2019 Monza Formula 2 round

The 2019 Monza FIA Formula 2 round consisted of a pair of Formula Two motor races that took place on 7 and 8 September 2019 at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza in Monza, Italy. It was the tenth round of the 2019 FIA Formula 2 Championship.

Callum Ilott set the fastest time in qualifying for the feature race. Japanese driver Nobuharu Matsushita of Carlin Motorsport won the feature race. In the sprint race that followed, British driver Jack Aitken took the victory for Campos Racing.

Background

The event was held at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza in Monza across the weekend of 7–8 September 2019. The Grand Prix was the tenth round of the 2019 FIA Formula 2 Championship.

Entrants

In the aborted race in the previous round at Spa-Francorchamps, a multiple-car pileup resulted in the death of Anthoine Hubert of Arden and seriously injured Juan Manuel Correa of Charouz Racing. The incident also involved Giuliano Alesi of Trident Racing. All three teams involved in the accident ran only one car rather than the usual two as the cars involved in the accident were impounded by authorities as part of the crash investigation. While Tatiana Calderón (Arden) and Callum Ilott (Charouz) ran the only cars for their team, Trident benched Ralph Boschung in favour of Alesi, who was not injured in the crash.

Format

The race weekend consisted of two races–feature race and sprint. The grid order for the feature race was determined based on the times set during qualification. The pole-sitter of the feature race received four championship points. Points were awarded to the top 10 classified finishers in the feature race. The feature race ran for 173.79 km (107.99 mi) and consisted of 30 laps around the circuit.

The grid for the sprint race were based on the results of the feature race with the top eight drivers having their positions reversed. The sprint race was a shorter version with 21 laps. Points are awarded to the top 8 classified finishers in the Sprint race. Two points were given to the driver who sets the fastest lap inside the top ten in both the feature and sprint races.

Qualifying

In the qualifying session, the cars took to the track on a wet circuit which resulted in wobbling of the cars. Luca Ghiotto, who topped the practice charts, set the initial fastest lap with a time of 1:37.906. Guanyu Zhou briefly secured pole position before Callum Ilott topped the time charts with a 1:33.887 lap. Shortly after, Nobuharu Matsushita and Tatiana Calderon crashed their cars, and brought the red flag. When the session resumed, the track was wetter, and no driver was able to set a better lap time.

Classification

Notes

• ^1 – Nyck de Vries was excluded from the qualifying results due to fuel infringement.

Feature race

Ilott, who started on pole for the first time in his career fought off a challenge from Zhou in the first corner to maintain their places. While Nikita Mazepin from third fell down the order following a mistake, Zhou committed a similar error in the second lap of the race. Nobuharu Matsushita rose through the field to second place by lap five, and overtook Ilott for the lead. Ghiotto, who was on an alternate tyre strategy, moved to second place after Nicholas Latifi and Zhou were involved in a crash. Championship leader Nyck de Vries, who started last, completed the podium positions by finishing third.

Classification

Notes

• ^1 – Guanyu Zhou was handed a three-place grid drop for the sprint race following a collision with Nicholas Latifi in the feature race.

Sprint race

Jack Aitken started the sprint race on pole based on the reverse grid order. Aitken led the race from the start while Jordan King and Ilott overtook Giuliano Alesi, who started second. King overtook Aitken afterwards to go in to the lead before a struggle between Ghiotto and Sérgio Sette Câmara resulted in a Virtual Safety Car. When the race resumed, Aitken re-took the lead, and finished in first place. Behind him, King drove home in second place, and Matsushita finished third after Ilott damaged his car in the final lap of the race. However, a five second penalty for Matsushita pushed him to fifth and allowed De Vries into third.

Classification

Championship standings after the round

See also

• 2019 Italian Grand Prix
• 2019 Monza Formula 3 round

Notes

External links