Double blow for Vesti in Monaco, Martins penalized

With this second success of the year, Frederik Vesti takes the lead in the championship ahead of Théo Pourchaire, 2nd in Monaco. Sanctioned, Victor Martins loses big again.

Published on 28/05/2023 à 11:17

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Double blow for Vesti, winner in Monaco and new leader, Martins penalized

Frederik Vesti is the new championship leader. © Julien Delfosse / DPPI

Perfect day for Frederik Vesti in Monaco. The Prema driver mastered his subject in the Principality to win his second Main Race of the season after Saudi Arabia in March and above all take first place in the Drivers' ranking.
Starting from pole position, the Dane perfectly resisted the ART Grand Prix drivers, Victor Martins and Theo Pourchaire, behind him. Taking advantage of Martins' defense on Pourchaire when the lights went out, Frederik Vesti was able to take a little margin to ride with less pressure.
Everything led to believe that the protégé of Mercedes heading serenely towards victory. This was without counting on Jack Doohan (Virtuosi) going off the track at Massenet. After hitting the wall in the pool section, the Australian lost his front wing and sped straight towards the protective barriers as he approached the Casino. This required the deployment of a red flag neutralizing the race for around twenty minutes.
On the restart, Frederik Vesti made sure of it and even took advantage of a penalty inflicted on Victor Martins. The Habs were in fact found guilty of not having slowed down sufficiently under the double yellow flag regime when the stewards intervened on Jack Doohan's car. Punishment ? A drive-through and above all a fall in the rankings. Left to finish 2^e and score its first points of the year on Sunday, the Francilien fell to 8^e place. He was able to “consolate” himself with 4 points and even an additional one for the best lap in the race.

We came close to tragedy! 🙏

Victor Martins narrowly avoided the firefighters and car accident of Doohan under safety car regime… The Frenchman is penalized by a drive through#MonacoGP #F2 pic.twitter.com/w80byiL1PQ

— CANAL+ F1® (@CanalplusF1) May 28, 2023

With this penalty, Théo Pourchaire gained a position finishing 2^e behind Frederik Vesti while Zane Maloney (Carlin) was invited to the Monegasque podium like two years ago when he was still riding in FRECA. Victorious on the Rock, Vesti took control of the championship. Here he is in the lead with 89 points, 5 more than his runner-up Pourchaire.