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The New Zealander overtook Oscar Piastri expertly to secure his spot on the top step. Dan Ticktum finished in second after overtaking Piastri with the Australian rounding off the podium in third.
Vips had a look and tried to overtake the Prema with the Estonian settling for fourth ahead of Pourchaire in fifth, Boschung in sixth, Verschoor in seventh and Zendeli in eighth.
Starting Grid
Marcus Armstrong overtook Jehan Daruvala on the final lap in yesterday’s Sprint Race to claim reverse grid pole position for this race but started from the pit lane after breaking down on the warm-up lad.. Liam Lawson was next to his compatriot in second with Oscar Piastri in third.
Feature Race pole-sitter, Theo Pourchaire, started fourth ahead of Dan Ticktum in fifth, Juri Vips in sixth, Ralph Boschung in seventh, Roy Nissany in eighth, Felipe Drugovich in ninth and Race One winner Guanyu Zhou completing the top 10.
After being passed by Armstrong, Daruvala started in 11th ahead of David Beckmann in 12th and Richard Verschoor in 13th. Bent Viscaal was 14th on the grid with Lirim Zendeli in 15th, Jack Aitken in 16th, Guilherme Samaia in 17th and Alessio Deledda in 18th.
Marino Sato was the final retiree yesterday as he started in 19th ahead of Gianluca Petecof in 20th with Christian Lundgaard and Robert Shwartzman at the back of the grid in 21st and 22nd respectively.
As It Happened
A fantastic getaway from Piastri saw him get the jump on Lawson with the Australian taking the lead of the race into turn one.
Petecof clashed with Sato’s Trident car as the Brazillian was sent into the barrier and retired for the second time this weekend.
Lundgaard and Shwartzman made positions up at the start with the Dane and the Russian moving up to 17th and 18th.
Armstrong’s day went from bad to worse as he went deep at Saint Devote and retired from the race. Subsequently, the Virtual Safety Car was released and the field slowed down due to the stranded DAMS car.
Lawson looked to get past Piastri into the Nouvelle chicane but wasn’t able to do so. He made the move into La Rascasse as the Hitech dived down the inside and took the lead of the race.
Samaia went off to the runoff area as Saint Devote claimed another victim but the Brazillian was able to continue. Another driver, this time Sato, was caught out by the first corner, however, unlike the Charouz driver, the Trident car couldn’t continue and retired from the race.
The VSC was released and UNI-Virtuosi decided to take the gamble and pit their drivers onto slick tyres, a decision that did not pay off in the end.
At the halfway point of the race, Lawson led the race ahead of Piastri in second and Ticktum in third. Pourchaire was fourth with Vips in fifth, Boschung in sixth, Nissany in seventh and Daruvala in the final points position in eighth.
Both the UNI-Virtuosi’s returned to the pits for the wet tyres as they struggled significantly on the slick tyres. At the front, Ticktum made the move on Piastri into the Nouvelle chicane as the Brit moved up to second.
Lundgaard went deep into Mirabeau as he was unable to stop his car in time and the Dane failed to spin his car around which saw him retire from the race.
In a battle for the points, Verschoor moved up to eighth making his move on Daruvala stick as the Dutchman looked to earn some points in this race.
Zhou was the next driver that failed to judge Saint Devote as the Chinese driver took his UNI-Virtuosi to the runoff area but was able to continue.
Nissany then clobbered the wall on the exit of Saint Devote that dropped him out of the points. Vips, further up the road, overtook Pourchaire into Mirabeau promoting the Estonian to fourth.
Viscaal and Beckmann collided with each other as they both headed into turn one. The former was able to continue with the latter retiring from the race and releasing the Safety Car.
The DAMS of Nissany pulled into the pits as his morning was over with his car undrivable after the incident he had at Saint Devote.
Lawson retained his lead after the Safety Car restart as he finished ahead of Ticktum in second and Piastri in third. Vips finished fourth ahead of Pourchaire in fifth, Boschung in sixth, Verschoor in seventh and Zendeli in eighth.
Quotes from the race winner
Speaking exclusively to Prost International’s Adrian Kita, Lawson describes how special this victory is for him and how difficult it was to navigate his way around the track.
“For sure, this was one of the hardest races I’ve done but also definitely one of the more satisfying. Obviously, Monaco is a track where most racing drivers want to race on and dream of driving on.
“Since I was a kid, its been one I’ve always wanted to race on. Even just driving here this weekend, it’s very special to me and ro win here it has been amazing.
“Today’s race was one of the hardest to manage and Monaco in the wet was pretty difficult to manage”.
What’s Next?
Theo Pourchaire will lineup in first after his mega qualifying lap secured him pole position for the race. The ART will have the two Prema’s of Robert Shwartzman and Oscar Piastri for company in P2 and P3.
It will all be down to strategy with a mandatory pit-stop needed in the Feature Race and we will see who the bravest drivers are in the final race of the F2 weekend.
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