Italian F2 Grand Prix: Sprint Race 1 – Théo Pourchaire victorious in style at Monza
The young French driver mastered the first race of the weekend in F2 with a masterful hand. Although he started 4th, he managed to make his way to victory. The ART Grand Prix driver is accompanied on the podium by Guanyu Zhou and Christian Lundgaard.
If he had signed the 10th time yesterday during the qualifying session, David Beckmann took advantage this morning of the reverse grid to start on the front row. But at the start, the German driver was quickly overtaken by Juri Vips, and saw Dan Ticktum and Théo Pourchaire getting closer in his rearview mirrors.
The first racing incident was attributed to Dan Ticktum and Théo Pourchaire, as they were fighting for 3rd place and both drivers braked too late at turn 1. While the young French driver managed to stay on track despite going over the curbs of the turn, the same cannot be said for the British driver who was forced to retire.
The French driver seemed on track to quickly take the lead of the race, as he had already managed to secure second place from David Beckmann, and was also constantly in Juri Vips’ exhaust. However, he was thwarted in his momentum by the intervention of the safety car following Roy Nissany’s incident in the Ascari corner.
On the 15th lap, the Grasse native popped the Vips cork before flying towards victory to pop the champagne cork on the highest step of the podium.
THÉOOOOOOO!
Pourchaire sends it past Vips to take the lead!#ItalianGP 🇮🇹 #F2 pic.twitter.com/SxaFpdVjRt
— Formula 2 (@Formula2) September 11, 2021
ART Grand Prix both showed a very impressive race pace as its teammate Christian Lundgaard joined him on the podium by finishing 3rd (he started from 19th position). Guanyu Zhou completed the podium by finishing 2nd, earning more valuable points in the championship battle, while Oscar Piastri, his rival, finished 4th.
No Ls, only Ws this morning#ItalianGP 🇮🇹 #F2 @TPourchaire pic.twitter.com/5yEKLHEWAi
— Formula 2 (@Formula2) September 11, 2021
The driver who will have regrets this morning is none other than Robert Shwartzmann, Prema driver, who at the checkered flag was 3rd, but who after a 5-second penalty for crossing the pit lane line at the start drops to 6th place.
Sprint 1 Race Ranking
SPRINT RACE 1 POINTS
Who’s taking home those sweet points after an eventful opening race of the weekend!#ItalianGP 🇮🇹 #F2 pic.twitter.com/FXebkiY3iG
— Formula 2 (@Formula2) September 11, 2021
