Prema’s Dennis Hauger took a maiden FIA Formula 2 win in the Monaco sprint race after polesitter Jake Hughes stalled at the start.
Hauger finished 6.7 seconds ahead of team-mate Jehan Daruvala in the partially-reversed grid encounter, having lined up on the front row alongside Hughes.
Despite his Van Amersfoort Racing team building him a new car overnight following a hefty qualifying crash, Hughes was left stranded when the lights went out.
Miraculously, the rest of the field managed to avoid him, with Hauger profiting to take the lead. The rest of the 30-lap contest was uneventful at the front, with Hauger leading until the finish ahead of Daruvala, with Hitech GP’s Marcus Armstrong a further 0.5s behind in third.
Enzo Fittipaldi was fourth for Charouz, ahead of Theo Pourchaire (ART) and Jack Doohan (Virtuosi). Carlin’s Liam Lawson climbed two places to take the final point in eighth.
Hughes eventfully got going and trailed home 18th.
Championship leader Felipe Drugovich had a miserable race, incurring a pitlane speeding penalty following an early tyre change before retiring.
Clement Novalak also failed to finish, crashing at La Rascasse after a collision with DAMS’s Iyama Iwasa, who was handed a 10s time penalty that demoted him to 19th.
Campos Racing’s Ralph Boschung withdrew from the weekend before the race with the same neck problems that sidelined him at the previous round in Barcelona.
Featured image credit: @formula2 official twitter
