Formula 2
O’Sullivan and Barnard get their first wins in Formula 2: MONACO REVIEW
Zak O’Sullivan and Taylor Barnard took their first ever win in Formula 2. Here’s a review of the championship’s weekend in Monaco
Formula 2 returned to racing in Monte Carlo and delivered a dramatic Feature Race on Sunday.
Formula 2 made its way to the streets of Monte Carlo for Round 5 of the championship. The narrow historic street circuit saw 2 drivers take their first ever win in Formula 2. Here’s how the weekend unfolded
Practice
As is the nature of the Monaco circuit, it offers scheduling challenges, hence the practice started on an unusual Thursday. Victor Martins began the Monte Carlo weekend impressively by setting the fastest time in a rain-affected practice session with a lap of 1:39.237. ART Grand Prix’s Martins led the field ahead of Richard Verschoor and Dennis Hauger. Heavy rain made the circuit damp and tricky, with drivers initially struggling for grip. As conditions improved, Martins maintained his lead, with Hauger and Verschoor trailing. The session faced a red flag due to Franco Colapinto’s crash but resumed briefly before worsening rain led to teams calling their cars back to the pitlane. Martins remained fastest, followed by Hauger, Verschoor, Isack Hadjar, and Zak O’Sullivan.
QUALIFYING
Qualifying in Monaco follows a unique format, with drivers divided into two groups based on their driver numbers—odd numbers in one group and even numbers in another. For this weekend, the ballot held at the pre-race weekend Formula 2 Drivers’ briefing decided the two groups for Friday’s Qualifying session in Monte Carlo. Group A will be all 11 even-numbered cars while the odd-numbered cars will participate in Group B.
Each group, consisting of 11 drivers, has 16 minutes to set their fastest time. The driver with the best overall time across both groups earns pole position for the Feature Race, with the fastest driver from the other group joining them on the front row. The grid alternates between the groups, so if a driver from Group A secures pole, all drivers from Group A will line up on the right side of the grid.
GROUP A
After completing their first flying laps, Zak O’Sullivan from ART was the fastest, with a time of 1:23.118. This put him over half a second ahead of Isack Hadjar from Campos Racing.
O’Sullivan improved his time to 1:22.202, with Verschoor close behind at just 0.113s. As the session neared its end, Verschoor took the lead with a time of 1:21.283, followed by Hadjar and Colapinto. Despite final efforts, Verschoor’s time remained unbeaten.
GROUP B
After a short break, the second set of 11 drivers took to the track with Verschoor’s 1:21.283 as the target time for pole.
Early in the session, Rafael Villagómez crashed at Turn 1, bringing out the red flags. Once the track was clear, drivers resumed with nine minutes left. Zane Maloney initially topped the timesheets with a 1:21.941, but Victor Martins soon reclaimed the lead with a 1:21.310. Roman Stanek briefly led but crashed, ending his session. Paul Aron set a 1:21.347, placing second in Group B.
As a result, Verschoor took pole for Sunday’s feature race ahead of Victor Martins.
Hadjar finished third, followed by Aron, Colapinto, and Stanek. Antonelli, Hauger, Bortoleto, and Barnard completed the top 10, with Barnard securing reverse grid pole for the Sprint Race.
After the Qualifying session concluded, three drivers received post-session penalties.
Oliver Bearman received a three-place grid drop for impeding Campos Racing’s Josep María Martí during a push lap. Juan Manuel Correa of DAMS Lucas Oil also received a three-place grid penalty for impeding PREMA Racing’s Andrea Kimi Antonelli during a push lap. Lastly, Kush Maini was given a three-place grid penalty for impeding Rodin Motorsport’s Zane Maloney. All the three drivers will serve their penalty in the next race (the upcoming sprint race)
SPRINT RACE
Taylor Barnard delivered a commanding performance starting from reverse grid Pole in the Monte Carlo Sprint Race, securing his and AIX Racing’s first Formula 2 victory.
Despite a slower start compared to Gabriel Bortoleto, who started alongside him on the front row, Barnard maintained his lead with Dennis Hauger slotting into third. The race saw interruptions with a Safety Car deployed due to Victor Martins’ crash early on with DAMS Lucas Oil’s Jak Crawford and Campos Racing’s Josep María Martí.
Barnard held onto his lead after each restart, with the race marked by incidents like Martí’s crash at the swimming pool section and Richard Verschoor’s damage from a collision. Meanwhile, Oliver Bearman faced challenges, including a slow moment that dropped him to P14.
Zane Maloney’s race ended at La Rascasse after he locked up into the corner before being sent into a spin by Juan Manuel Correa. This also left Maini without a place to go causing him to stop next to Maloney. With the track blocked, it triggered a Red Flag. Racing resumed on lap 26 with a rolling start and Barnard held on to his lead. Barnard crossed the line in first, giving him and AIX Racing their maiden Formula 2 victory. Bortoleto finished in P2 while Hauger followed him across the line to take P3.
“Starting in P1, I knew it was going to be a matter of trying to keep hold of P1 at the first corner. I dreamt about this last night, coming out of the first corner in first. We had a great car today and when I got in front, I could feel straight away that I had good pace, and I just managed the pace and the car throughout the race. The mini–Safety Cars and Virtual Safety Cars and one Red Flag didn’t make my life easy to say the least. Very happy, thank you to the whole team for the car they gave me today and really happy to get my first win in Monaco.”- Taylor Barnard, AIX Racing
Antonelli finished fourth for the third time in the last four races ahead of the second MP car of Franco Colapinto. Trident’s Roman Stanek finished in sixth ahead of Hitech Pulse-Eight’s Paul Aron with Campos Racing’s Isack Hadjar taking the final point in P8.
FEATURE RACE
Zak O’Sullivan clinched his first Formula 2 victory in a thrilling Monte Carlo Feature Race, capitalizing on a late Virtual Safety Car period to secure the win. Starting from P15, O’Sullivan opted for a longer first stint. A Virtual Safety Car caused by Joshua Duerksen’s stoppage on track worked in his favor, allowing him to pit and emerge in the lead on the penultimate lap. In the final lap, O’Sullivan held off Isack Hadjar to claim the victory, with Hadjar finishing second and Paul Aron taking third.
Here’s how the race unfolded:
Richard Verschoor made a strong start from Pole position for Trident, but Victor Martins struggled off the line, allowing Hadjar and Aron to move up. Further back, Gabriel Bortoleto made full use of his supersoft tyres to overtake Dennis Hauger and Oliver Bearman.
The race saw its first incident with Jak Crawford’s retiring after colliding with Kush Maini at turn 7.
The first round of pit stops came for everyone who started on super soft and it was Verschoor who held the net race lead, before losing it to Isack Hadjar on lap 25 who overtook him going into turn 1. Trouble continued for Verschoor, who kept losing places in the following laps and eventually retired after a penalty and ongoing issues.
On Lap 36, Hadjar hit the wall but continued, facing pressure from Aron. Meanwhile, Maloney and Barnard made contact, affecting their race.
Towards the end with 2 laps to go, everyone except O’Sullivan had made their mandatory pit stops and Isack Hadjar had the net race lead and was P2 on the road behind O’Sullivan. The drama unfolded as Joshua Duerksen, who was next to pit 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 chance to come in from the lead to complete his mandatory pit stop. He was called in by ART moments before the Virtual Safety Car was deployed, this was crucial as pit stops under the VSC don’t count towards the mandatory pit stop, but since O’Sullivan came in before the VSC was deployed, his stop under the VSC was legal.
O’Sullivan came out ahead of Hadjar and held him off in the final lap to take his maiden win 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.
“Just won the Feature Race in Monaco, bit of a crazy race starting from 15th, didn’t really expect it but pace was strong and again luck was on my side with the VSC at the end. But super happy for the team, it’s been a tricky start to the year but it’s finally good to get a big result and a big boost for the rest of the season.” – Zak O’Sullivan, ART Grand Prix
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
Paul Aron’s consistent performance has propelled him to the top of the Drivers’ Championship, marking the first time this season that someone other than Zane Maloney leads. Aron’s fifth podium finish of the year has earned him 80 points, placing him ahead of Isack Hadjar by just two points, who now holds second place. Zane Maloney currently sits in third with 69 points, followed by Dennis Hauger in fourth with 56 points, and Gabriel Bortoleto rounding out the top five with 50 points.
In the Teams’ Standings, Campos Racing maintains its lead with 104 points. Hitech Pulse-Eight’s strong performance moves them up to second place with 95 points, narrowly ahead of MP Motorsport in third with 94 points. Rodin Motorsport slips to fourth with 85 points, while Invicta Racing completes the top five teams with 84 points.
UP NEXT
The championship will take a 3-week break before resuming things in Barcelona at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya from June 21-23.
Formula 2
Formula 2: Final Stop of The Triple Header in Barcelona
After 2 back to back racing weekends in Imola and Monaco, Formula 2 now heads to Barcelona for the final stop of the triple header.
The Formula 2 paddock makes its final stop of the triple header at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya for another weekend of intense racing action. The last 2 weekends at Imola and Monaco have given us unpredictable races, let’s see what Barcelona has to offer this weekend.
Championship Battle Tight as Ever
The championship battle is tight as ever in Formula 2, the top 3 are separated by only 6 points. Luke Browning leads the championship after a good haul of points in Monaco saw him replace Alex Dunne at the top. The Williams Academy driver is yet to win a race, but he has been consistently stacking up points to emerge as a championship contender.
Alex Dunne was leading the championship coming into Monaco and even got the pole position for the Feature Race. A win in the feature race would have meant that he would have extended the lead in the championship. But, an impatient move into Turn 1 to keep his lead resulted in him going into the side of Victor Martins, eventually leading to a pile-up which saw a total of 7 cars retire. He is still second in the championship, 3 points behind Browning.
Kush Riding On a Wave of Confidence
After making history in Monaco, becoming the first indian to win on the streets of the principality, Kush Maini is full of confidence heading into Barcelona, a circuit where he had good success last time around. Last year, Kush got a Sprint race podium and a solid P6 in the feature race at Barcelona. Full of confidence and heading to a circuit he likes, Kush will be looking to get some solid results before the short break.
We’ve had a very rocky start, with a lot of things going wrong. Some things were in our control, some things not, but our season starts today and there’s still a long way to go for us, so this is a positive note to take forwards. – Kush Maini after his win in Monaco.
Hitech TGR vs Campos
The top 2 teams in the standings are separated by just 7 points. Both Hitech and Campos this year have been very consistent in their performances. Hitech, courtesy of Luke Browning, who has been on the podium every single race weekend this season, leads Campos narrowly. But these teams have been in Formula 2 long enough to understand the season is still very long and it all can change in just a couple of weekends.
Where to watch Formula 2 in India
You can watch all the sessions of Formula 2 live in India on Fancode and F1TV. The schedule for the weekend in IST is given below:
Desi Racing Co. is dedicated to bringing the latest updates and insights from the world of motorsport. Whether it’s Formula 1, Formula 2, WEC, MotoGP, Indian motorsports, or other racing series, we’ve got you covered! Stay connected with us for in-depth motorsport coverage. Follow us on Twitter/X/, Instagram, and LinkedIn to keep up with the latest motorsport news and updates.
Formula 2
Formula 2: DAMS Double in Monaco as Maini Makes History
Kush Maini became the first Indian to win around Monaco in Formula 2. Jack Crawford wins on Sunday to make it a DAMS double in Monte Carlo.
When Formula 2 visits Monaco, chaos is almost guaranteed, and this weekend was no exception. The Sprint Race made history as Kush Maini became the first-ever Indian to win on the iconic streets of Monte Carlo. On Sunday, DAMS completed the double, with Jack Crawford winning one of the most unpredictable Feature Races of the season.
READ MORE: Formula 2 Round 5: Streets of Monaco Await an Epic Thriller
Saturday: Maini Writes History for India
Kush Maini was coming to Monaco after having the worst start to his Formula 2 season. In the seven races leading up to Monaco, Kush had a best finish of 10th and had scored just one point. There was something that was just not clicking for him this year. There was no doubt about the pace Maini possesses, this is the same driver who surprised everyone two years ago in his debut season, constantly challenging for top spots in qualifying in a team that was not very competitive that year. But for some reason, by luck or by chance, it just wasn’t working out for him.
Just last weekend in Imola, when Kush was finally getting into rhythm to show what he is capable of, finishing P3 in practice and then challenging for the top 5 in qualifying, he made a mistake and crashed out on his flying lap. That brought out the red flag, and as per regulations, his fastest lap was deleted, dropping him to 13th. That weekend, from then on, was another one to forget. Coming into Monaco, Kush was again looking for that one moment that would give him that confidence boost.
Due to the nature of Monaco, F2 does its qualifying in groups. Drivers are divided into Group A and B based on their competition number, and whoever is the fastest in either group gets pole. But here’s the interesting bit: pole in Monaco is on the left side. So, for example, if a driver from Group A gets pole, then everyone in Group A will start on the left side—i.e., in positions 1, 3, 5, 7, and so on. This means that even if you’re in Group A and your time is good enough to put you P2, you’d still start P3 if the fastest driver from Group B gets to start on the other side of the grid.
Kush was in Group A. His time put him fifth fastest in the group, which meant he would either start P9 or P10 based on the results of Group B. Alex Dunne, in Group B, put in a banker lap to set the fastest time of qualifying, faster by three-thousandths of a second than Victor Martins, who was fastest in Group A. This meant everyone in Group B would start on the left side, i.e., odd-numbered positions and everyone in Group A would start on the right, the even-numbered positions. Kush was supposed to start the Feature Race from P10, but the most important bit: he would start the reverse grid Sprint Race from pole.
Come the Sprint Race, and Kush made the perfect getaway, keeping his lead going into Turn 1 at lights out. From then on, it was all about keeping control of the race. Alongside him on the front row, Luke Browning had a terrible start, getting swallowed by three cars, allowing Gabriel Minì to overtake him and slot into second, along with Jack Crawford and Arvid Lindblad, who were third and fourth.
From here on out, all Maini had to do was keep his calm and not make a mistake, which, when you’re driving around Monaco, is not the easiest thing to do. But the Indian driver drove brilliantly to take the chequered flag and claim his first-ever win in Monaco, also the first-ever win for India on the streets of the principality.
Some of Kush’s earlier bad results could be chalked up to bad luck or circumstance, but it was that very same twist of fate that handed him the reverse grid pole and ultimately the victory in Monaco. His lap time was good enough for P7, which under normal conditions would have placed him fourth on the reverse grid. And from there, it’s anyone’s guess how the race might have unfolded.
“P1, first Indian to win in Monaco too. It’s a great honour and a dream come true. I want to say thank you to DAMS and everyone who has supported me. We keep believing!” – Kush Maini after his win in Monaco.
Sunday: Jack Crawford Wins Carnage-Packed Feature Race
Jack Crawford secured his second win of the season in a race full of chaos on the streets of Monaco. A perfectly timed stop before the Safety car helped the American take the win on the streets of Monaco.
Starting on Pole, Alex Dunne had Victor Martins to accompany him on the front row. At the start, Martins got a better launch to be ahead of Dunne into the first corner, but Dunne was not ready to let go of the inside line, and the two made contact, leading to a chain reaction of crashes which saw 5 more drivers get involved and ultimately retire from the race.
After a lengthy Red Flag, Leonardo Fornarolli would lead a rolling restart of the race, with the cars lining up based on the qualifying positions minus the retirements. After the race restarted, Fornarolli led the pack with Lindblad leading Montoya and Lindblad with Crawford in fourth.
Virtual Safety Car was deployed when Dino Beganovic went into the barriers at Casino Square, which would then be upgraded to a full safety car. The timing of the safety car was such that the top 3 had passed the pit entry, but Crawford was at the perfect position to make his stop. The top 3 came around and made their stop,s but Crawford had done enough to take the race lead.
Once the safety car was not withdrawn and the race was red-flagged as the barrier needed repairs. Crawford crossed the line to take the win with Fornaroli in second. Lindblad crossed the line in third but was handed a 5-second time penalty for speeding in the pit lane, dropping him to fifth and promoting Montoya to third.
Up Next in Formula 2
Formula 2 now heads to Barcelona, to make its final stop of the intense triple header from 30th May to 1st June.
Desi Racing Co. is dedicated to bringing the latest updates and insights from the world of motorsport. Whether it’s Formula 1, Formula 2, WEC, MotoGP, Indian motorsports, or other racing series, we’ve got you covered! Stay connected with us for in-depth motorsport coverage. Follow us on Twitter/X, Instagram, and LinkedIn to keep up with the latest motorsport news and updates.
Formula 2
Formula 2 Round 5: Streets of Monaco Await an Epic Thriller
After wrapping their weekend in Imola, Formula 2 now heads to the streets of Monaco for another weekend of intense racing action.
No off days for the Formula 2 paddock as they move to Monaco fresh from their weekend at Imola for their second stop of the triple header. Qualifying is key in winning at Monaco, but Zak O Sullivan proved the theory wrong after winning the Feature Race, having started all the way back at 15th on the grid. Monaco is a race every driver wants to win, with Formula 2 giving you 2 chances of ticking that box, it will be interesting to see who comes out on top.
Alex Dunne Heading the Pack into Monaco
Alex Dunne won the Feature Race from 5th on the grid after a brilliant drive in Imola last weekend. This also helped the Irishman jump to the top of the championship standings with 64 points. Dunne has won 2 Feature Races till now, interestingly if you remove those races then he only has 14 points, showing how just a couple of races can change your fortunes in this championship. Dunne would be aware of that fact, and would not let his guard down heading into Monaco as the top 3 are all within 10 points of each other.
Not your traditional Qualifying
Formula 2, unlike Formual 1, has a single 30 minute long qualifying session. This means all 22 drivers are out at the same time, fighting for pole position, unlike Formula 1 where the grid keeps reducing in size unless you only have 10 drivers in the hunt for pole. The tight nature of the Monaco circuit can make it difficult for drivers to get a clean lap in among all the traffic on the streets. It is for this reason that the championship divides it’s group into two qualifying groups.
Battle Heats up in Teams’ Championship
The battle for the Team’s Championship is heating up as the top 2 teams are seperated by only 1 point. Hitech TGR leads Campos Racing in the Teams’ Championship thanks to a double podium in Imola. The pair has made some distance between them and the other teams with a 20 point gap, but this gap can be overcome in just one race if your drivers do well, and it is very likely that we could see a third team apart from them leading the Teams’ Championship when we leave Monaco.
Kush Maini Looking to Turn Things Around
Kush Maini is having his worst start to a Formula 2 season. In the previous years we have seen him be competetive at the start of the year, fight for the top spots and show brilliant one lap pace. This year, it seemed to have vanished. We did see some flashes of pace from the Indian driver after he finished P3 in Pracice at Imola and was looking for a strong top 10 finish in Qualifying before crashing out and bringing out the red flag. Monaco has historically not been a good track for Kush, but history is nothing to go by in this championship where you can change your fortunes in just one race. A good weekend in Monaco will boost Maini’s confidence and help him in Barcelona just next weekend.
Schedule and Where to Watch Formula 2 in India
You can watch all the Formula 2 sessions live on Fancode or F1TV in India. Complete schedule for the weekend is given below in IST.
Desi Racing Co. is dedicated to bringing the latest updates and insights from the world of motorsport. Whether it’s Formula 1, Formula 2, WEC, MotoGP, Indian motorsports, or other racing series, we’ve got you covered! Stay connected with us for in-depth motorsport coverage. Follow us on Twitter/X, Instagram, and LinkedIn to keep up with the latest motorsport news and updates.
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