scored eighth for DAMS, as Jüri Vips and Lundgaard completed the top 10.

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The Carlin racer’s time was just over two tenths clear of PREMA Racing’s Oscar Piastri, who beat out Jüri Vips, of Hitech Grand Prix.

Théo Pourchaire was the first man out of the pits, but his session was over within minutes, the Frenchman losing the rear at Brooklands and going into the wall. A red flag was required as he clambered out of his ART Grand Prix and left it stranded in the gravel.

The field returned with just 30 minutes of running left and Vips looked to be carrying over his form from Round 3 in Baku, going fastest with a time of 1:42.958.

Alessio Deledda went wide as the second set of flying laps started to come in, with the Italian pulling over onto the gravel after an on-track spin. Despite his best attempts, Deledda was unable to get his HWA RACELAB going again and a second Red Flag was required.

Piastri had gotten a lap in just in time, leaping to first in the order with a 1:42.131. Behind him, Lirim Zendeli was up to second ahead of Ticktum. Piastri then improved on his time when action resumed, slicing it down to 1:41.980, with Ticktum improving to second.

A wide moment at Stowe didn’t stop Ticktum from taking first, after the Briton punched in the fastest first and second sectors to leapfrog Piastri with only minutes to go.

Vips had managed to find the time to jump back to third, ahead of Richard Verschoor and his fellow Red Bull junior Jehan Daruvala.
Championship leader Guanyu Zhou took his first F2 pole at Silverstone in 2019 but was down in sixth in the opening session of the weekend, 0.005s ahead of Christian Lundgaard.

Despite showing so much early pace, Zendeli could only manage eighth at the flag, but he was ahead of Liam Lawson and Robert Shwartzman, who took the final two top 10 spots.

Ticktum will be bidding to take his first F2 pole in Qualifying, which takes place at 4.50pm local time.

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Lapping at 1:54.217, Lawson finished just over a tenth faster than his fellow Red Bull junior, with Oscar Piastri a further 0.153s back.

Roy Nissany was forced to watch Qualifying from the side-lines after the DAMS driver crashed out of Free Practice. The short turnaround before the start of the session meaning that the team were unable to mend his DAMS in time.

Marcus Armstrong set the early pace before being usurped by Dan Ticktum and then Théo Pourchaire inside of the opening 10 minutes, with the latter slicing the quickest lap down to 1:55.455.

The trio traded first between them as they headed towards the midway point and it was Armstrong who was top of the class as the cars headed back to the pits for fresh supersofts, the DAMS driver setting the fastest time in Baku so far, with 1:55.057.

Ticktum – who had dropped down to P6 – questioned whether it would be smart to get back out onto the track early, wary of red flags, and his team obliged, sending him out at the front of the queue with 13 minutes on the clock.Hitech Grand Prix looked like the ones to beat as Lawson leapt to first, punching in two purple sectors to lap at 1:54.332.

Lawson’s teammate Vips – who had topped Free Practice – improved as well, jumping from fifth to second, 0.023s off the leading pace.

Hailing his earlier return to the track as “spot on,” Ticktum improved, but not as much as he would have liked, with the carlin driver settling for P5, ahead of Armstrong.

Despite holding provisional pole after the first runs, the DAMS driver wasn’t able to keep up with the pace in the second half of the session.

Rookie duo Piastri and Théo Pourchaire had snuck into third and fourth during the second runs but it was an all-Hitech shoot-out for pole, as Lawson and Vips set off on one final set of push laps in a league of their own.

Rookie duo Piastri and Théo Pourchaire had snuck into third and fourth during the second runs but it was an all-Hitech shoot-out for pole, as Lawson and Vips set off on one final set of push laps in a league of their own.

Vips had to watch on as his teammate took pole, with Lawson shaving his time down to 1:54.217, while the Estonian racer failed to improve, losing four-tenths in the middle sector.

Second fastest in Free Practice, Ralph Boschung finished Qualifying in seventh, ahead of Guanyu Zhou, who was one of the final drivers to return from the pits in the second half of the session.

Finishing 10th overall, Robert Shwartzman will start ahead of Jehan Daruvala in Saturday’s reverse grid Sprint Race 1, which takes place at 11.25am local time.

The post Lawson tops Hitech one-two in Baku with first F2 pole first appeared on InsideRacing.com.

While a lot of the field were still getting to grips with the Baku City Circuit, Jüri Vips was finding its limits, the Hitech Grand Prix racer going more than seven-tenths faster than Campos Racing’s Ralph Boschung and over a second quicker than ART Grand Prix’s Théo Pourchaire to finish Free Practice in first.

Less than two weeks on from the challenges of the tight and twisting Monte Carlo circuit, the class of 2021 were arriving at a different type of street track, tackling the long, wide straights of Baku.

For many, it was a first experience of the Baku City Circuit and they took their time adjusting to the new surroundings. MP Motorsport duo Lirim Zendeli and Richard Verschoor led the field around the streets but were well-off representative times in the opening five minutes.

Ending the session in fifth and sixth, Oscar Piastri and Marcus Armstrong had initially traded fastest times when the tarmac began to warm up. The latter had set the initial standard at 2:00.851, before two incidents on track brought running to a halt.

Marino Sato skidded against the wall and destroyed his front right tyre, while Lirim Zendeli went off track and got stuck in the run-off area at Turn 16, bringing out a Virtual Safety Car.

The times tumbled when running resumed as Jack Aitken – who won the 2019 Feature Race in Baku – broke the 2m barrier with a time of 1:57.840. But the HWA RACELAB driver wasn’t at the top for long, as Dan Ticktum shaved 0.115s off his fellow Briton’s laptime to take the lead.

Aitken overstepped the limits and clipped the wall on his next attempt at going fastest, but Ralph Boschung had already managed the feat, going first with 1:57.517. Robert Shwartzman briefly stole P1, but the Swiss swiftly regained his advantage, breaking the 1m 57s barrier to retake first. Shwartzman’s attempts to take the lead continued, but the PREMA racer ended the morning in fourth.

With just minutes to go, it looked as if Boschung was in control, but both Pourchaire and Vips suddenly found more time. Running outside of the top 10, the latter took a tow to go more than a second faster than anyone else. Boschung responded but couldn’t find the time and fell 0.7s short of the Estonian, settling for second ahead of Pourchaire.

With just minutes to go, it looked as if Boschung was in control, but both Pourchaire and Vips suddenly found more time. Running outside of the top 10, the latter took a tow to go more than a second faster than anyone else. Boschung responded but couldn’t find the time and fell 0.7s short of the Estonian, settling for second ahead of Pourchaire.

Action was brought to a premature end as Roy Nissany spun and struck the wall. Bringing out a red flag, Nissany clambered out of his DAMS safely, but his crash had signalled the end of the session.

Bent Viscaal had said ahead of the session that it was “just a matter of time” before he was scoring points, and the Dutchman got off to a great start, running seventh fastest ahead of David Beckmann.

Despite his early pace, Ticktum had fallen to P9 by the end of the session, with Christian Lundgaard completing the top 10.

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Despite considering Monaco a home race, the Frenchman – who only lives 45 minutes away from the circuit – had never previously raced at the Principality.

And the ART Grand Prix racer made it a debut to savour, becoming the second tier’s youngest polesitter on Thursday, before replacing Lando Norris as the youngest winner on Sunday.It was a dominant victory to boot, with the Sauber junior looking almost entirely untroubled throughout the 42-lap race, holding off his former Formula 3 rival, Piastri.

UNI-Virtuosi’s Felipe Drugovich made the alternate strategy work from ninth to finish third and score his second podium of the weekend, ahead of Robert Shwartzman, who recovered from a slow pitstop to take P4.Championship leader Guanyu Zhou pitted as late as Lap 37, overcutting his rivals to rise to fifth at the flag, after starting from 10th.

AS IT HAPPENED

Lining up in drier conditions than the morning’s wet race, Pourchaire enjoyed a dream start when the lights went out, getting a clean launch to pull away from his front row rival, Shwartzman.

The PREMA was off the line nicely himself but failed to trouble the Frenchman.The front eight were all on softs as Shwartzman chased Pourchaire around the streets of Monte Carlo, closing the gap to under a second and within DRS range.

Meanwhile, the ART crew were deep in discussion about their pit strategy, wary of getting overcut by Shwartzman.

Watchful of the pace of Drugovich – who had already changed to softs on the alternate strategy – Campos opted to bring Ralph Boschung in from sixth as early as Lap 21, sending him back out in 12th, with a long way to go on the Super Soft tyre.

If that was their strategy, then it didn’t appear to work, with Drugovich jumping the Swiss almost immediately. As others began to pit, the Brazilian was up to eighth.

The sight of Jüri Vips arriving in his rear-view mirror prompted Sprint Race 2 winner Dan Ticktum to get a move on and the Carlin quickly caught up to Piastri in P3. With the PREMA loosing pace, Carlin opted for the undercut and called Ticktum in for Super Softs, sending him back in P6.

It was a move that didn’t come off, though, as PREMA responded by pitting Piastri on the following lap, returning him with track position in fifth, directly ahead of the Carlin.The sight of Jüri Vips arriving in his rear-view mirror prompted Sprint Race 2 winner Dan Ticktum to get a move on and the Carlin quickly caught up to Piastri in P3.

With the PREMA loosing pace, Carlin opted for the undercut and called Ticktum in for Super Softs, sending him back in P6. It was a move that didn’t come off, though, as PREMA responded by pitting Piastri on the following lap, returning him with track position in fifth, directly ahead of the Carlin.

Shwartzman ditched his heavily worn softs on Lap 30, but it was a nightmare stop and the Russian returned in fifth, losing track position to both Ticktum and Piastri. Pourchaire pitted from the lead on the following lap and re-joined in second, behind Zhou, who was yet to change his boots.

Three Virtual Safety Cars were required within the space of two chaotic laps. Firstly, for Marcus Armstrong, as the DAMS driver went into the wall, and then for Lirim Zendeli, who suffered the same fate.

The highest profile of the three was for Ticktum, as the Carlin racer braved a bold move on Piastri for third at Rascasse when the Australian locked up. The Briton attempted to squeeze by but ran out of room and ended up in the barrier.

With six laps to go, Zhou was still refusing to pit and possessed a 15s gap over Pourchaire, but the ART was lighting up the time screens, setting purple sector after purple sector. The Championship leader eventually opted to head in at the end of Lap 37, returning in fifth behind Shwartzman.

Handed P1 with a 5s gap over Piastri, Pourchaire closed out the momentous victory with relative ease. Drugovich completed the podium ahead of Shwartzman, with Zhou in fifth.

Boschung was sixth ahead of Liam Lawson, while Vips ended up in eighth. Roy Nissany upped his points tally for the season with a P9 finish, ahead of Richard Verschoor.

THE CHAMPIONSHIP VIEW

Zhou retains his grip on the Drivers’ Championship at the end of Round 2, sitting in first with 68 points, ahead of Piastri on 52.

Pourchaire is up to third on 47 points, with Ticktum in fourth on 38 and Lawson fifth on 36.

The post Pourchaire becomes F2’s youngest-ever race-winner with inspired performance in Monte Carlo first appeared on InsideRacing.com.

The UNI-Virtuosi racer led from lights-to-flag, with the Brazilian claiming P2 after Christian Lundgaard was forced to retire from second with smoke coming out from the back of his ART Grand Prix.

Roy Nissany said Monaco is all about “the mental game,” in the lead-up to the race, and the DAMS’ racer played it well, holding off Campos Racing’s Ralph Boschung for a first Formula 2 podium.

It was a rather calm affair around the streets of Monte Carlo, with Jüri Vips coming out on top of a race-long battle with Dan Ticktum for fifth. While Théo Pourchaire continued his hot form in Round 2, making up three places to seventh, ahead of PREMA Racing’s Oscar Piastri.

AS IT HAPPENED

One of just four drivers to have experienced the streets of Monaco in a Formula 2 car before, Zhou enjoyed a near-perfect getaway off the line, coolly pulling off into the distance when the lights went out.

The Chinese racer was expecting to go head-to-head with his UNI-Virtuosi teammate Drugovich, but instead it was his Alpine Academy rival, Lundgaard, who was breathing down his neck at the exit of Turn 1. The ART ace had taken the inside curb to pass Drugovich for second at the start.

Qualifying on the front row on Thursday, Robert Shwartzman experienced contrasting fortunes in Sprint Race 1, pushing too hard and whacking the wall of Casino Square.

The Russian limped back to the pits with half a front wing and attempted to get back out but was eventually forced to retire.A fierce battle was emerging between Vips and Ticktum, with the duo trading fastest laps in a battle for sixth.

One place further back was the star of Qualifying, Pourchaire, who was continuing his fearless debut in Monte Carlo, making up two places to P8 inside of the opening 10 laps.

Having bridged a 3s gap between himself and Zhou, Lundgaard’s podium was suddenly under threat as smoke bellowed from the back of his ART. The Dane slowed significantly and began to drop down the order, before coming to a stop and bringing out a yellow flag.

Reclaiming P2 with the retirement of Lundgaard, Drugovich had a 5s gap between himself and his teammate to make up, but a cushion of nearly 4s to Nissany behind him, the DAMS’ driver eying a first podium at this level.

Reclaiming P2 with the retirement of Lundgaard, Drugovich had a 5s gap between himself and his teammate to make up, but a cushion of nearly 4s to Nissany behind him, the DAMS’ driver eying a first podium at this level.

Also eyeing a maiden rostrum in F2 was Boschung in fourth. Confident on the back of securing his best qualifying position at this level on Thursday, the Swiss racer was pushing his Campos in pursuit of Nissany, but couldn’t bridge the gap and settled for P4, his highest finish in F2.

The Swiss’ teammate Gianluca Petecof didn’t enjoy quite as positive an outing, colliding with the wall at the second part of the swimming pool corner and coming to a halt on track.

A full Safety Car arrived on the scene with the potential to change the entire race, crushing Guanyu Zhou’s 8s gap and triggering a three-lap dash to the finish line.Displaying nerves of steel, Zhou aced the restart ahead of Drugovich and began to build up the gap between them once more, creating a 2s buffer within the first of the three closing laps.

There was a fourth retirement as Marino Sato put his Trident in the wall on the penultimate lap, but the marshals worked swiftly to ensure they wouldn’t need another Safety Car.

The points’ scorers all stayed out of trouble on the closing lap, but just behind them Marcus Armstrong was closing in on Jehan Daruvala.

The DAMS’ driver deemed the move a risk worth taking and dramatically dove past the Carlin driver at the finish line to snatch reverse grid pole for Sprint Race 2.

The post UNI-Virtuosi secure Monte-Carlo one-two as Zhou leads from lights-to-flag for third F2 win first appeared on InsideRacing.com.