Frederik Vesti cements Formula 2 championship lead in red-flagged Monaco feature race
Frederik Vesti moves to the top of the FIA Formula 2 standings after his lights-to-flag victory in the red-flagged feature race at Monaco.
Frederik Vesti celebrates victory in Monaco. (Formula Motorsport Limited)
Vesti held his lead from the start and pitted early, a wise choice when the race was red-flagged shortly after when Jack Doohan’s car was left stricken across the track.
For Vesti, a “little sprint race” to the flag followed, as he maintained the lead through the rolling start and took the chequered flag ahead of Théo Pourchaire and Zane Maloney.
“P1 in the Feature Race in Monaco,” said Vesti.
“What a day this is and what a weekend, pole position as well which is nice!”
“We are leading the Championship as well, which is also nice.”
“I want to thank Mercedes and PREMA for the support, the car is mega. Now, it’s time to keep pushing, we have a race weekend already next week in Barcelona.”
“Let’s continue the form and continue pushing.”
Frederik Vesti leads the Formula 2 feature race in Monaco. (Formula Motorsport Limited)
Pourchaire had to hold off the challenge from Jack Doohan into turn one, with the Australian eager to prove his newfound pace and confidence after the in-season test.
The virtual safety car briefly neutralised the race when Enzo Fittipaldi pulled to the side of the track on lap 19, with racing resumed on lap 21.
It would not last long, with Jack Doohan clipping the barriers at the exit of the swimming pool chicane and dislodging his front wing. The Alpine junior continued around the track before it came loose at Massenet, sending him into the barriers just before Casino Square.
With Doohan’s car stranded on track and catching fire, the race was suspended, with Victor Martins later handed a drive-through penalty from fourth after a scary incident near Doohan’s car.
With safety car boards display and double-yellow flags waved, Martins slowed briefly before approaching the accident scene, but a near-miss at what remained relatively high-speed landed him a penalty.
After the restart, the lead at the front was unchanged, with Vesti taking victory ahead of Pourchaire and Maloney.
“I think the biggest pressure was the start,” said the PREMA driver.
“Getting a good start and as soon as we got going and I was in the lead, I was trying to just do qualifying laps, manage the pace and just try to make a gap. Obviously, the next biggest challenge was the pit stop and I wanted to have some gap if anything should go wrong.”
“Then we had a good and clean pit stop and we boxed before the safety car, so it was a clean race from outside.”
Unperturbed by the red flag, Vesti says it was “a little sprint race” to the finish.
The victory moves him to the lead of the standings, sitting on 89 points ahead of Pourchaire in second on 84 points.
Vesti has taken two feature race victories, with the FIA Formula 2 standings still wide-open with no one driver yet to achieve consistency across consecutive rounds.
“I think since beginning of the season we have been going better,” said the race winner.
“Every single race weekend, and that test in Barcelona, we made another step forward and I'm just looking forward to keep moving in that direction.”
“We clearly know which direction we need to go, so it's just about making sure we do that every single time we're in the car.”
Ayumu Iwasa falls to third in the standings, tenth in the feature race after taking victory and a momentary hold of the championship on Saturday.
The FIA Formula 2 field returns 2-4 June at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
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2023 FIA Formula 2 Championship - Round 6 Monaco Feature Race
- Frederik Vesti
- Theo Pourchaire
- Zane Maloney
- Richard Verschoor
- Dennis Hauger
- Kush Maini
- Roman Stanek
- Victor Martins
- Jak Crawford
- Ayumu Iwasa
- Oliver Bearman
- Isack Hadjar
- Jehan Daruvala
- Juan Manuel Correa
- Roy Nissany
- Brad Benavides
- Clement Novalak
- Ralph Boschung - DNF
- Jack Doohan - DNF
- Amaury Cordeel - DNF
- Enzo Fittipaldi - DNF
- Arthur Leclerc - DNF
