2019 Monaco Sprint Race

The 2019 Monaco Sprint Race, otherwise known as the 2019 Circuit de Monaco Race Two, was the eighth race of the 2019 FIA Formula 2 Championship, staged at the Circuit de Monaco on the 25 May 2019. The race would see Anthoine Hubert secure his maiden F2 victory, fending off Louis Delétraz in a sprint finish.

Hubert would start the race from pole ahead of Delétraz, and duly aced his getaway to remain ahead of the Swiss racer into Sainte Devote. Behind, Guanyu Zhou danced his way around the outside of Artem Markelov to secure third, while Nyck de Vries was mugged by Ralph Boschung for eighth.

It was not long, however, before the race was put on hiatus, for Luca Ghiotto would punt Tatiana Caldéron into the wall, resulting in a safety car. The Italian racer would then make a mess of his restart, ending his day after tangling with Mahaveer Raghunathan at the Loews Hairpin.

Those two were plucked from the circuit under the cover of another safety car, with the race resuming with more than 20 laps still to run. Hubert would ace the restart for a second time to re-establish his lead, although Delétraz did not allow the Frenchman to escape too far up the road.

A rather tepid race developed over the following laps, with the order remaining unchanged until Sean Gelael removed himself from the race by smacking into the back of Giuliano Alesi. Fortunately those two would be removed from the circuit without the use of a safety car, with Delétraz suddenly closing right onto the back of Hubert as the remaining laps ticked away.

Onto the final lap and Hubert was close to ending his race in the barriers, brushing the wall several times before getting out of shape out of the final corner. That allowed Delétraz to get a run on the BWT Arden towards the line, although he would have to go the long way around.

Ultimately Hubert would win the race by a nose, officially beating Delétraz on the line by 0.059s to become the first rookie of the season to claim victory. Third would go to Zhou, who closed drastically on the leaders on the final lap, while Artem Markelov claimed fourth to complete his F2 return.

Background
The Circuit de Monaco would remain unchanged after the Feature Race on Friday, with the DRS zones unchanged. There would also be no changes to the grid order ahead of the race, meaning Anthoine Hubert would start from pole as expected. Luca Ghiotto, meanwhile, was to start from the back of the grid after his disqualification from the Feature, with no further penalties applied.

Feature Formations
Nicholas Latifi had seen his lead all but destroyed after the Feature Race, with Nyck de Vries moving just a point behind of the Canadian after claiming pole and victory. Ghiotto, meanwhile, had dropped to third after being disqualified from the results, leaving him five ahead of Jack Aitken. Elsewhere, Sérgio Sette Câmara completed the top five ahead of best rookie Guanyu Zhou, while Artem Markelov moved into sixteenth after getting points on his return.

DAMS extended their lead in the Teams Championship after the opening race of the Monte Carlo weekend, moving onto 141 points after seven races. UNI-Virtuosi were next, 30 off the leaders, while ART Grand Prix had made a lot of ground as they climbed to third on 97 points. Campos Racing, meanwhile, had increased their tally in-spite of slipping to fourth, while Carlin had leapt from ninth to fifth.

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

Race
Sunday dawned bright and warm, with no threat of rain to further mix-up the field during the race. There were also no further revisions to the grid after Luca Ghiotto's post-race exclusion, meaning Anthoine Hubert started the race from pole position as expected.

Report
When the lights went out there would be no stopping Hubert, as the Frenchman aced his getaway to lead the charge into Sainte Devote unopposed. Louis Delétraz likewise made a good start to hold second, while Guanyu Zhou had to sweep across to the inside of the circuit to block Artem Markelov to hold third. Behind, the rest of the field would make it through Sainte Devote without issue, although Mahaveer Raghunathan would simply cut the corner to avoid the usual congestion.

The rest of the opening tour would prove fairly tame, although there was some fighting at the back of the field, with Jack Aitken driving around the outside of Mick Schumacher through the Loews Hairpin. Just ahead of the them Raghunathan was under attack from Nicholas Latifi, who had resisted the temptation to lunge at the #17 MP Motorsport at the hairpin. Out front, meanwhile, Hubert would complete the opening tour without being attacked from Delétraz, while Zhou kept Markelov at bay.

Indeed, the Frenchman was able to build a small lead over Delétraz in the early stages, as teammate Tatiana Caldéron was elbowed out of the race at Mirabeau when Ghiotto lunged inside her. Despite the fact that the contact from Ghiotto's left-front was minor it sent the Colombian racer straight into the tecpro barriers, ending her race on the spot. That also a triggered a Safety Car the destroyed Hubert's lead, although it would only be a brief intervention.

Hubert would ace the restart to reclaim the initiative, while Delétraz would come under attack from both Zhou and Markelov as the top four broke away. However, as the race began to settle for a second time Ghiotto would get involved in another clumsy incident, although this time he would retire as well. Indeed, the Italian racer would throw an ambitious lunge at Raghunathan into the Loews Hairpin, although after clipping the inside kerb the #8 UNI-Virtuosi ended up running wide and pushing Raghunathan into the outside wall.

After another quick Safety Car intervention the race resumed for a second time, with Hubert again controlling the restart well to reclaim the lead. Furthermore, the top four would again break away from the rest of the field, with Dorian Boccolacci unable to match their pace after coming under attack from Nobuharu Matsushita for fifth. He would at-least keep going, unlike Ralph Boschung who held up a number of drivers at the restart when he lost drive out of Anthony Noghes.

As the race settled again there would be more clumsy incidents at the back of the field, with Sean Gelael punting Giuliano Alesi at Loews, although Alesi was quick enough to react and keep the car under control. A few moments later, however, and the Frenchman was out, as Gelael smashed into the back of the #20 Trident for a second time at the Nouvelle Chicane, tipping Alesi into a spin. Alesi was out on the spot with gearbox damage, and was quickly dragged clear by the marshals, while Gelael received a drive-through penalty.

Out front, meanwhile, Hubert was maintaining a small lead over Delétraz at the head of the field as the race passed two-thirds distance, while Markelov was still hounding Zhou for third. A mistake from the Russian racer exiting Piscine saw Markelov lose time, although Boccolacci was still too far behind to pose a threat. Indeed, Boccolacci was still hanging on in fifth despite his lack of pace compared to the lead, with Matsushita instead having tumbled behind Sérgio Sette Câmara, Nyck de Vries and Nikita Mazepin in short order.

Yet, the race would become increasingly processional, with the only interest coming in the closing stages as Hubert's pace began to waver. Indeed, with two laps to go Delétraz had moved right onto the back of the Frenchman's tail to challenge for the lead, and would cause Hubert to lock-up into the Nouvelle Chicane. Fortunately for Hubert it was a only a minor lock-up and so he made the apex, although it would leave Delétraz tucked under his rear wing.

Onto the final tour and Delétraz was crawling all over the back of Hubert, half looking to lunge at both Sainte Devote and Massenet as the opened the lap. A slight slide through Casino Square dropped him back and allowed Zhou to engage him for second, although the Swiss racer rebounded and was in position to challenge on the exit of Anthony Noghes. Furthermore, Hubert would have a kick of oversteer on the exit of the final corner, setting up a drag-race to the chequered flag along the curving start/finish straight.

Ultimately Hubert would just hang on to claim victory from Delétraz, holding onto the inside, shorter, line to the finish line to remain ahead of the Swiss racer by 0.059s. Zhou was right on their tail but had to settle for third, while Markelov had dropped a second behind in fourth to complete a strong, albeit temporary, comeback to the Championship. Behind them came Boccolacci in fifth, who had escaped his pursuers in the closing stages, with Sette Câmara, de Vries and Mazepin finishing nose-to-tail to claim the remaining points.

Results
The final classification of the is displayed below:
 * Italics indicate that a driver set fastest lap.
 * * Raghunathan was awarded a three place grid penalty for the 2019 Le Castellet Feature Race for leaving the track and gaining an advantage.
 * † Ghiotto was awarded a three place grid penalty for the 2019 Le Castellet Feature Race for causing a collision.

Milestones

 * Maiden victory for Anthoine Hubert.
 * Arden secured their third victory as an entrant in the FIA Formula 2 Championship.
 * Also their seventeenth win at GP2/F2 level.

Standings
Nicholas Latifi retained his slim lead in the Championship hunt after collecting the fastest lap points, meaning he remained a point clear of Nyck de Vries. Luca Ghiotto, meanwhile, had slipped even further behind in third, leaving Monte Carlo 28 points behind, with Jack Aitken having also lost ground in fourth. Elsewhere, Guanyu Zhou had moved back into the top five, getting back ahead of Sérgio Sette Câmara, while race winner Anthoine Hubert had closed in behind those two in seventh.

The Teams Championship was in a far simpler state, with DAMS remaining at the head of the pack, and holding a healthy 26 point lead. UNI-Virtuosi, meanwhile, had inched slightly closer to the French squad in second, while ART Grand Prix had lost ground in third, in-spite of breaking the 100 point barrier. Carlin completed the top five behind Campos Racing, while Trident remained at the foot of the table.

Only point scoring drivers and teams are shown.