Italian Grand Prix – F2 Sprint Race: Frederik Vesti takes the victory ahead of a strong Victor Martins
The Danish driver from Prema took advantage of Boschung's misfortune to have a controlled race from start to finish. Behind them, the French duo from ART made a great comeback.
The final sprint towards the F2 title is underway! Yesterday Théo Pourchaire was the fastest during the qualifiers. He gained an initial advantage over Frederik Vesti, his closest rival in the championship, as he secured the 2 points awarded for the pole position in Formula 2.
Vesti assure…
But the French driver was starting from 10th place at the start of this sprint, while the Danish driver, who qualified 8th, was 3rd on the grid. Therefore, the first challenge for the ART Grand Prix driver was to safely pass the first chicane, among other things.
Ralf Boschung, one of the few who was able to set a time at the end of the session yesterday, managed to take 10th place in qualifying, which means he starts in pole position for the Sprint race.
The Swiss driver from Campos misses his start, he is quickly overtaken by Frederik Vesti and runs straight on at the first Variante. The Danish driver from Prema takes the lead, while his rival Pourchaire makes a good start, moving up two places and avoiding the pitfalls of the first corner. This is not the case for Invicta driver Amaury Cordeel, who spins off. The safety car is deployed at the end of the first lap.
At the restart in lap 4, the French drivers Hadjar, Martins, and Pourchaire are well positioned compared to their starting positions. The championship leader is trying to make his way up the field as much as possible to not give away too many points to Frederik Vesti, while his teammate Victor Martins is battling for a podium finish. The French “rookie” is fighting for the fastest lap against a comfortable Vesti who is leading the race.
… in front of very fast French people
With less than 10 laps to go, a new safety car is deployed after Roy Nissany (PHM Racing) spins out. The race restarts, and Victor Martins, who was in second place at that time and in a good rhythm, can hope to fight for the win. Several drivers from the back of the grid take advantage of this yellow flag to switch to purple ultra-soft tires. Up front, they stick with the medium tires.
When the race resumes on the 15th lap, a quartet consisting of Vesti, Martins, Verschoor, and Pourchaire breaks away from the peloton, but each one defends against attacks and the positions will not change. Frederi Vesti wins at the wheel of his Prema and secures his 5th victory of the year. Victor Martins (ART Grand Prix) and Richard Verschoor (Van Amersoort) complete the podium.
Théo Pourchaire achieves a nice comeback and limits the damage on Mercedes’ protege, Vesti, who only gains 5 points back from him. It should be noted that Isack Hadjar received a 5-second penalty for cutting the track during an overtaking maneuver while he was fighting for points.
Le résultat de la course sprint de #F2 à Monza pic.twitter.com/YbDsrCfyDu
— Motors Inside F1 (@MotorsInside) September 2, 2023
