Frederik Vesti took the Monaco feature F2 race win from Theo Pourchaire, as Gabriele Mini took the win in F3.
F2:
It was a clean start from pole for Frederik Vesti in his Prema car in feature race in Monaco as ART pair Victor Martins and Theo Pourchaire went wheel-to-wheel with the former staying in front of his teammate in the Top 3.
Virtuosi’s Jack Doohan was fourth from Carlin’s Zane Maloney with Van Amersfoort Racing’s Richard Verschoor steadying in sixth ahead of Hitech GP’s Jak Crawford. Behind them, both DAMS’ Ayumu Iwasa and Hitech GP’s Isack Hadjar gained places.
They were eighth and ninth having leap-frogged MP Motorsport’s Jehan Daruvala at the start, as Virtuosi’s Amaury Cordeel pitted to retire due to suspected issue. There was investigation for MP Motorsport’s Dennis Hauger but was cleared.
As the pit stops started to happen, DAMS’ Arthur Leclerc retired due to brake failure. The gainer of the lot was Prema’s Oliver Bearman who positioned himself between Iwasa and Hadjar having started way down the order outside the Top 10.
There was a Virtual Safety Car period after Carlin’s Enzo Fittipaldi had an engine failure in the tunnel. Hauger, meanwhile, was handed a 5s penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage. Things started to settle until a crash for Doohan.
The Australian seemingly had a problem and hit the barrier to stop as his car caught fire. Maloney and Verschoor managed to evade the car as the likes of Hauger, Campos’ Kush Maini and Trident’s Roman Stanek pitted to gain places.
But the race was red-flagged with Vesti leading Martins, Pourchaire, Maloney, Verschoor, Hauger, Maini, Stanek, Crawford and Iwasa in the Top 10, leaving Bearman, Hadjar and Daruvala outside it despite running inside points at one point.
Replays showed Doohan having a barrier hit at the exit of Swimming Pool section. He continued on and eventually crashed out in the first part of the circuit. The re-start saw the lapped cars from Crawford onward be on the lead lap but they were more than 40s behind.
Vesti continued to lead from Martins, Pourchaire, Maloney, Verschoor, Hauger, Maini and Stanek well with Crawford nearly half a lap behind. There was an investigation on for Martins for failing to slow down enough under yellow flags.
He was handed a drive-through penalty for the infringement as replays showed him very close to the marshals attending Doohan’s car having not slowed enough. He dropped to eighth with Crawford too far off as Pourchaire was second from Maloney, Verschoor, Hauger, Maini and Stanek in the Top 7. Pourchaire, meanwhile, was under investigation for pit stop.
In a timed race, Vesti took the feature F2 race in Monaco from Pourchaire and Maloney in the Top 3. Verschoor was fourth from Hauger who fended off Maini as Stanek in seventh held off Martins while Crawford and Iwasa rounded the Top 10.
#F2 #MonacoGP Provisional results of the FeatureRace, which was timed-out and had a VSC, a safetycar and a red flag period. #MsportXtra @F2Inside pic.twitter.com/tJ9B6whKoZ
— #MsportXtra © (@MsportXtra) May 28, 2023
More to come
F3:
After earning his first Formula 3 podium in the Sprint Race, Leonardo Fornaroli didn’t get the chance to bring home more points again after the Trident driver stalled on the grid on the formation lap. When the five lights went out, Minì got a decent launch off the line to keep Beganovic behind. Fifth-placed Collet immediately tried to put the pressure on Browning, but the Van Amersfoort Racing driver had to ease off as the tarmac quickly ran out into Turn 1.
Further back, Sprint Race winner Josep María Martí and Championship leader Gabriel Bortoleto sized each other up. Going wheel-to-wheel, Martí attempted to go around the outside of both the Trident and Franco Colapinto at Turn 6 just as Colapinto’s MP Motorsport car suffered a snap of oversteer. That moment allowed Bortoleto to gain eighth position from the Argentinian.
Ido Cohen lost his Rodin Carlin on entry to Turn 12 whilst battling with his teammate Oliver Gray and ended up in the barriers, triggering the Safety Car. Racing got back underway entering Lap 6 and Minì didn’t wait around, going early into Rascasse to hold off Beganovic. Sitting just further back in fifth, Taylor Barnard was handed a 10-second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage. The Jenzer Motorsport driver cut the corner at Turn 1 on the opening lap, having gone side-by-side with Bortoleto and Colapinto.
In the chase for third, the gap ebbed and flowed between Aron and Browning. By Lap 17, the Williams junior was all over the back of the #1 PREMA but couldn’t quite find a way through on the Estonian. Behind Browning, Sebastián Montoya’s attempts at shaping for a move on Collet for fifth ended in heartbreak for both. With the Brazilian suffering from tyre degradation, the Red Bull junior had great traction out of Turn 1 but made contact with Collet’s rear left tyre on the run up the hill.
It left the Brazilian with a puncture and forced Montoya to pit for a new front wing. The Hitech Pulse-Eight was later handed a 10-second penalty for causing the collision. The final stages saw Beganovic pull back into Minì’s one-second DRS window, but there was nothing the Swede could do to stop him holding on to claim a monumental maiden victory.
Despite Browning closing to within three tenths on the final lap, Aron managed to secure his first F3 podium. Bortoleto strengthened his hold on the Championship lead in fifth ahead of Colapinto. Barnard’s penalty demoted him to eighth ahead of Martí and Grégoire Saucy, who rounded out the top 10.
#F3 #MonacoGP Provisional results of the FeatureRace, which had an early safetycar, a yellow and some contact left and right. #MsportXtra pic.twitter.com/4nYqRWC4w7
— #MsportXtra © (@MsportXtra) May 28, 2023
Here’s how sprint F2 and F3 races panned out