2021 Monaco Sprint Race 1

The 2021 Monaco Sprint Race 1, otherwise known as the 2021 Monaco Formula 2 Race 1, was the fourth race of the 2021 FIA Formula 2 Championship, staged at the Circuit de Monaco in Monte Carlo, Monaco, on 21 May 2021. The race would see Championship leader Guanyu Zhou sweep to victory, surviving a late race Safety Car the destroyed his initial eight second lead.

Zhou would start the race from pole position, courtesy of securing tenth on the grid for the Feature Race before the top ten were reversed to set the grid for the First Sprint Race. Felipe Drugovich would start alongside his UNI-Virtuosi teammate on the front row, while Christian Lundgaard and Roy Nissany shared the second row.

At the start Zhou would ease away to claim the lead unopposed into Sainte Devote, while behind Lundgaard fired the #9 ART down the inside of Drugovich for second. The rest of the field would make it through the first corner and through to Massenet without issue, before Robert Shwartzman smacked the wall at Casino and caused terminal damage to his car.

With Shwartzman limping back to the pits the field settled into a steady procession, with Zhou leading from Lundgaard and Drugovich, while Jüri Vips and Dan Ticktum engaged each other in a duel for sixth place as the only on-track battle. Elsewhere, Théo Pourchaire would move into eighth with a move on Oscar Piastri having started tenth, while further back there was little action of note.

As the race approached half distance there were signs that Lundgaard's car was struggling, with smoke occasionally being thrown out of the exhausts. On lap fifteen the engine would finally let go in the back of the #9 ART, ending Lundgaard's race as he tried to limp back to the pits before stopping out on the circuit.

Lundgaard's removal was covered under yellow flags, allowing Nissany and Ralph Boschung to fight over the final podium spot as Drugovich moved back up to second, some eight seconds behind Zhou. However, when Gianluca Petecof found the barriers at the Swimming Pool Zhou would see his lead evaporate, with the Safety Car scrambled to cover the removal of the #20 Campos.

The race resumed with three laps to go, with Zhou storming clear of Drugovich once again to establish a two second lead within the first lap. Behind, Nissany and Boschung resumed their battle for third, while Marino Sato was forced to retire after he smacked the wall, although his car was removed without further intervention from the SC.

With that the race was run, with Zhou sweeping to victory ahead of Drugovich, while Nissany fended off the attentions of Boschung to secure the final podium spot. Vips was next up having set fastest lap ahead of Ticktum, Pourchaire and Piastri, while Marcus Armstrong made a move on Jehan Daruvala on the run to the chequered flag to secure tenth, handing him pole for the Second Sprint Race.

Background
For the second round of the 2021 FIA Formula 2 Championship the field would arrive in Monte Carlo in late May, having last raced in Bahrain in late March. There would, however, be a three day test in Barcelona during the break, where Felipe Drugovich set the fastest time overall on the third day as teams tried out other tyre compounds. After that, the field would arrive at an unchanged Circuit de Monaco, which was hosting its first Grand Prix weekend since 2019 after the Covid-19 Pandemic caused the 2020 event to be cancelled.

Sponsor Support
Ahead of the race in Monte Carlo Richard Verschoor would finally confirm that he had secured enough funding to take part in the race weekend, having only initially had a budget to run in Bahrain. Despite that lack of funding Verschoor would attend the Barcelona test with MP Motorsport, although he would work either side of that to find enough sponsorship backing to fund his attendance in Monte Carlo, although his long-term presence in F2 was still in question. Verschoor's news came after compatriot Bent Viscaal revealed that he had gathered enough funding to complete the entire 2021 season with Trident.

Aitken's About
Elsewhere, Matteo Nannini announced that he would not compete in either Monte Carlo nor the rest of the 2021 season, after his main sponsor withdrew their backing for his F2 campaign, leaving the Italian youth with only enough funding to compete in the FIA Formula 3 Championship. As a result HWA Racelab were left to look for a driver, resulting in them approaching Williams F1 reserve driver Jack Aitken, who had committed to racing in the GT World Challenge Europe for 2021 after calling time on his F2 career at the end of 2020. Aitken duly agreed to race for the German squad in both the Monaco and Baku rounds, with HWA seeking a permanent solution for the rest of the season after the trip to Azerbaijan.

Qualifying Quandary
Elsewhere, qualifying for the 2021 Monaco Feature Race was staged on the Thursday before the first race in Monte Carlo, which would be used to also set the grid for the first Monaco Sprint. Pole position for the Feature would go to Théo Pourchaire after a strong run in the split session, while Robert Shwartzman secured second as the best driver in Group B. For the Monaco Sprint Race 1 the top ten grid positions for the Feature would be reversed, meaning Guanyu Zhou would start from pole with teammate Felipe Drugovich alongside.

There was also some controversy surrounding the #23 HWA entry of Alessio Deledda, after the Italian racer failed to set a time within 107% of the fastest effort in qualifying. However, Deledda would be granted permission to start all three races in Monte Carlo, albeit from the very back of the grid.

Bahrain Bounties
Guanyu Zhou had concluded the opening race weekend of the campaign eleven points clear after his maiden Feature Race victory, having claimed 41 points across the three Bahraini races. Liam Lawson was back into second, two ahead of Jehan Daruvala in third, with Oscar Piastri and Dan Ticktum completing the top five. Elsewhere, Richard Verschoor had moved into sixth ahead of Christian Lundgaard, with fifteen of the twenty-two drivers having scored across the first three races.

In the Teams' Championship it was Carlin who ended the Feature Race at the head of the field, the British squad having scored 47 points in the opening three races. That left them four ahead of UNI-Virtuosi in second, while Prema Racing ended the the opening weekend of their title defence in third, ten off the lead. Hitech Grand Prix and ART Grand Prix then completed the top five, with every team bar Campos Racing having claimed points in Bahrain.

Entry List
The full entry list for the is displayed below:
 * * Placeholder liveries are show for the second drivers in each team.

Grid
The grid for the first Sprint Race was set by reversing the top ten finishers in qualifying for the Feature Race, as per the updated FIA Formula 2 Championship rules for 2021.

Results
The final classification of the is displayed below:
 * Italics indicate that a driver set fastest lap.
 * * Sato was still classified despite retiring as he had completed 90% of the race distance.

Milestones

 * 30th race for Christian Lundgaard and Dan Ticktum.
 * Third career victory for Guanyu Zhou.
 * Tenth win for UNI-Virtuosi as an entrant.
 * Fifth podium finish for Felipe Drugovich.
 * Maiden podium finish for Roy Nissany.
 * First fastest lap recorded by Jüri Vips.

Standings
Victory for Championship leader Guanyu Zhou moved the Chinese ace 26 points clear at the head of the field after the fourth race of the season, with Zhou ending the second day in Monte Carlo on 56 points. Liam Lawson had retained second having failed to score, but knew he would start the Sprint Race 2 from the front row, while Jehan Daruvala was set to lose more ground having failed to score having missed out on the reverse-grid positions. Dan Ticktum, meanwhile, had moved ahead of Oscar Piastri, the best of the rookies, to secure fourth, while five drivers had been left pointless after the fourth race.

In the Teams' Championship UNI-Virtuosi would lead the charge after four rounds, the British squad having scored a one-two in the opening battle of Monaco. They hence moved ahead of Carlin, the former leaders, and opened up a nineteen point lead over their compatriots. Hitech Grand Prix made it three British teams in the top three be claiming third from Prema Racing, while Campos Racing's first points of the season meant that all eleven teams had scored.

Only point scoring drivers are shown.