Jehan Daruvala survived first lap contact, a safety car, and a red flag to take his first FIA Formula 2 victory of the season in the feature race at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza on Sunday.
The Prema Racing driver has endured a tough 2022 season in a year where he was expected to challenge for the title, but that elusive first victory had time and again escaped him. However, it would all finally fall into place on Sunday, even though any thoughts of taking the title had long since disappeared.
The race started in chaotic circumstances, with six drivers finding themselves eliminated in two separate incidents at the first two chicanes, with the clear up requiring the safety car to be deployed.
Charouz Racing System’s Tatiana Calderón did not take the start after suffering a hand injury in Saturday’s Sprint race, meaning only twenty-one drivers took to the starting grid, but this number was dwindled further by the second chicane.
Firstly, Campos Racing’s Ralph Boschung cut across the chicane and re-joined alongside ART Grand Prix’s Théo Pourchaire only for the two drivers to tangle, with both crashing out as a result. In the melee, both Olli Caldwell (Campos Racing) and Luca Ghiotto (DAMS) were caught up in the crash, with all four drivers out on the spot.
Further up the track, the slow starting Jack Doohan was running side by side with Daruvala and Logan Sargeant heading into the second chicane. Daruvala appeared to pull over to the outside of the track, pushing Doohan into the unsuspecting Sargeant.
Carlin’s Sargeant was out on the spot after hitting the wall, while Doohan drove slowly back to the pits to retire with major damage to his Virtuosi Racing machine. Daruvala was able to escape without damage, with the incident being referred to the stewards for a post-race investigation.
Liam Lawson was leading at this point for Carlin after a good start, but the safety car was called upon for the two first lap incidents, and again on lap seven when Calan Williams crashed out at the second chicane.
The majority of the field took the opportunity to make their mandatory pit stop under the second safety car, with only Richard Verschoor and Marino Sato opting not to. However, once the stops were over with, the red flags were flown as Williams’ Trident was unable to be removed from the side of the track safely.
Verschoor and Sato were the leading two drivers at the restart having failed to stop yet, while Daruvala had jumped a number of drivers in the pit lane to run third.
Daruvala would use his fresh tyres to pass Sato for second before Verschoor pitted on lap twenty-five to give him the lead. He would comfortably hold onto the position until the chequered flag, with his investigation for the first lap incident resulting in just a reprimand for the Indian driver.
ART Grand Prix’s Frederik Vesti was also able to profit from the misfortune of others to take second place, while third – initially at least – went the way of DAMS’ Ayuma Iwasa.
Iwasa was disqualified post-race for a technical infringement after the plank underneath his car was found to be below the minimum thickness required by Formula 2’s technical regulations, meaning the final spot on the podium went the way of Charouz Racing System’s Enzo Fittipaldi.
Prema Racing’s Dennis Hauger recovered from an early drive-through penalty for a pre-race grid offence by his mechanics to claim fourth ahead of Van Amersfoort Racing’s David Beckmann, while Felipe Drugovich, who was crowned champion on Saturday, ended sixth for MP Motorsport.
Amaury Cordeel claimed only his second top-ten finish of the season in seventh for Van Amersfoort Racing ahead of MP Motorsport’s Clément Novalak, while Verschoor could only finish ninth after being compromised by the safety car.
Jüri Vips ended tenth for Hitech Grand Prix, although the Sprint Race winner did not have the most straightforward of races. The Estonian was running inside the top ten after the restart but made contact with Lawson that spun the New Zealander around at the second chicane, with the stewards handing him a ten-second stop and go penalty for the incident.
Post-race, the stewards admitted the penalty should have just been a ten-second time penalty rather than a stop and go penalty, with the Estonian left well adrift of the battle for the major points as a result of their mistake.
Lawson suffered a damaged front wing in the contact and was forced to pit for repairs, with the delays leaving him at the back of the field.
Another driver to earn a stop and go penalty was Hitech Grand Prix’ Marcus Armstrong, with the New Zealander making an illegal entrance to the pit lane just as the safety car was deployed. He was also investigated for speeding in the pit lane in a difficult day for the former Ferrari Driver Academy member.
The championship now has a seven week break before the season finale in Abu Dhabi in November. Drugovich may be champion, but there is all to play for when it comes to second place back, while the Teams’ Championship battle will go to the final day as ART Grand Prix and MP Motorsport are level on points.
Autodromo Nazionale Monza Feature Race Result
| POS | NO. | DRIVER | NAT | TEAM | TIME |
| 1 | 2 | Jehan Daruvala | IND | Prema Racing | 1:06:39.193 |
| 2 | 9 | Frederik Vesti | DEN | ART Grand Prix | +1.970 |
| 3 | 22 | Enzo Fittipaldi | BRZ | Charouz Racing System | +6.491 |
| 4 | 1 | Dennis Hauger | NOR | Prema Racing | +7.249 |
| 5 | 24 | David Beckmann | GER | Van Amersfoort Racing | +7.801 |
| 6 | 11 | Felipe Drugovich | BRZ | MP Motorsport | +10.502 |
| 7 | 25 | Amaury Cordeel | BEL | Van Amersfoort Racing | +12.738 |
| 8 | 12 | Clément Novalak | FRA | MP Motorsport | +27.950 |
| 9 | 20 | Richard Verschoor | NED | Trident | +35.184 |
| 10 | 8 | Jüri Vips | EST | Hitech Grand Prix | +45.692 |
| 11 | 4 | Marino Sato | JPN | Virtuosi Racing | +47.522 |
| 12 | 7 | Marcus Armstrong | NZL | Hitech Grand Prix | +54.718 |
| 13 | 5 | Liam Lawson | NZL | Carlin Racing | +1:31.534 |
| RET | 21 | Calan Williams | AUS | Trident | Retired |
| RET | 3 | Jack Doohan | AUS | Virtuosi Racing | Retired |
| RET | 6 | Logan Sargeant | USA | Carlin Racing | Retired |
| RET | 10 | Théo Pourchaire | FRA | ART Grand Prix | Retired |
| RET | 16 | Luca Ghiotto | ITA | DAMS | Retired |
| RET | 15 | Ralph Boschung | CHE | Campos Racing | Retired |
| RET | 14 | Olii Caldwell | GBR | Campos Racing | Retired |
| DNS | 23 | Tatiana Calderón | COL | Charouz Racing System | Did Not Start |
| DSQ | 17 | Ayuma Iwasa | JPN | DAMS | Disqualified |