Monza F2: Pourchaire takes second series win in dramatic sprint race

The Frenchman took the lead on Lap 14 and stayed there to cross the line ahead of UNI-Virtuosi driver Guanyu Zhou.

Pourchaire previously became the youngest-ever F2 race winner in Monaco at 17-years-old, taking the record from now McLaren Formula 1 driver Lando Norris.

Teammate Christian Lundgaard made an incredible charge through the field in a race that saw two safety cars and ended under one of several yellow flags, starting 19th before finishing third after Robert Shwartzman’s penalty was applied. 

Oscar Piastri finished fourth for Prema, having started in 10th courtesy of his feature race pole position, with Liam Lawson in fifth for Hitech. 

Jake Hughes, filling in for Jack Aitken at HWA Racelab, lost power on the formation lap and was pushed to the end of the pitlane. 

Juri Vips got the jump on poleman David Beckmann into the run down to Turn 1, while Bent Viscaal was forced onto the exit road in his Trident. 

Dan Ticktum also mounted a challenge on Beckmann on the first lap, while Lirim Zendeli passed Zhou into the Ascari chicane before Robert Shwartzman attempted the same around Parabolica. 

Enzo Fittipaldi was handed a penalty for causing Marino Sato to spin at Turn 1 on the first lap, but the Charouz driver retired shortly after, while Shwartzman was handed a five-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage at the start. 

On the second tour, Pourchaire and Ticktum went deep into Turn 1 in the fight for third, forcing the Frenchman down the escape road. 

Ticktum attempted to stay on track to take the second apex of the chicane but was hit in the rear by Felipe Drugovich. 

The incident prompted the safety car on the third lap, giving Drugovich the opportunity to pit for a new nose after the collision with Ticktum. 

Ralph Boschung was also forced to pit for a new front wing after he also caught Ticktum in the lap two melee, but did so after the safety car ended at the end of Lap 4, costing him even more time. The pitstop, which took place under the virtual safety car, is set to be investigated after the race. 

Racing resumed on lap five, with Lawson also falling victim to the black-and-orange flags with a damaged wing, suffered while battling Pourchaire, and also changed to the soft tyres before rejoining the race at the back of the pack. 

The virtual safety car was prompted after an unlucky Drugovich went off at the Ascari chicane, losing the rear into the corner because of cold tyres before plummeting through the gravel, into the barrier and out of the race. 

Piastri and Shwartzman fought wheel-to-wheel on Lap 7 at the second Lesmo, with the Russian driver taking the inside line and forcing his way past his teammate into seventh. 

There was contact between Daruvala and Piastri as the championship leader passed into eighth around Roggia, leaving the Red Bull junior to join the ranks of those suffering a damaged front wing. He pitted on lap 10 to fix the damage and also took soft tyres. 

By Lap 9, Pourchaire was right on the gearbox of Beckmann, with the pair edging closer to Vips in the lead. 

Beckmann was sent over the escape road in Turn 1, allowing Pourchaire to pass into second place before Zhou got up into third. 

The safety car was prompted again after Nissany was sent spinning out of the Ascari chicane at the end of Lap 10, leaving him parked at the exit of Turn 8, with Piastri making drastic avoiding action. 

Hughes pitted under safety car conditions to take the soft tyres, before racing resumed at the end of Lap 13. 

Shwartzman took fourth on the run down to Turn 1 before Zendeli also passed Beckmann, who was struggling with tyre temperature, into fifth. 

Pourchaire swept past Vips on the way into Rettifilo to take the lead, while Lundgaard made his way up into six up the inside of Beckmann, who then fell down to ninth. 

By Lap 16, Zhou was up into third, with Shwartzman hot on his heels despite his penalty, while Lundgaard continued his charge through the field, moving into fifth. 

Vips locked up into the first chicane on Lap 18, dropping down the order to fifth despite all his efforts, allowing Zhou up into second. 

Lawson got past teammate Vips into sixth on the penultimate lap, despite having pitted earlier in the race. It continued Vips’ journey down the timesheet, leaving him struggling in seventh before he was also passed by Viscaal. 

Zendeli, despite a starring role in the race, went off at the first chicane into the gravel, ending his race and prompting the yellow flags, which continued until the end of the race. 

Monza F2: Race results:

Cla	#	Driver	Team	Gap
1	10	Theo Pourchaire	ART Grand Prix
2	3	Guanyu Zhou	UNI-Virtuosi	4.300
3	9	Christian Lundgaard	ART Grand Prix	6.900
4	2	Oscar Piastri	Prema Powerteam	7.600
5	7	Liam Lawson	HitechGP	9.700
6	1	Robert Shwartzman	Prema Powerteam	10.700
7	24	Bent Viscaal	Trident	11.500
8	8	Jüri Vips	HitechGP	12.700
9	6	Jehan Daruvala	Carlin	13.100
10	20	David Beckmann	Campos Racing	15.200
11	17	Marcus Armstrong	DAMS	15.600
12	22	Jake Hughes	HWA Racelab	18.800
13	23	Alessio Deledda	HWA Racelab	20.300
14	21	Ralph Boschung	Campos Racing
15	12	Lirim Zendeli	MP Motorsport
	25	Marino Sato	Trident
	11	Richard Verschoor	MP Motorsport
	16	Roy Nissany	DAMS
	15	Guilherme Samaia	Charouz Racing System
	4	Felipe Drugovich	UNI-Virtuosi
	14	Enzo Fittipaldi	Charouz Racing System
	5	Dan Ticktum	Carlin
View full results