Hitech GP’s Juri Vips scored his first win of the season in the FIA Formula 2 sprint race at Monza, as Felipe Drugovich sealed the title despite failing to finish.
Having started from 12th following a five-place penalty in qualifying, Drugovich retired with suspension damage after opening-lap contact at the della Roggia chicane with Amaury Cordeel.
That left Theo Pourchaire needing to finish fifth or higher to keep the title race alive, but the ART driver was the last of the finishers in 17th. That allowed MP Motorsport’s Drugovich to take the crown with three races to spare.
Vesti led away from pole at the start, while a slow launch dropped fellow front-row starter Logan Sargeant to fifth.
Vips moved up to second ahead of DAMS’Ayumu Iwasa and Prema’s Jehan Daruvala. But Charouz’s Tatiana Calderon and Campos Racing’s Olli Caldwell joined Drugovich in retiring in a separate lap one collision.
Following a safety car period to recover the stricken cars, Vips snatched the lead from Vesti at the first chicane and pulled out a 2.5-second lead by half distance. Vesti slightly closed the gap from there but had to settle for second, 1.035s behind Vips.
Daruvala and Sargeant came home third and fourth, both having both passed the struggling Iwasa who eventually tumbled out of the points to 16th, also incurring a 5s time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage.
Pourchaire climbed from 14th on the grid to challenge Liam Lawson for sixth, but ended up off the track while battling the Carlin driver and ended up at the back of the field.
Lawson remained in sixth ahead of Virtuosi’s Jack Doohan and Van Amersfoort Racing’s David Beckmann. Dennis Hauger (Prema) and Marcus Armstrong (Hitech) completed the top ten.
Featured image credit: @formula2 official twitter
