2017 Monaco Sprint Race

The 2017 Monaco Race 2, otherwise known as the 2017 Monaco Sprint Race, was the sixth race of the 2017 FIA Formula Two Championship, staged at the Circuit de Monaco on the 27 May 2017. The race would see Nyck de Vries claim a maiden victory, as Rapax claimed a surprise one-two.

de Vries' Rapax teammate Johnny Cecotto, Jr. would start the race from pole, but was powerless to prevent the Dutchman from sweeping around the outside into Sainte Devote. The Venezuelan youngster duly slotted himself into second, with Gustav Malja otherwise occupied defending from Luca Ghiotto.

That was the last that the rest of the field would see of either Rapax, with de Vries and Cecotto pushing hard to build a gap. Furthermore, Cecotto would soon lose sight of his teammate, with de Vries building a ten second advantage before the halfway mark, a gap he would maintain for the rest of the afternoon.

With the top two positions sorted the attention focused on the fight for third, with Malja putting up a ferocious defence from Ghiotto early on. Fortunately for the Swede Ghiotto would hit tyre trouble and duly had to ease off, allowing Malja to hunt down Cecotto in the closing stages.

Indeed, with a handful of laps to go Malja was in position to throw a lunge at Cecotto, although any attempts to dive inside were blocked by the Venezuelan. That allowed Ghiotto to close back up onto the Swede, with all three running nose-to-tail as they started the final tour.

Out front, meanwhile, de Vries cruised home to claim a dominant maiden victory, even surviving a brush against the barriers at Tabac. Cecotto made his Rapax wide enough to deny Malja on the final tour, with Ghiotto tucked in right behind in fourth. Behind, Artem Markelov grabbed fifth after a late lunge on Alexander Albon, while local hero and Championship leader Charles Leclerc dropped out mid-race.

Background
It was a near identical day on the Mediterranean coast ahead of the Sprint Race, although temperatures were lower than they had been on Saturday. Regardless, the Circuit de Monaco remained unchanged, as did the grid with no further penalties affecting the results from the Feature Race. That meant that Johnny Cecotto, Jr. would start from pole as expected, with Nyck de Vries alongside.

In terms of the Championship victory in the Feature, combined with Charles Leclerc failing to finish, meant that Oliver Rowland moved right onto the Monegasque's tail at the head of the field, heading into the Sprint just three points behind. Artem Markelov was next, 22 points behind, with Luca Ghiotto having slipped further back in fourth. Behind, Nobuharu Matsushita completed the top five, while Johnny Cecotto, Jr. and Sergio Canamasas had added their names to the scorers list.

There was another shuffle in the Teams' Championship after the Feature Race, with DAMS emerging at the head of the field, becoming one of two teams to break the 100 point barrier. The French squad ended the afternoon on 102 points, just two ahead of Russian Time, while Prema Racing had slipped to third with neither of their drivers taking major points. At the back, meanwhile, Trident had secured their first point, leaving Campos Racing as the only team yet to register a point.

Entry List
The full entry list for the is displayed below:

Grid
The grid for the sixth race of the 2017 campaign was formed from the finishing positions of the Feature Race, with the top eight reversed as per-FIA Formula Two rules.

Results
The final classification of the is displayed below:
 * Bold indicates a driver started from pole.
 * Italics indicate that a driver set fastest lap.
 * * Delétraz awarded a five second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage.
 * † Leclerc and Canamasas were handed to second time penalties for causing collisions.

Milestones

 * Maiden victory for Nyck de Vries.
 * Rapax secured their first victory in Formula Two.
 * Also the Italian squad's thirteenth win at GP2/F2 level.
 * It was to Rapax's final F2 victory having been their first since the 2015 Silverstone Feature Race.
 * Johnny Cecotto, Jr. claimed his first (and only) podium finish in F2.

Standings
It was status quo at the top of the Championship table, with neither Charles Leclerc nor Oliver Rowland managing to score leaving them three points apart. Artem Markelov and Luca Ghiotto had therefore managed to inch close, moving fourteen and eighteen behind respectively, as had Nobuharu Matsushita in fifth. Elsewhere, race winner Nyck de Vries had moved into the top ten, with no other drivers managing to add their name to the scorers list.

In the Teams Championship it was Russian Time whom emerged at the head of the hunt, leaving Monte Carlo on 116 points. DAMS were still their closest combatants, still on 102, with Prema Racing slipping back after their near-pointless weekend in the Principality. ART Grand Prix were next up with Rapax moving into fifth, while Campos Racing remained as the only pointless team in 2017.

Only point scoring drivers and teams are shown.