2019 Monza Sprint Race

The 2019 Monza Sprint Race, formally known as the 2019 Monza Formula 2 Race 2, was the nineteenth race of the 2019 FIA Formula 2 Championship, staged at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza in Monza, Italy, on 8 September 2019. The race, held in support of the 2019 Italian Grand Prix, would see Jack Aitken secure victory as Championship leader inched closer to the title.

Aitken would start the Sprint in pole position having finished eighth in the Feature, and duly aced his start on a damp track to claim the lead. Giuliano Alesi, meanwhile, would make a comparatively slow start from second, and hence found himself powerless to fend off a double lunge from Jordan King and a fast starting Callum Ilott into the Rettifilo.

After initially escaping on the opening lap, Aitken would find himself being steadily reeled in by King, who had his MP Motorsport tucked in behind the Campos by the end of lap three. Momentum and a fair amount of team input then saw King ease past Aitken out of the Peraltada to claim the lead, with Aitken trying to slice back ahead on the brakes for the Rettifilo, but to no avail.

Behind, de Vries would tangle with two of his potential title rivals, with himself, Sérgio Sette Câmara and Luca Ghiotto all exchanging blows in the first chicane. The contact ultimately resulted in Câmara suffering a race ending puncture, Ghiotto with front wing damage and a Virtual Safety Car to clear the debris, although de Vries escaped unharmed in fifth.

de Vries subsequently pounced on a sleeping Alesi to grab fourth at the restart, while Aitken used a similar move on King to reclaim the lead. The fight for the lead would spill over onto the following lap, with Aitken managing to run King wide, and hence allow Ilott to sneak through to second.

Aitken's antics soon earned him a black/white warning flag for weaving as he tried to break the tow to those behind, with Ilott, King, de Vries and Nobuharu Matsushita all running in the Campos' wake. Indeed, de Vries found himself both on the attack and defending mid-race, and would make a mistake by touching the grass braking for the Rettifilo and hence went skating across the grass.

That allowed Matsushita through, who duly harassed King to flag, while Aitken managed to gap Ilott. Indeed, Aitken's break was a vital one, for at the start of the final lap Ilott made a mess of braking for the Rettifilo, shot down the escape road and spun, dumping him down the order and left Aitken in clear air.

With that the race was run, with Aitken able to ease through the final lap to claim victory, while King fended off Matsushita to secure second. de Vries finished fourth but was promoted back to third as the Japanese racer was slapped with a time penalty for a VSC infringement. Matsushita hence finished fifth behind Guanyu Zhou, while Mick Schumacher, Alesi and Louis Delétraz secured the remaining points.

Background
The Autodromo Nazionale Monza would be unchanged ahead of the Sprint Race, although overnight rain ensured that the circuit would be damp for the second FIA Formula 2 Championship race of the weekend. There would also be a late revision to the starting order as Guanyu Zhou was hit with a three place grid penalty for causing a collision during the Feature Race, leaving him in last place on the reduced grid. Regardless, Jack Aitken would start from pole position ahead of Giuliano Alesi, while Feature winner Nobuharu Matsushita would start from eighth.

Monza Momentum
Nyck de Vries had continued to extend his Championship lead with his podium finish in the Monza Feature Race, moving onto 215 points for the campaign. Behind, the non-score for Nicholas Latifi may have been the end of his title bid, for he slipped 49 points behind the Dutchman, and instead sat just eleven ahead of Luca Ghiotto. Sérgio Sette Câmara had slipped to fourth in what was fast developing into a three-way fight for second, while Jack Aitken was in a lonely fifth.

DAMS continued to lead the way in the Teams Championship, although UNI-Virtuosi had closed the gap after Ghiotto's strong run in the Feature. Indeed, the British squad headed into the Monza Sprint 55 points behind the French aces, and hence remained outside contenders for the crown. Behind, ART Grand Prix had slipped 41 points behind Virtuosi in third, while Carlin had moved ahead of Campos Racing to secure fourth.

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:

Race
Overnight rain had graced the Autodromo Nazionale Monza, leaving the circuit damp in places for the F2 Sprint Race, although there was a significant dry line and no question that the field would start with slicks. There were no changes to the grid after the conclusion of the Feature Race, meaning Jack Aitken would start from pole position as expected.

Report
Aitken duly aced his start when the lights went out to sprint away into an early lead, plunging into the Rettifilo chicane with a five car length lead. Behind, fellow front row starter Giuliano Alesi would be challenged by Jordan King into the chicane, while behind Nyck de Vries, Sérgio Sette Câmara and Callum Ilott would enter the braking zone three abreast. King duly scrambled ahead of Alesi on the outside line into the Rettifilo to claim second, while a similar manoeuvre carried Ilott past both de Vries and Sette Câmara.

A poor exit for de Vries would allow Luca Ghiotto to dart past him on the exit of the Rettifilo, despite the fact that Ghiotto had damaged his front wing on the back of Sette Câmara. Behind, Nikita Mazepin was having to defend hard from the two Premas of Sean Gelael and Mick Schumacher, and would be elbowed off at the second chicane when attempt to run around the outside of the Indonesian racer. He scrambled back onto the circuit just ahead of Schumacher, although the German racer had enough momentum to dart around Mazepin before they brushed the brakes for Lesmo.

After that the order began to settle, with Aitken leading the field across the line to complete the opening tour, although King had drastically closed the gap. King duly threw a lunge to the outside of Aitken into the Rettifilo chicane at the start of the second lap, although Aitken held on on the inside. Those two had broken away from Alesi in third, who still had Sette Câmara, Ghiotto and de Vries on his tail, with the latter passing Ghiotto down the start/finish straight.

With that the race would fully settle into a steady rhythm, with Aitken continuing to lead with a small advantage over King, while Alesi, Ilott and Sette Câmara complete the early top five. Elsewhere, de Vries was stalking the trio in sixth having eased clear of Ghiotto, while behind Schumacher fired down the inside of Nicholas Latifi into Parabolica to secure ninth. Indeed, Latifi would begin to slip down the field, falling to Guanyu Zhou and Louis Delétraz, while Schumacher moved up to engage Nobuharu Matsushita for eighth.

On lap seven King made his second bid for the lead, drafting right onto the tail of Aitken with DRS down the start/finish straight, before throwing a late lunge down the inside of his compatriot into the Rettifilo. That caught Aitken out and hence meant he was unable to effectively defend, resulting in King scrambling out of the chicane ahead of the #15 Campos. However, Aitken would get a strong exit and manage to get alongside King through Curva Grande, although the #16 MP Motorsport would force Aitken wide as they went through the second chicane.

As Aitken came bouncing back onto the circuit behind King attention switched to Ghiotto, who had now lost his front wing completely. Indeed, the Italian racer had thrown a late lunge at de Vries heading into the Rettifilo at the start of lap seven, just as de Vries moved out to dive inside of Sette Câmara ahead. Ghiotto subsequently smashed into the back of de Vries and removed his own front wing, while de Vries clattered into Sette Câmara to send both bouncing across the inside kerbs. That collision would also ruin Sette Câmara's race, with the Brazilian racer sustaining a right-rear puncture that tipped the #5 DAMS into a race ending spin at the second chicane.

A Virtual Safety Car was deployed to allow Sette Câmara's car to be dragged away from the escape road at the second chicane, with the race resuming at the start of lap nine. That would simultaneously hand the initiative back to Aitken, who got an excellent tow from King down the start/finish straight, before claiming the racing line into the Rettifilo. King did his best to defend on the slightly damp inside line, although he would ultimately have to cede the lead to the Anglo-Korean racer.

With that Aitken was away, re-establishing a small lead over King although he could not escape DRS range for the time being. Behind, Ilott would calmly pass Alesi for third at the Rettifilo, while de Vries fired the #4 ART past the Frenchman into Ascari. Schumacher, meanwhile, would find himself in an intense fight with Matsushita for sixth, with the Japanese ace squeezing the German racer towards the grass as they headed into the Parabolica, forcing the #9 Prema to back off.

Back with the leaders and King had managed to get right underneath Aitken's rear wing exiting the Rettifilo, and would once again fire a late lunge down the inside of the #15 Campos into the second chicane. The lateness of the move caught Aitken out, resulting in him immediately taking to the escape road, while King himself went wide. With that Aitken went around the prescribed rejoining section to get back onto the track safely, with the Anglo-Korean racer expecting to come back on behind King.

However, King would also back off after cutting across the kerbs of the second part of the chicane, deeming that he could not take the lead with such a manoeuvre. As a result he was instantly passed by Ilott exiting the chicane, the #11 Sauber-Charouz darting past the #16 MP into Lesmo. Furthermore it also meant Aitken retained the lead, with questions over whether he should be placed under investigation for leaving the track and gaining an advantage.

As that debate wore on Schumacher would throw a lunge at Aleso down the inside of the Rettifilo, although he would lock-up, narrowly avoid the back of Matsushita, and disappear down the escape road. He subsequently rejoined behind Guanyu Zhou in eighth, only to see the Chinese racer complete a perfect lunge down the inside of Alesi into the Rettifilo on the following tour. Schumacher would also find his way past the #20 Trident in the closing stages to recover seventh.

Into the closing laps and de Vries would begin pushing his worn tyres very hard in a bid to close up onto the podium, with Aitken cleared to lead the race ahead of Ilott and King. Indeed, de Vries would try to brake very late into the Rettifilo with four laps to go, only to lock-up and go skating along the grass on the outside of the track. The #4 ART narrowly avoided the back of King as he shot along the grass, and only some sublime car control prevented the Dutchman from spinning as he scrambled back on in fourth, before ceding the position to Matsushita.

Out front, meanwhile, Ilott was beginning to worry Aitken for the lead, prompting the Anglo-Korean racer to weave down the start/finish straight to try and break the tow. That duly earned Aitken a warning with three laps to go, although it would have little impact on the battle, although Ilott remained a threat heading onto the final lap. That was, however, until the #11 Charouz locked-up under braking for the Rettifilo, with Ilott copying de Vries' earlier off by streaking down the grass on the inside of the chicane. However, unlike de Vries, Ilott would tap the barriers, before spinning onto the escape road between the polystyrene boards.

As Ilott scrambled back on just ahead of Schumacher, Matsushita would make a late bid for second with a strong run through Curva Grande to get alongside King, having almost got past the Brit at the Rettifilo as Ilott fired off. However, the Japanese racer would have the outside line entering the second chicane, meaning King was able to block the move by running slightly wide. That would hence settle the fight for the podium, as behind Ilott would tumble down the field when his front right tyre delaminated after his lock-up and spin.

With that the race was run, with Aitken able to cruise through the final lap to secure his third victory of the campaign. King kept Matsushita at bay to claim second, with the Japanese racer subsequently relegated to fifth after a five second time penalty was issued to him for speeding under the earlier VSC. de Vries was hence elevated onto the podium in third ahead of Zhou, while Schumacher, Alesi and Delétraz completed the scorers.

Results
The final classification of the is displayed below:
 * Italics indicate that a driver set fastest lap.
 * * Matsushita awarded a five second time penalty for failing to slow sufficiently during the VSC period.

Milestones

 * Fourth career victory for Jack Aitken.
 * Campos Racing registered their third win as an entrant in the FIA Formula 2 Championship.
 * Also their fifteenth triumph at GP2/F2 level.

Standings
Nyck de Vries would leave Italy on the verge of the 2019 FIA Formula 2 Championship title after his podium finish in the Monza Sprint, which left him on 225 points. That meant that the Dutchman could seal the title in the 2019 Sochi Feature Race, if he secured a maximum score, or claimed victory with Nicholas Latifi off the podium. The Canadian racer was hence likely to face a fight for second for the rest of the campaign, with race winner Jack Aitken joining the hunt in between Luca Ghiotto and Sérgio Sette Câmara.

In the Teams' Championship DAMS had suffered a rare non-score, allowing UNI-Virtuosi to shuffle closer. However, the French squad still had a fair advantage over their British rivals, and had left Italy with 47 points in hand, while Virtuosi themselves had a 39 point hold on second ahead of ART Grand Prix. Behind, Campos Racing and Carlin had swapped places again in the Sprint, with the Spanish outfit having regained the initiative in the fight for fourth.

Only point scoring drivers are shown.