Nobuharu Matsushita wins C1 in Italy

Nobuharu Matsushita (Pug) won the FIA ​​main race F2 this Saturday afternoon on the Italian track of Monza. The Japanese, 5th on the grid, but author of an excellent start, battled during the first laps against pole sitter Callum Ilott (Sauber Junior Team by Charouz) before taking the advantage on the 5th lap braking for the second chicane.

With soft tires already suffering, Ilott almost stopped straight away, just as Tatiana Calderon (Arden) made a mistake at the second chicane. The poleman is imitated by Guanyu-Zhou (Uni-Virtuosi) and Sergio Sette Camara (DAMS) among the leading drivers.

Matsushita, Latifs et de Vries stop one lap later at the end of the 7th lap. If Matsushita regains his position against Ilott, Latifi must lose against Zhou. Luca Ghiotto (Uni-Virtuosi), who started on the hardest tires, then took control of the race and at that moment preceded Jordan King and Mick Schumacher.

Latifi loses big, de Vries on the podium

The 13th lap of this main race in Monza will undoubtedly have consequences in terms of the title between Nicholas Latifi (DAMS) and Nyck de Vries (ART Grand Prix).

The Canadian Latifi then attempted an attack on Zhou while braking for the second chicane and hit the right rear tire of the car of the Chinese driver, damaging his front wing and causing a puncture for Zhou.

Enough to make Latifi lose contact with the peloton of drivers who had already observed their obligatory stop, while de Vries gradually moved up to virtual third place behind Matsushita and Ilott.

The latter two found themselves in the lead after the stops of Luca Ghiotto, who lost a lot of time when changing the left front wheel, and Jack Aitken (Campos Racing). Matsushita widens the gap for the finish while the battle for the podium strengthens behind.

Second for a long time, Callum Ilott must first lose to Nyck de Vries, before seeing Luca Ghiotto, on a different tire strategy, take third place. The Italian gives everything and takes the advantage over the leader of the classification on the penultimate lap.

An impressive performance from Ghiotto, 13th on the grid, but who will long regret the seconds lost during his passage to the pits.

Despite his exclusion from qualifying, due to insufficient fuel in the tank after the session, the Dutchman Nyck de Vries performed excellently in the championship by taking third place ahead of Callum Ilott and Sergio Sette Camara (penalized by 5″ on his time). race for having taken an advantage off-trajectory), especially since his rival Nicholas Latifi only took 13th place after his misadventures.

Giuliano Alesi (Trident) finished 7th while Mick Schumacher (Prema), who returned to the pits for a technical problem during the race, took 14th place, but set the fastest lap in the race.