Guanyu Zhou wins Race 1

Championship leader and winner of the main race two months ago in Bahrain, Guanyu-Zhou (UNI-Virtuosi) won the first sprint race of the Monaco meeting on Friday morning. Author of a very good start from pole position, the Chinese did not make the slightest error on the legendary urban track of Monte-Carlo. He won ahead of his teammate Felipe Drugovich (UNI-Virtuosi) and the Israeli Roy Nissany (DAMS), author of his first podium in Formula 2. 

Despite everything, the pilot of theAlpine Academy had a rather quiet race. Under pressure from Christian Lundgaard during the first rounds, the champion of the F3 Asia had plenty of time to take off after the Dane from the ART Grand Prix team retired mid-race due to a mechanical problem. The disillusionment is immense for Lundgaard, who managed to steal second place from Felipe Drugovich when the lights went out. 

Author of a fantastic pole position for his debut in Monaco at just 17 years old, Theo Pourchaire (ART Grand Prix) started from tenth position after reversing the qualifying grid. More lively than the duo Prema Shwartzman-Piastres which he swallowed at the start, the Habs finished in 7th position and pocketed two precious points. He will start from the second row in Sprint Race 2, Saturday morning (8:15 a.m.), before honoring his pole in the main race later in the day (17:15 p.m.). 

For his part, Robert Shwartzman (Prema) once again lost big, after having already made some big mistakes in Bahrain. The one who is among the big favorites for the title this year has in fact compromised a good part of his weekend by making a mistake in the first lap. On the climb to Rascasse, the Russian missed his braking and went to hug the safety rail. Despite going through the pit lane to change his front wing, the Prema driver finally decided to retire. He will therefore start at the back of the grid for Race 2. 

Note the superb shot scored by Marcus Armstrong. The Kiwi from the French structure DAMS, who was preparing to finish 11th, completely dove on Jehan Daruvala in the last lap at Rascasse, as did Jules Bianchi in F1 in 2014 and Charles Leclerc in 2019. A maneuver which allowed him to seize pole position for Race 2. 

 “Yes guys! YES GUYS! Thank you so much… MONACO BABY! »

Congratulations, @ gyzhou_33 #MonacoGP  #F2 pic.twitter.com/NLgxKB99bN

- Formula 2 (@ Formula2) May 21, 2021