Zak O’Sullivan had prime luck to win feature FIA F2 race in Monaco after late VSC, as Gabriele Mini took the win in F3.
F2:
Richard Verschoor made a fast start from Pole in the Trident, but his fellow front row starter Victor Martins fell down the order, with the ART Grand Prix #1 car slow off the line. It allowed Hadjar and Aron to move up to second and third. Further back, Gabriel Bortoleto was using his Supersoft tyres well as he went round the outside of Dennis Hauger at the Turn 6 hairpin putting him up to eighth. He was right behind Oliver Bearman who made his way up from 12th to P7.
It was not good news however for DAMS Lucas Oil driver Jak Crawford, who stopped on track at Turn 7 after colliding with the Invicta Racing car of Kush Maini. On Lap 4 of 42, Verschoor was being put under pressure by Hadjar, while Aron was falling back in third. Just behind the top three, Colapinto was feeling the presence of PREMA Racing’s Antonelli for P4.
The drivers then held station but by Lap 10, Bortoleto was given the hurry up from his Invicta Racing team and told to catch Bearman ahead. At the same time, Zane Maloney swapped his Supersofts for the Softs, coming out behind Josep María Martí who had done the same just the lap before.
Bearman was the next driver to go on to the Softs on Lap 16 with Bortoleto following him into the pitlane on the next lap. Then came trouble for Trident and Verschoor, with the Dutch driver coming on the radio to report an issue. The Dutchman was able to keep things going but his three second lead to Hadjar was now gone.
At the halfway stage, Hitech and PREMA rolled the dice by pitting Aron and Antonelli for the Supersoft tyres. The latter came out ahead his teammate Bearman, though the two went wheel-to-wheel and the Scuderia Ferrari Driver Academy talent claimed the position.
Hadjar and Verschoor were next in with the Trident driver keeping the effective race lead, but he was soon under attack from the Frenchman, who made the crucial move past down the main straight as the Trident began to slow. Verschoor’s struggles continued as he managed the issue and by Lap 29, he had fallen to the back of the field. To add salt into the wounds, he had to serve a five-second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage before retiring the car.
On Lap 36, Hadjar came on the radio to say he had hit the wall but was able to continue, although he was still coming under attack from Aron. Elsewhere, Maloney and Barnard made contact at the Turn 6 hairpin, with the AIX racer losing a piece of his front wing. After being given the hurry up on the radio, Antonelli finally made his way past Colapinto at the final corner. This opened the door for Bortoleto and Maloney, who also overtook the MP Motorsport driver.
On Lap 40, Joshua Duerksen was next to pit but collided with Maloney at Turn 1. The AIX driver stopped on track while the Rodin Motorsport driver continued on. This gave Zak O’Sullivan, the last remaining runner on the alternative strategy yet to pit, the chance to come in from the lead. Crucially, he was called in by ART moments before the Virtual Safety Car was deployed to recover Duerksen’s AIX car, making his stop under the VSC legal.
The Briton re-joined ahead of Hadjar on the penultimate lap before holding him off on a tense final lap to take his maiden victory in Formula 2. Aron crossed the line to finish third to take the lead in the Drivers’ Championship. He finished ahead of Bearman in fourth and Correa in fifth, while Hauger wound up in sixth. Antonelli, ended up in P7 ahead of Bortoleto and Martins, as Maloney rounded out the points positions in 10th.
F3:
Minì got a good launch to hold onto the lead over Mansell into Turn 1 as Browning followed the pair in third position. Further round the opening lap, Jenzer Motorsport driver Charlie Wurz was left in the barriers at Portier after contact with Rodin Motorsport’s Piotr Wisnicki to bring out a Safety Car. The Polish driver was later handed a 10-second time penalty for the incident.
Racing got back underway entering Lap 3 with Minì retaining the lead over the chasing pack but with Mansell was right in his wheel tracks. Joseph Loake proved overtaking was possible around the Principality, diving to the inside of Mari Boya’s Campos Racing car at La Rascasse on Lap 6 to claim seventh place for Rodin.
With the opening third of the race run, Minì still had Mansell for company in second, unable to break out of DRS range to the Australian driver, while Browning had dropped several seconds back in third. Having been passed, Boya was eager to re-gain the spot against Loake and a sizeable lock-up into the Nouvelle Chicane on Lap 14 meant he skipped the corner. One lap on and the Rodin driver ceded the position to avoid any possible sanction.
ART’s Laurens van Hoepen was on the move next, making a brave dive to the inside of Van Amersfoort Racing driver Noel León at Mirabeau to move into 10th. With 10 laps remaining, Minì had broken Mansell’s pursuit and was over a second clear in the lead of the race. Lap 20 and there was a three-car collision at Turn 5 involving León, ART driver Nikola Tsolov and Sami Meguetounif.
The Trident driver was left out of the running, the other pair rejoined, but not before the Safety Car was deployed. Tsolov had attempted a pass on the inside but tagged the VAR driver into a spin, leaving Meguetounif nowhere to go in avoidance. The Sprint Race winner was awarded a 10-second time penalty for the incident. The Safety Car was withdrawn entering Lap 23 and Minì got a good enough restart to keep Mansell behind him.
Loake attempted another pass on Boya but with the door firmly shut on him at the Turn 6 hairpin, MP Motorsport’s Tim Tramnitz profited to seize eighth position. Seeking to take advantage himself, van Hoepen battled with the Rodin down towards Tabac, but slid into the barriers to bring out a third Safety Car. The barriers were back in place in time for a final lap shootout with the Safety Car withdrawn with one lap remaining.
Minì repelled the last gasp challenge from Mansell to secure his first victory of the season and his second Feature Race triumph on the streets of Monte Carlo. Mansell followed him home in P2 with Browning earning third for Hitech. PREMA’s Arvid Lindblad followed home in fourth ahead of Leonardo Fornaroli in the Trident. Boya was seventh ahead of Tramnitz, Loake and Oliver Goethe, who profited from the final incident to take the remaining point in 10th.
Here’s how F2 and F3 sprint race panned out in Monaco
[Note: The story is as per press release]