| It was again warm and sunny at the Monaco Circuit at the third round of the 2017 FIA F2 Championship with air and track temperatures of 23° and 31° degrees respectively, the morning start for the forty-two lap Feature Race making it cooler than it had been for yesterday’s Qualifying. Gustav Malja was starting 11th after a post-race penalty to de Vries promoted him one position, while Louis Delétraz was starting from 17th today after a difficult Qualifying when his lack of experience on a street circuit hampered his chances. The Racing Engineering team were splitting their tyre strategy with Gustav starting on the Pirelli P Zero Red supersoft compound tyres while Louis was on the Pirelli P Zero Yellow soft compound tyres.
Two cars stalled on the grid meaning the cars had to do an extra formation lap reducing the race to forty-one laps and as the lights went off Gustav made a good start holding onto 11th place into the first corner and at the end of the opening lap he was 0.5 seconds behind Ghiotto and 0.8 seconds ahead of De Vries. On lap four the Racing Engineering car was closing in on a hard battle between Ghiotto and Cecotto and he was soon looking for a way past the Rapax car but on lap seven a Safety Car period allowed Gustav to take his mandatory pitstop and switch to the Pirelli P Zero Yellow soft compound tyres. A very quick stop by the Racing Engineering team saw Gustav pass Cecotto in the pits and resume racing in 10th and he was now chasing his teammate Louis who had yet to stop.
Lap sixteen saw Gustav right behind Louis and he had a one second gap to De Vries and on lap twenty the young Swede was able to pass Louis but the next lap saw another Safety Car period allowing the cars ahead of Gustav that had not pitted to take advantage and change their tyres. As racing resumed on lap twenty-five the Racing Engineering car was in 6th and he was now right behind Giotto and still being pursued by De Vries but he was pushing hard to try and pass the Russian Time driver. This intense battle continued all the way to the chequered flag with Gustav having to watch his mirrors as De Vries was still chasing him but he kept calm to finish an excellent 6th.
Louis made a clean start taking 15th spot but as the cars entered the hairpin contact between two other cars saw the Racing Engineering car blocked dropping him to 17th. On lap five the young Swiss was trying to find a way ahead of Jeffri who had a damaged front wing and was delaying him but he was driving well and four laps later he was up to 9th as several of the cars ahead of him took their pitstops but on lap ten he lost a place to Ghiotto. As the race reached the half-way point Louis was being chased by Visoiu and as the cars entered Mirabeau the Rumanian driver tried to out-brake Louis but the Campos driver made contact spinning both cars and, although Louis kept his engine running, the two cars were interlocked and he lost a lap as the marshalls untangled them during the Safety Car period. Louis then pitted for fresh Pirelli P Zero Red supersoft compound tyres but a further stop for a new nosecone and braking problems ruined his race for today as he finished 15th. A great drive today from Gustav with a faultless display in an incident-packed race, fighting all the way on this circuit where it is so easy to make a mistake and he will start 3rd in tomorrow’s Sprint Race on the reversed grid with an excellent chance to stand on the podium. For Louis, it was a case of what might have been as he was looking likely to score his first points before the incident with Visoiu but starting 15th tomorrow it will be difficult to make it into the points but he will do all he can. |
