2020 Monza Sprint Race

The 2020 Monza Sprint Race, formally known as the 2020 Monza Race 2 is set to be the sixteenth race of the 2020 FIA Formula 2 Championship, staged at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza in Monza, Lombardy, Italy, on 6 September 2020. The race was to be held in support of the Formula 1 Gran Premio Heineken d'Italia 2020.

Louis Delétraz would start from pole position in the Sprint Race, having claimed eighth in the Feature Race. Yet, despite making an okay start the Swiss racer would not covert pole to an early race lead, as Dan Ticktum aced his getaway to catapult the #2 DAMS into the lead from second.

Behind it was a clean run into the Rettifilo, with title pretender Callum Ilott claiming third ahead of Yuki Tsunoda and Christian Lundgaard. Behind, Feature Race winner Mick Schumacher leapt up to sixth from eight, while his teammate Robert Shwartzman went with him to claim seventh from ninth.

Indeed, the early laps were all about the pace of Schumacher, with the #20 Prema scything past Lundgaard for fifth, before inheriting fourth when Tsunoda had an issue. He would, however, be passed by an even faster Guanyu Zhou, with the Chinese racer's lunge also resulting in Schumacher bailing out of the Rettifilo and dropping back to sixth.

However, Zhou's race would be over a half a lap later, a partial failure seeing the #3 UNI-Virtuosi have to limp back to the pits. That put Schumacher back up to fifth with teammate Shwartzman on his tail, with the two Premas beginning to close back up onto the tail of Lundgaard as the race wore on.

Out front, meanwhile, Ticktum was putting together an imperious performance, easing away in the lead as Delétraz fought with Ilott. Indeed, the Swiss racer was putting up a furious defence from the #4 Virtuosi, meaning they would fall almost four seconds off by the time Ilott squeezed through to claim second.

Delétraz duly fell away into the sights of Lundgaard and Schumacher, with both squeezing past before the end of the race. However, there would be late drama as a Virtual Safety Car was called to allow Felipe Drugovich to be recovered, after contact between himself and Roy Nissany sent the #15 MP Motorsport spinning to a stop at the exit of the Rettifilo.

The race restarted with two laps to go and, barring Schumacher's lunge past Delétraz to claim fourth, there would be no further revisions to the order, with Ticktum sweeping across the line to claim his second victory. Ilott was next up to claim the Championship lead, while Lundgaard claimed third ahead of Schumacher, Delétraz and Shwartzman. Jehan Daruvala and Jack Aitken would complete the scorers.

After the race, however, there would be a change to the order, as Ticktum was unable to provide a fuel sample having stopped just after the finishing line. As a result the #2 DAMS was disqualified from the race, leaving Ilott as the race winner, Schumacher on the podium, and elevating Nikita Mazepin to the final point in eighth.

Background
There were no changes to either the field or the Autodromo Nazionale Monza ahead of the Sprint Race, with the conditions likewise set to remain stable and dry when the field reconvened on Sunday morning. As a result, Louis Delétraz would start from pole position as expected after finishing eighth in the 2020 Monza Feature Race, while race winner Mick Schumacher would start from eighth.

Ferrari's Feature
Robert Shwartzman had held onto the Championship lead after the first race in Monza, although only by virtue of having won three races to his closest challenger's two. Indeed, Callum Ilott's roller-coaster-esque Saturday run had seen him move level with Shwartzman at the head of the Championship, with both heading into the Sprint Race with 134 points. Behind, Mick Schumacher made it a Ferrari Driver Academy one-two-three, three off the lead, while Yuki Tsunoda was just eight further behind in fourth.

In the Teams' Championship it was Prema Racing who still headed the charge, and had extended their lead to 29 points after claiming victory on home soil in the Feature Race. UNI-Virtuosi had remained their closest challengers in second, while Hitech Grand Prix had slipped slightly further back in third, having fallen almost 100 points off the lead. Elsewhere, Carlin had held fourth and of ART Grand Prix, with no major changes to the overall order.

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 Sprint Race was formed from the finishing positions from the Feature Race, with the top eight reversed as per-FIA Formula 2 Championship rules:

Race
Conditions remained stable over Saturday night and into Sunday morning for the Sprint Race, with no threat of rain at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza for the 45 minute fight. Likewise, there had been no major revisions to the grid overnight, meaning Louis Delétraz would start from pole position as expected.

Report
Unfortunately for Delétraz his okay start from pole would not be enough, as he was instantly put under pressure from Dan Ticktum in second. Indeed, the #2 DAMS would steadily draw ahead of the #11 Charouz in the sprint to the Rettifilo, before seizing the lead with the inside line into the chicane. Behind it was a fairly clean getaway from the grid, although Artem Markelov had stalled and would require a push into the pits to have his engine restarted.

Behind the lead duo it was a good start for Callum Ilott as he muscled past Yuki Tsunoda and to claim third through the Rettifilo, while behind Mick Schumacher had launched past Luca Ghiotto. That put the German racer on the tail of Guanyu Zhou at the exit, with the pair going side-by-side through Curva Grande, Schumacher on the outside. The #20 Prema duly fired past Zhou on the brakes for the second chicane with the inside line, as behind Jack Aitken fired down the escape road after being pushed onto the grass on the outside of a cluster of cars.

With that the order began to settle, as Ticktum established an early one second lead over Delétraz come the end of the opening tour, while the Swiss racer settled into second. Behind, Ilott would control third ahead of Tsunoda, while behind Schumacher lined-up a move on Christian Lundgaard down the start/finish straight for fifth at the end of the first lap. That move would be repulsed by the #6 ART, although a compromised exit for Lundgaard allowed Schumacher to squeeze ahead through Curva Grande.

Schumacher was up to fourth before the end of the second lap, as Tsunoda dramatically slowed entering Ascari and fell right to the back of the field. Indeed, the #7 Carlin would begin limping back to the pits at an incredibly slow speed, an electrical issue having caused the car to enter a limp-home mode. Fortunately the Japanese racer would get back into the pits without outside interference, and hence meant the fighting could continue on track with Aitken selling Ghiotto a dummy into the Rettifilo on lap three to claim seventh.

That particular fight would end with contact, as Ghiotto's attempt to hold on around the outside of the #9 Campos at the Rettifilo saw him damage his own from wing on the front left wheel of Aitken. Ghiotto hence held on, while Aitken, having been barged out of the way through the second element, would slip behind Robert Shwartzman and Pedro Piquet through the exit. Daruvala would also pass the hobbled Anglo-Korean racer through Curva Grande, with the Indian racer also firing past Piquet on the brakes for the second chicane.

As the race wore on Zhou would steadily move forward, firing past Lundgaard for sixth into the Rettifilo for fifth on lap five. Three laps later and the #3 Virtuosi was being lined up for a lunge at the #20 Prema of Schumacher, with Schumacher moving to the inside line to defend. However, the German racer misjudged his braking point and locked his left front wheel, and hence fired down the escape road.

Schumacher scrambled back on down in sixth, ahead teammate Shwartzman, while Zhou claimed fourth with a short sprint to the tail of teammate Ilott. However, exiting the Lesmo complex the #3 Virtuosi dramatically slowed with an issue, with Zhou entering a limp-home mode just the same as had befallen Tsunoda. As a result the #3 Virtuosi was out of contention as it limped back to the pits, with Schumacher now elevated back into fifth.

As half-distance came and went Schumacher was battling a very bad vibration after his lock-up, although he surprisingly had enough pace to escape from teammate Shwartzman, and begin to close on Lundgaard. Ilott, meanwhile, would begin to reel in Delétraz for second, and duly slipped past the Swiss racer down the start/finish straight, moving clear of the #11 Charouz before they braked for the Rettifilo. That left Delétraz in the sights of Lundgaard and Schumacher, with the Dane moving ahead of the Charouz two laps later.

Into the closing stages and Felipe Drugovich was in trouble, having been spun around and stalled at the Rettifilo. Indeed, having entered a scrap for eighth between Nikita Mazepin and Jüri Vips, the Brazilian racer would find himself getting whacked by Roy Nissany as they entered the second element of the chicane. That contact pushed the #15 MP Motorsport into the back of Vips before his fateful spin, with a Virtual Safety Car thrown to allow Drugovich to be pulled clear.

The race resumed with three laps to go, with Ilott losing out at the restart and getting drawn right back in by Lundgaard and Delétraz. Lundgaard tried to take advantage and dive down the inside of the #4 Virtuosi into the Rettifilo, although Ilott held on to hold second. Delétraz, meanwhile, would get elbowed out wide and slipped back into the sights of Schumacher, who duly drew past the Swiss racer for fourth at the start of the penultimate tour.

With that the race was run, with Ticktum, almost unseen since the start of the race, claiming a dominant victory, although he would stop the car at Curva Grande on the cool-down lap. While he was taken to Parc Fermé by the medical car, Ilott would secure second ahead of Lundgaard, while Schumacher resisted a late attack from Delétraz into the Peraltada to claim fourth. Shwartzman was next up ahead of Daruvala, while Aitken claimed the final point ahead of Mazepin.

Post-Race
After the race it was revealed, by Ticktum, that he had run out of fuel, meaning he had been unable to get the car back to Parc Fermé. That led to an immediate post-race investigation, with the #2 DAMS found to only be carrying 0.05 kg of fuel upon inspection by the scrutineers. That meant that Ticktum could not provide a 0.80 kg fuel sample, and hence was disqualified from the race results.

With Ticktum excluded Ilott was promoted to victory, while Schumacher was elevated onto the podium for the fifth consecutive race. However, Ticktum and DAMS would later slam the decision, citing a fuel leak caused by a known technical issue as the reason for the lack of fuel in Ticktum's car.

Results
The final classification of the is displayed below:
 * Italics indicate that a driver set fastest lap.
 * * Ticktum was disqualified from the results of the race for failing to provide a fuel sample.
 * † Tsunoda recorded the fastest lap of the race but was ineligible to score the bonus points as he finished outside of the top ten.

Milestones

 * Third victory for Callum Ilott.
 * Also Ilott's fifth podium finish.
 * Seventh win for UNI-Virtuosi as an entrant.
 * Christian Lundgaard claimed his fifth podium finish.
 * Mick Schumacher secured his fifth podium finish in a row.

Standings
The post-race drama after the Monza Sprint would have some minor effects on the Championship, with Callum Ilott returning to the head of the field with a six point margin. His closest challenger was Mick Schumacher, the German racer having moved onto 143 points, while former leader Robert Shwartzman slipped to third, nine off the lead. Yuki Tsunoda was next up in fourth ahead of Christian Lundgaard, while Dan Ticktum remained in ninth after his victory was taken away.

In the Teams' Championship it had been another strong morning's work for Prema Racing, as the Italian effort once again extended their Championship lead. Indeed, Prema left their home race with a 32 point margin over second placed UNI-Virtuosi, with those two now the main pretenders for the Championship with four rounds and eight races to go. Indeed, third placed Hitech Grand Prix had slipped 110 points off in third in their debut season, while ART Grand Prix had moved up to fourth ahead of Carlin.