The Formula 2 championship returns to the streets of Monaco for the 5th round of the season. The drivers take to the historic track for qualifying and are split into two groups, 11 drivers in each to minimise impeding incidents.
PREMA driver and Mercedes Junior Fred Vesti stole pole away from the championship leader in the dying stages of their group, securing his spot at the front of the field for the feature race. Both sessions were interrupted by red flags after crashes and incidents for multiple drivers up and down the grid.
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Group A
The 11 drivers in group A were as follows, with one driver from each team: Hadjar, Verschoor, Leclerc, Martins, Doohan, Nissany, Stanek, Daruvala, Maini, Fittipaldi and Bearman.
Out of the pits, the drivers were quick to set a banker lap to get acclimated to the track and ensure they have a time on the board before any incidents. Alpine Junior Victor Martins occupied top spot after the first laps and the field cooled down to go for a full push with around 8 minutes to go.
However, it didn’t take long for the infamous Monaco curse to hit the younger Leclerc brother as he went clattering into the barriers at the last turn and causing a red flag. The DAMS driver had shown strong pace in the opening practice but the incident solidified the end to his qualifying session in P7 at the time.
The green light was shown again with just over 5 and a half minutes to go, allowing the drivers to pile onto the track to set their best effort at a competitive lap in the short session.
Rookie driver Kush Maini has had a lightning start to the season, picking up — and showing his pace. He was setting the sectors alight before being blocked by Richard Verschoor into the swimming pool chicane and losing time.
With 30 seconds on the clock, MP Motorsport driver Daruvala found his way into the wall just before the hairpin and secured the end of the session with a red flag. The car didn’t have major damage but enough
The incident secured P1 for Martins ahead of Doohan in P2 and Verschoor in P3. Those behind were frustrated by Daruvala’s crash preventing them from finishing their laps and posting better times in their group.
Group B
The other 11 drivers made up group B, with some heavy hitters in this session: Iwasa, Pourchaire, Hauger, Vesti, Maloney, Boschung, Correa, Novalak, Benavides, Cordeel, and Crawford.
After 2 red flags in the first group, it is no surprise that the drivers rushed onto the track to set banker times with the threat of the barriers looming. The fastest time to beat from group A was a 1m 21.2s by Martins.
Championship leader Theo Pourchaire took P1 after the first runs with a 1m 21.6s, creeping closer to Martins’ time and pushing the car to the absolute limit. Each driver pushing harder and moving ever closer to the barriers around the iconic street circuit.
With the drivers feeling more comfortable, the times start to tumble and the confidence begins to show. Pourchaire improved his time to a 1m 21.3s. Ayumu Iwasa was heard over the radio to his team after brushing the barrier out of the tunnel, suffering with steering issues but pressing on.
With less than 3 minutes to go, Fred Vesti plants a storming lap on the sheets. He takes P1 and provisional pole from Martins with a 1m 21s, besting Pourchaire by half a tenth and showing his true pace.
Unlike the first session, group B was free from major incidents and red flag interruptions in the early and mid stages, but Trident driver Clement Novalak brought out the red flag with only a few seconds on the clock to end the session prematurely.
The red flag came out just before Hauger crossed the line, dooming him to 9th in his group and preventing anyone from challenging PREMA man Fred Vesti for pole. The Mercedes Junior bested Martins and Pourchaire and will line up from P1 for the feature race.
Pourchaire takes P2 and Maloney P3 in Group B.
Image Courtesy of: ART Grand Prix
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