Double for the Alpine Academy, Minì tries but it’s not enough
Second F2 victory for Kush Maini, who dominates the Monte Carlo Sprint Race! The Indian driver, in his third year in the category, managed to fend off the attacks of Gabriele Minì, who clearly had better pace but couldn’t find a gap to slot the front wing of his Prema through.
Arvid Lindblad finished the race in third place, but a 10-second penalty for contact with Jak Crawford on the opening lap dropped him to eighth. Luke Browning inherited the final podium spot, making up for a poor start. Rounding out the points were Crawford, Verschoor, Montoya, Fornaroli, and Lindblad himself, while Dunne, in ninth, still managed to claim the point for the fastest lap.
In the overall standings, Alex Dunne moves up to 65 points, with two more to be added tomorrow for securing pole position. Just behind him is Browning, now on 64, while Verschoor climbs to 59 after a tough round in Imola. The Irish Rodin driver will have a great chance to extend his lead in tomorrow’s Feature Race, scheduled for 09:40.
F2 Sprint Race in Monaco: Race Report
30/30 – The final lap begins! Maini leads the Sprint Race with a 2-second advantage over Minì. Lindblad is third on track but is virtually seventh. CHECKERED FLAG! Kush Maini takes his second Formula 2 victory, finishing ahead of Minì and Browning. Lindblad drops all the way to eighth, slowed in the last sector by the Palermo driver’s Prema, who was letting teammate Montoya through.
28/30 –Dunne improves again: he is currently set to claim the fastest lap point.
26/30 – Lindblad has even closed to half a second behind Minì — a great strategy by the Campos team, allowing him to gain 12 seconds over six laps on the Prema. Meanwhile, Dunne sets a 1:22.723, the fastest lap among the top ten drivers.
25/30 – 1:23.459 for Minì, who misses out on the fastest lap attack.
24/30 – Minì pulls away from Maini: the Palermo driver is likely aiming to reclaim the fastest lap, which Lindblad took on the last lap.
23/30 – 10-second penalty for Oliver Goethe, likely due to contact with Joshua Durksen, which caused the Paraguayan driver to retire. Meanwhile, Lindblad sets a 1:23.427 lap time: Campos team’s strategy is starting to pay off, as the English driver is virtually seventh, ahead of Fornaroli.
21/30 – Lindblad has closed the gap to 12 seconds behind Gabriele Minì; now it’s a question of when the English driver will start pushing. Meanwhile, Minì remains right behind but can’t find a way through.
18/30 – Fastest lap by Gabriele Minì: 1:23.451 for the Palermo driver, who is now back within DRS range.
17/30 – Minì pulls away from Maini, likely aiming for the fastest lap. Meanwhile, Pepe Martí retires, continuing his tough streak after the double zero in Imola.
15/30 – A very aggressive overtake by Goethe inside Rascasse on Victor Martins: the German Red Bull Junior driver moves up to ninth position, while Martins hits the wall, damaging his front wing. The French driver pits and drops to last place.
14/30 – The race restarts with Maini leading Minì, while Lindblad is already trying to slow down the pack behind him, executing the strategy advised by his team.
11/30 – Joshua Durksen crashes into the wall at Portier: it all started at Mirabeau, where Goethe pushed the Paraguayan driver’s AIX Racing car into the guardrail. By the time he reached Portier, Durksen was unable to turn and had to park his car there. Safety Car on track!
Meanwhile, John Bennett also retires: the English rookie lost control of his Van Amersfoort exiting Saint Devote, damaging the rear suspension.
9/30 – From the Campos pit, Lindblad is instructed to build a gap of at least 12 seconds so he can push in the final laps and try to break up the pack. That explains the English driver’s slowdown.
8/30 – Maini and Minì are pulling away from the rest: they’re nearly two seconds faster than everyone else, while Lindblad drops back to seven seconds. Meanwhile, Fornaroli faces a big scare, losing the racing line at Saint Devote but managing to avoid the guardrail with an impressive maneuver.
6/30 – Penalty for Arvid Lindblad! A 10-second penalty for contact with Jak Crawford on the first lap—strict action from the stewards in this instance. The English driver would currently drop to seventeenth place.
3/30 – Gabriele Minì is right on Kush Maini’s tail; it’s clear the Palermo driver has more pace at this stage. Meanwhile, the marshals wave the yellow flag at Mirabeau due to contact between Villagomez and Shields, forcing the AIX Racing car to retire.
1/30 – Maini gets off to a strong start, while Browning remains stuck, just like Giusti did this morning.. Gabriele Minì takes advantage , meanwhile, the young English driver drops to fifth. Behind them, contact at Mirabeau between Lindblad and Crawford: the Campos driver attempts an inside overtake but damages his front wing, while the DAMS driver spins and gives the position back to Browning.
14:15 – Start delayed! The reasons are still unclear, but all the drivers are lined up on the grid.
It’s time for the Formula 2 Sprint Race: the green light will come at 14:15. Following the top-10 grid inversion from yesterday’s qualifying, Kush Maini’s DAMS car—with its pink Alpine livery—will start from pole position. Maini has had a somewhat tough start to the season, scoring just one point in the Feature Race in Jeddah.
Beside him is Luke Browning’s Hitech, second in the championship and incredibly fast on street circuits, as shown by his win at the 2023 Macau F3 Grand Prix. Just behind them will start Gabriele Minì, winner of the last two Formula 3 Feature Races held in the Principality. Championship leader Alex Dunne will start from tenth position, having taken pole yesterday by just 3 thousandths of a second over Victor Martins.
PHOTO: DAMS Racing, Campos Racing, Arvid Lindblad, Hitech, Rodin Motorsport, Prema Team.