Monaco – Race 2: Nobuharu Matsushita wins outright

Nobuharu Matsushita was able to perfectly seize his chance. Indeed, he was only supposed to start in ninth place, but Antonio Giovinazzi was penalized after the first race for cutting the new chicane. The Japanese driver therefore moved up one place, meaning reversed pole for the second race.

As often in Monaco, everything was decided at the start. Indeed, Nobuharu Matsushita did not have the best start when the lights went out, which allowed rookie Marvin Kirchhofer to draw alongside the Honda protegee. But the Japanese driver had the advantage of the inside line and thus was able to take Sainte Dévote in the lead. He never relinquished it for the rest of the race, easily managing his lead over his main pursuers. He also took the opportunity to focus on setting the fastest lap of the race, ultimately crossing the finish line 13 seconds ahead of the German.

He had to spend the second part of the race watching his mirrors due to the pressure from Raffaele Marciello. The Russian Time driver thus ends a very fine weekend for Russian Time in style, following Artem Markelov’s victory in the main race.

The former Russian team driver, Mitch Evans, had a solitary race, ultimately finishing 4th. Indeed, he was able to widen the gap on Alex Lynn, who struggled to find the rhythm throughout the race, holding back a group right behind him composed of Norman Nato, Oliver Rowland, and Artem Markelov.

The Frenchman from Racing Engineering has therefore achieved a very successful operation in the overall standings as Pierre Gasly paid dearly for his disqualification from qualifying, finishing only 13th in this second race. The Red Bull protégé scores no points over the weekend, whereas Norman Nato has been able to gather 22, allowing him to take the lead of the championship, a single point ahead of Artem Markelov while Pierre Gasly drops to 4th position.