2018 Monza Sprint Race

The 2018 Monza Sprint Race, otherwise officially known as the 2018 Monza Race 2, was the twentieth race of the 2018 FIA Formula Two Championship, staged at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza on 2 September 2018. The race was held in support of the 2018 Gran Premio Heineken d'Italia, and would see an F1 protege take victory.

Penalties after the Feature Race had seen Ralph Boschung inherit pole position, although the MP Motorsport racer would make a mess of his start. Indeed, as Boschung slumped to ninth, Nicholas Latifi shot into the lead from the second row, while Mercedes F1 protege George Russell and Artem Markelov followed him through.

Those three shot away at the head of the field, leaving Alexander Albon and Sérgio Sette Câmara to fight for fourth. Elsewhere, Lando Norris had picked up some minor damage after contact on the opening lap, but was gifted seventh when Tadasuke Makino locked up horribly at the first chicane early on.

Russell launched his bid for the lead on lap five, although his dive inside the DAMS pilot only resulted in the Brit running wide at the first chicane. Markelov duly pounced on the recovering ART to take second, before streaking past Latifi at the start of the sixth lap to claim the lead.

Markelov was unable to escape up the road before Russell passed Latifi on lap nine, while Câmara drew onto the back of the trio. However, as the Brazilian pounced on Latifi for third, Markelov locked up at the first chicane and ran wide, gifting the lead to Russell. The Brit then fended off Markelov's initial attempts to retake the lead, before establishing a small lead over the Russian as the laps ticked away.

With that the race was effectively done, leaving Russell to sweep home to a fifth victory of the season, extending his Championship lead. Markelov was just a second away in second having survived a late assault from Câmara, with a huge lock-up from the Brazilian on the final lap not proving enough to let Latifi back through.

Background
There were no changes made to the Autodromo Nazionale Monza ahead of the second Formula Two race of the weekend, although there been revisions to the grid. Indeed, eighth place finisher in the Feature Race Antonio Fuoco had been disqualified from the results, the result of an illegal throttle map, meaning Ralph Boschung would start from pole. In terms of tyres the entire field was expected to use the medium Pirelli compound, for the supersofts had struggled to last five laps in the Feature Race.

In terms of the Championship impact of the feature race on Saturday had been minimal, although it was to the benefit of George Russell. Indeed, pole combined with fourth meant that the Brit had extended his lead over immediate rival Lando Norris, and moved past the 200 point mark. Norris, however, had remained a threat, thirteen points off, while Alexander Albon had maintained his status as the third man in the fight, a further fifteen back.

In the Teams' Championship it was still, as ever, advantage Carlin, the British squad having moved onto 323 points. Indeed, although ART Grand Prix, DAMS and Russian Time had all out scored Carlin in the Feature Race, their British squad's advantage was still north of 50 points with five races to run. That left ART and DAMS in a likely duel for second, while Russian Time had moved ahead of Pertamina Prema and Charouz Racing System.

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

Grid
The grid for the second F2 race of the Monza weekend was arranged according to the results of the Feature Race, with the top eight finishers reversed:


 * * de Vries was unable to start from the grid after stalling on the formation lap.

Race
It was a warm afternoon at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza ahead of the Formula Two Sprint Race, with no concerns about the weather, or indeed the huge Italian crowd. In terms of tyres everyone would start the race on the medium Pirelli tyres, for the supersofts had struggled badly during the Feature race, barely surviving five laps. There would be one pre-race casualty, however, with Nyck de Vries forced to start from the pits after stalling on the formation lap.

Report
A stunning start from Nicholas Latifi saw the Canadian ace surge through from fourth on the grid into the lead, dragging George Russell and Artem Markelov with him. Their blast was aided by a miserable getaway from pole sitter Ralph Boschung, who was down to ninth before the field hit the brakes to take the first chicane. Latifi therefore led Russell and Markelov out of the first chicane for the first time, while Lando Norris found himself in a front wing damaging squeeze between Sérgio Sette Câmara and Alexander Albon.

That squeeze, and minor damage, cost the Brit momentum, meaning Norris slipped behind both Luca Ghiotto and Tadasuke Makino on the run through Curva Grande. Otherwise the rest of the opening tour was fairly tame, with Latifi still leading from Russell and Markelov, whom were tucked right under the Canadian's rear wing. A few yards behind them ran Albon, Câmara, Ghiotto, Makino and Norris, while Boschung continued to slip down the order, falling out of the top ten completely before the Parabolica.

Latifi, Russell and Markelov would continue to inch away from the pack during the early laps, leaving Albon and Câmara to squabble for fourth ahead of Ghiotto and Norris. Indeed, the man missing from the former quintet would be Makino, who suffered a huge lock-up into the Rettifilo chicane at the start of lap three, destroying his tyres. The Feature Race winner duly dragged his flat-spotted Russian Time into the pits at the end of the lap, dropping to the very back of the field.

There would also be some early casualties, as Boschung and Sean Gelael rather clumsily came together at the second chicane, resulting in Gelael spinning into retirement. Boschung limped around with broken damage to retire in the pits, before being retroactively blamed for the accident after the race, receiving a grid penalty for the Sochi Feature Race. Elsewhere, Norris was paying no heed to his minor front wing damage, and was therefore harassing Ghiotto for sixth, while Maximilian Günther was losing a lot of time with some rather more significant chunks missing from his front end.

Back with the leaders and Russell was lining up a move on Latifi at the start of lap five, although his subsequent dive inside the DAMS pilot only resulted in the Brit running wide at the Rettifilo. That gifted Markelov second place in the pecking order, before the Russian lined up his own bid for the lead at the start of the following lap. A rather more delicate dive on the brakes by Markelov duly carried his Russian Time past Latifi's DAMS, before blasting off to establish a small lead ahead of the Canadian.

Latifi and Russell continued to fight for the following two laps, allowing Câmara to catch the pair after the Brazilian ace had finally dealt with Albon, who was now defending from Norris in the second Carlin. Yet, despite the increasing pressure from behind, Russell finally made a move stick on Latiti at the start of lap nine, easing ahead of the Canadian's DAMS as the pair hit the brakes for the Rettifilo. Come the end of the lap the Championship leader was back under Markelov's rear wing, and duly threw a half-hearted move at the start of lap ten, although the Russian racer was not fooled.

A lap later, however, and Markelov would be caught out, the Russian misjudging his braking point while looking in his mirrors and duly slithered wide at the Rettifilo chicane. That allowed Russell to sneak into the lead of the race, while Markelov rejoined in second ahead of the now third placed Albon. Indeed, as Markelov and Russell swapped placed Albon launched an audacious dive inside Latifi into the first chicane, and duly blasted out of Rettifilo just a fraction behind the Russian, and ahead of the Canadian.

Markelov would look to shake off his mistake as soon as he rejoined, harassing Russell through the rest of lap eleven before trying a lunge at the Rettifilo on lap twelve, only for that to be swatted aside. After that Markelov found he had no answer to Russell, whom managed to inch clear over the following laps as the Russian came under attack from Câmara for third. Elsewhere, Dorian Boccolacci was running in the points, fighting with Jack Aitken for eighth, while Albon was trying hard to get back ahead of Norris for sixth.

That was, until the Thai racer hit trouble five laps from the chequered flag, the #5 DAMS car dramatically losing power towards the end of the lap, forcing Albon into retirement. On track, meanwhile, the race was beginning to run down, the last real moment of action coming with three laps to go, when Roy Nissany and de Vries tripped over one-another while fighting for tenth. The Israeli racer was left with heavy front wing damage, while de Vries limped to the pits with a shredded rear tyre, although both would make it to the chequered flag.

With that the race was run, with Russell sweeping home to claim his fifth victory of the season and, crucially, extend his Championship lead. Markelov was a safe second after Câmara threw his chance at the second podium step away, the Brazilian making a mess of an optimistic lunge into the Rettifilo on the final lap to send himself skating down the escape road. Regardless, Câmara would rejoin to finish third ahead of Latifi and Norris, with the rest of the points going to Ghiotto, Boccolacci and Aitken.

Results
The final classification of the is displayed below:
 * Bold indicates a driver started from pole.
 * Italics indicate that a driver set fastest lap.
 * * Boschung awarded a five place grid penalty for the 2018 Sochi Feature Race for causing a collision.

Milestones

 * George Russell claimed his fifth Formula Two victory.
 * ART Grand Prix secured their eighth win as an entrant in F2.
 * Also the French squad's 56th triumph at GP2/F2 level.
 * Sérgio Sette Câmara recorded his first fastest lap.
 * Dorian Boccolacci secured his maiden points finish.

Standings
Victory ensured that Championship leader George Russell had extended his Championship lead, moving 22 points clear of Lando Norris. Those two had remained the two main protagonists for the title, with Alexander Albon needing a strong weekend in Sochi if he was to remain in the title fight back in third. Elsewhere, Artem Markelov had moved back ahead of Nyck de Vries, while Jack Aitken moved back into the top ten, level with Louis Delétraz.

Carlin had retained their lead in the Teams' Championship at the end of the Monza weekend, their advantage having effectively stayed at 60 points. ART Grand Prix remained their closest challengers, inching clear of compatriots DAMS in third, leaving 32 points between them. Russian Time had retained fourth, moving past the 200 point mark, Pertamina Prema and Charouz Racing System failing to score.

Only point scoring drivers and teams are shown.