Verschoorv’s Monaco dream was buried by technical problems
At first it looked like the race weekend in Monaco could be the culmination of the gradual improvement of the Trident stable, and success in the main event could finally come. In Friday’s qualifying, Richard Verschoor won his first pole position in Formula 2 and Roman Staněk finished sixth. The pilots of the Italian team took these positions today at the start of the main race in the streets of Monte Carlo.
Verschoor was joined by Martins on the first starting row. Hadjar stood in the second row with Aron. Colapito started next to Staňek fifth. The top ten on the grid was completed by Antonelli, Hauger, Bortoleto and yesterday’s winner Barnard.
Verschoor made a flawless start and took the lead. He was followed by Hadjar, Aron, Colapito, Antonelli and Staněk. On the other hand, the start did not go well for Martins. He started falling into the deep field immediately after the red lights went out.
Just like in the sprint today, there was no overtaking at the start. The pilots were not in a particular hurry to the pits either, so it looked like we were in for another boring race.
That there might be some drama after all began to be suspected around the 20th lap, when Verschoor let his team know on the radio that he was having engine problems.
After one slowdown, he regained the necessary speed, and it turned out that he could hold on to the lead after all. Although the rivals were getting dangerously close.
On the 22nd lap, third Aron headed to the pits, and a lap later second Hadraj and Antonelli. After leaving the pits, the so far boring events on the track were at least made special by the pair of Premas, when Bearman had a great fight with Antonelli, who was driving on fresh tires.
And Verschoor was already heading to the pits. His stop was too slow, but he still managed to get back on track ahead of Hadjar and Aron. However, the Campos pilot immediately started attacking him on heated tires. Using his four years of experience, Verschoor successfully defended himself, but a train of pilots began to form behind the fighting pair. When Hadjar finally successfully overtook Verschoor and took the virtual lead in the race, a crowd of other pilots was waiting for the Trident pilot, eager to overtake him. And that led by Aron.
As technical problems returned to Verschoor, the situation was not easy at all. Nevertheless, he managed to keep Aron behind him for a long time, as well as Bearman. But then engine problems became more visible, the Trident pilot slowed down, and one pilot after another began to overtake him. In addition, the Dutch competitor received a five-second penalty for shortening the track and gaining an advantage.
And then Verschoor headed to the pits, where he parked his car in frustration. The dream of a Monaco victory has vanished.
Hadjar was now in the virtual lead, followed by Aron and Bearman. However, a perhaps somewhat neglected group of non-building pilots Hauger, O’Sullivan, Martins, and Dürksen still rode in the lead.
As Hauger and Martins drove to their stops, they got back behind Bearman but didn’t hold their positions on the fresh tires.
O’Sullivan remained in the lead. And according to the calculation of the ART stable, he could win today, but it would require a safety car, which somehow did not want to be on the track today…
Dürksen drove into the pits three laps before the finish line. However, when leaving the track, he missed Maloney, ran into him from the side and ended up in the wall. A virtual safety car was deployed to the race…
O’Sullivan managed to turn into the pit lane just before his deployment. So the stop could be counted as legitimate for him. After changing the tires, he returned to the empty track and maintained the lead in the race!
Hadjar, who already saw himself as the winner of Monaco, could not believe his eyes. But as he was told over the headphones, this is just Monaco. Pitol Camposu tried to catch up with the British competitor in the last lap, but in vain.
O’Sullivan crossed the finish line first and thus won the main race in Monaco. He also secured his first victory in Formula 2. And that after starting from 15th place.
Formula 2 has perhaps never seen a driver as furious in second place as Hadjar was today. Aron, who currently leads the championship, finished third, two points ahead of Hadjar…
Staněk crossed the finish line in sixteenth place
The results
P Driver Team Time / loss Lap 1 Zak O’Sullivan ART Grand Prix 1:00:25.696 42 2 Isack Hadjar Campos Racing 0.580 42 3 Paul Aron Hitech Pulse-Eight 8.053 42 4 Oliver Bearman Prema Racing 9.118 42 5 JMCorrea DAMS Lucas Oil 9.586 42 6 Dennis Hauger MP Motorsport 9.945 42 7 AKAntonelli Prema Racing 17.540 42 8 Gabriel Bortoleto Invicta Racing 17.847 42 9 Victor Martins ART Grand Prix 18.021 42 10 Zane Maloney Rodin Motorsport 26.555 42 11 Taylor Barnard PHM AIX Racing 26.983 42 12 Enzo Fittipaldi Van Amers foort Racing 27,418 42 13 Franco Colapinto MP Motorsport 30,213 42 14 Pepe Martí Campos Racing 31,662 42 15 Ritomo Miyata Rodin Motorsport 32,386 42 16 Roman Staněk Trident 33,309 42 17 Kush Maini Invicta Racing 33,796 42 18 Joshua Duerksen PHM AIX Racing 39 – Richard Verschoor 28 – Raphael Villagómez Van Amersfoort Racing 18 – Amaury Cordeel Hitech Pulse-Eight 6 – Jak Crawford DAMS Lucas Oil 0
2024-05-26 10:25:00
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