The Monte Carlo Race Pack

25 May 2022

With back-to-back race weekends, Formula 2 makes its highly anticipated return to one of the jewels in the motorsport crown, as the grid prepares to see who will run the streets of Monte Carlo in the fifth round of the 2022 campaign.

WHAT TO EXPECT

Felipe Drugovich was untouchable last time out around the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. The MP Motorsport driver etched his name into the history books, becoming the first driver to bring home the win in of all the races on a F2 weekend. A remarkable haul - 36 of the 39 points available was more than enough for the Brazilian to reclaim the lead of the Drivers’ Championship, as his Dutch team extended its hold on the top of the Teams’ Championship.

Théo Pourchaire will be hungry to close the 26-point gap at a circuit that he has mastered in the past. Last year, Monaco was the scene of his maiden pole position and victory in the Feature Race, becoming the youngest driver to win in the Championship’s history, at only 17 years old.

Carlin’s Liam Lawson will have one thing on his mind – redemption. Having been disqualified from a dominant Sprint Race 1 victory at the Principality in 2021, he’ll be hoping to capitalise on the round’s unique split Qualifying format at a circuit where track position is crucial.

THE CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

WHERE TO WATCH THE SESSIONS

FROM THE GRID – Théo Pourchaire, ART Grand Prix

“It's the best track in the world - the best weekend in the world! For me, it's almost my home race, so it's very, very special to drive in the streets of Monaco with an F2 car. Monaco is a unique track, there's no other track like it. You have the sea just next to you, all the boats, all the big buildings. It’s a bumpy and very difficult track, really complicated too; all the braking zones are really difficult. 

“Tyre management is not so complicated, it's more mental management. When you have to do 42 laps in the Feature Race it’s difficult physically, and also the stress is quite high. Last year it was difficult to manage that because I was leading the race with all the pressure from the other guys behind. But that's why we like Monaco!

“I hope this year I will overtake someone! If I get pole again, I will try to overtake someone - maybe in La Rascasse, or on the exit of the Tunnel. Overtaking is possible, but you need to be really brave and disconnect your brain.”

LAST TIME OUT – BARCELONA

Proceedings at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya were dominated by one man – Drugovich. Despite the Brazilian leading the way in Free Practice, it was Virtuosi Racing’s Jack Doohan who delivered his second pole position, holding off a very late charge from Hitech Grand Prix’s Jüri Vips, as Frederick Vesti secured his best F2 Qualifying performance so far in third.

After a post-Qualifying penalty demoted Drugovich from reverse-grid pole to P4 for the Sprint Race, the MP driver held nothing back as he snatched first position into Turn 1. Leading all 26 laps, he crossed the line over two seconds clear of maiden F2 podium finishers, DAMS’ Ayumu Iwasa and Carlin’s Logan Sargeant.

Going two for two in the Feature Race, Drugovich carved his way through the field to climb up from P10 on the grid, all the way to the top step of the podium – his third consecutive victory in Barcelona. Remarkably, this was also MP’s fourth win at the Spanish circuit on the bounce, going back to Nobuharu Matsushita’s 2020 Feature Race victory. Meanwhile, mature performances from rookies Doohan and Vesti allowed them to achieve their first pieces of F2 silverware in second and third, respectively.

TYRE TALK

For the fourth round of the 2022 season, the drivers will have the red-walled soft Pirelli tyres and the purple supersoft compound available.

Mario Isola, Pirelli Motorsport Director

“As usual in Monaco, where tyre wear and degradation are very low, we bring our two softest compounds: the P Zero Red soft and P Zero Purple supersoft. Extracting the most from the tyres in the unique split Qualifying session is always very important given just how difficult it is to overtake in the races. Tyre strategy and the timing of the mandatory pit-stop usually plays a crucial role in the feature race in Monaco, especially with the high probability for safety cars, and the pit window is likely to be quite wide as teams keep their options open.”

KEY STATS

Felipe Drugovich continues his run of points finishes, the only driver to score points in every race of the season so far with a total of 86 points from eight races.
Drugovich has now taken three victories at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, he picked up his first win at the Spanish circuit in the 2020 Sprint Race, also with MP Motorsport. 
14 drivers have finished on the podium this season, with Jack Doohan, Frederik Vesti, Ayumu Iwasa and Logan Sargeant all picking up their maiden podiums in Barcelona. 
After his two wins in Barcelona, Felipe Drugovich now has six career wins in Formula 2, just two short off the record held by Artem Markelov and Nyck de Vries.
Two-thirds of the grid, 15 drivers, now have a podium in Formula 2 to their name.  
The 3.337 KM long Circuit de Monaco is the shortest track on the Formula 2 calendar and first appeared on the calendar in 2017.
The lap record at the Circuit de Monaco is 1:19.309, set by Charles Leclerc with PREMA Racing in 2017.

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