Feature
The historic streets bring a title twist: Monte Carlo Team-by-Team Round Up
Round 5 of the 2024 Formula 2 season in Monte Carlo was one to remember with rookie drivers Taylor Barnard and Zak O’Sullivan achieving their maiden victories in the Championship.
While those two and their teams will be ecstatic with the result, there will be others who will return home frustrated.
So, let us look at how each team fared around the historic streets of the Principality.
CAMPOS RACING
The Spanish squad left Monaco having extended their lead at the top of the Teams’ Championship to nine points, but there would still have been some frustration with how the weekend ended, especially for Isack Hadjar.
WHAT WE LEARNED: The key talking points from our weekend in Monte Carlo
He qualified in third and looked set to win the Feature Race until a late Virtual Safety Car allowed O’Sullivan to get ahead of him. However, it was a third consecutive podium on a Sunday for the Frenchman even if it was in second this time.
It was not as successful a weekend for his teammate Josep María Martí, whose struggles continued. The Spaniard went without scoring for the third consecutive weekend after a crash in the Sprint Race.
However, Martí would have been encouraged by the good starts and pace he showed in both races, progressing from starting 20th to finishing 14th in the Feature Race.
HITECH PULSE-EIGHT
HITECH PULSE-EIGHT
Consistency continues to be Hitech’s strong point this year, in particular when it comes to Paul Aron, who achieved a podium for the fifth consecutive race weekend thanks to his P3 in the Feature Race.
The Estonian impressed throughout the weekend, qualifying in fourth before using that strong starting position to score points in both the Sprint and the Feature, and he now leads the Drivers’ Championship.
READ MORE: Chasing the Dream Season 6 Episode 6 – Out Today
His teammate Amaury Cordeel did not fare as well with the Belgian forced to retire from the Feature Race after sustaining damage. However, he will take plenty of comfort in seeing the pace of the car as we head to Barcelona, where he ended the in-season test as fastest on the final day.
MP MOTORSPORT
It was another good few days of work for MP as both Dennis Hauger and Franco Colapinto scored good points in both races.
Hauger finished on the podium for the fourth time this season after placing third in the Sprint Race, before ending up sixth in the Feature.
As for Colapinto, he qualified in fifth which is the same position he finished in the Sprint. He was running in the same P5 in the Feature but lost out during the pit stop phases. The Argentine was still in the points but a small tap with the wall at La Rascasse saw him drop down the order and finish P14.
RODIN MOTORSPORT
It was a Monte Carlo weekend that promised a lot for Rodin, but they leave with just one point. Zane Maloney will feel hard done by as he was looked set for a quick final lap in Qualifying but encountered traffic in the form of Kush Maini, leaving him to start from P14 in both races.
After being spun into a stop during the Sprint, Maloney recovered to finish in 10th, in the Feature despite he and Joshua Duerksen making contact in the closing stages – for which the AIX Racing driver was handed a penalty.
READ MORE: Sébastien Philippe confident ART ‘will be back’ after O’Sullivan’s Monte Carlo victory
It means for the first time this season, Maloney does not lead the Drivers’ Championship, and with his teammate Ritomo Miyata also struggling after an issue hampered his Qualifying and saw him start from the back of the grid in both races, Rodin now sit fourth in the Standings.
INVICTA RACING
For the fourth consecutive weekend, Invicta took home a trophy as Gabriel Bortoleto achieved his second Formula 2 podium after finishing P2 finish in the Sprint Race.
After qualifying ninth, Bortoleto then finished P8 in the Feature Race, taking home a good 12 points for him and the team. It was a more difficult weekend for his teammate Kush Maini however, who qualified 16th, before stopping on track next to Maloney in the Sprint Race.
He then had an early collision with DAMS Lucas Oil driver Jak Crawford, for which he was penalised, before crossing the line in 17th. After going without scoring in four of the last five races, Maini will no doubt be keen to turn his form around in Barcelona.
PREMA RACING
PREMA are now the only team on the grid yet to finish on the podium, but they would have still been delighted with how their Monte Carlo weekend ended, considering they missed out on a front row start in Qualifying.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli continued to show his growth as a rookie at a track where he was racing at for the first time, finishing fourth in the Sprint Race and seventh in the Feature.
His teammate Oliver Bearman also impressed, especially in the longer 42-lap event. After starting in P12, he had a good start, showed good pace, and pulled off some impressive overtakes to finish in fourth, which was almost a podium had it not been for the late VSC.
ART GRAND PRIX
It has not been the easiest of starts to the season for the reigning Champions but O’Sullivan’s victory in Monte Carlo was the type of performance that could see them turn their form around in the second half of the year.
RACE ANALYSIS: Just how did Zak O’Sullivan win from P15 in Monte Carlo?
What will give them confidence is that they were quick from minute one, with Victor Martins fastest in Free Practice before Qualifying second.
His slow starts put him on the backfoot, but he and the team showed great pace and tyre management in the Feature Race. This gave them the opportunity to try the bold strategy of staying out long in the first stint, which sealed the victory.
They will hope this form continues moving forward as they look to climb up the Standings.
DAMS LUCAS OIL
The French outfit have long made clear that while they have their struggles in Qualifying, they have great race pace and Juan Manuel Correa showed that in the Feature Race.
Correa qualified in 13th ahead of Jak Crawford in P18 and while the latter retired early from collision damage, the former went on to score his best result of the season.
He employed a similar strategy to O’Sullivan and Martins by going long in the first stint but pitted earlier than the pair. This brought him out in fifth behind Bearman, and while he could not overhaul the PREMA driver for P4, he and the team were more than happy with the result given where they started.
READ MORE: Rafael Villagómez's Monte Carlo Weekend in his Words
VAN AMERSFOORT RACING
It has not been the easiest of periods for VAR, who were the only team on the grid not to score a point during the double header in Imola and Monaco.
However, Enzo Fittipaldi was less than a tenth away from qualifying in the top 10, while Rafael Villagómez showed decent pace. However, the Mexican driver was caught out in Qualifying and suffered contact with the barriers during the Feature Race.
A return to Barcelona, where they had a positive three days of testing, is next and it could be a chance for the Dutch team to reset ahead of the second half of the season.
TRIDENT
It was a weekend of what could have been for the Italian team who showed tremendous pace from the second they put the car on the ground in Monte Carlo.
Richard Verschoor then took pole, while Roman Stanek qualified in P6, a good result although he was disappointed to have made contact into the barrier on his faster final lap.
They scored good points in the Sprint and Verschoor looked on course to win the Feature only to retire with an issue, while Stanek finished in P16.
FEATURE RACE: O’Sullivan takes dramatic maiden Formula 2 victory in Monte Carlo
But they will take plenty of courage from their great pace and will be hoping to continue that form in Barcelona and in the races to come.
AIX RACING
A week after scoring their first ever podium finish in Formula 2 with Duerksen in Imola, AIX took their first ever victory thanks to Barnard in the Sprint Race.
The German team have been much improved since the in-season test and Barnard showed good pace in Qualifying to end up on reverse grid pole, before holding off Bortoleto to win the Sprint.
They went backwards in the Feature Race but both drivers were still in the fight for points until Duerksen suffered collision damage with two laps to go. Barnard though finished in P11, only four-tenths behind Maloney in P10. It may not have ended the way they wanted but it was still a successful weekend for AIX.