2021 Monaco Sprint Race 2

The 2021 Monaco Sprint Race 2, otherwise known as the 2021 Monaco Formula 2 Race 2, was the fifth race of the 2021 FIA Formula 2 Championship, staged at the Circuit de Monaco in Monte Carlo, Monaco, on 22 May 2021. The race would see Liam Lawson secure victory, as rain overnight left the Monte Carlo street circuit soaked with dark clouds threatening further wet weather throughout.

Marcus Armstrong was to start the race from pole position with Lawson alongside, although a pre-race issue meant that the #17 DAMS car would instead start the race from the pitlane. Lawson was hence expected to sweep into the lead unopposed at the start, only for Oscar Piastri to get better traction from third and power down the inside of the #7 Hitech to secure the lead for himself into Sainte Devote.

Behind, Dan Ticktum would make an excellent double move on Jüri Vips and Théo Pourchaire to move into third, with the rest of the field making it through Sainte Devote without issue. Indeed, the only incident of note during the opening tour would be Gianluca Petecof finding the barriers partway around the lap, resulting in terminal damage to the #20 Campos.

Petecof's car was cleared without intervention, meaning Lawson was able to recover from his slow start and get back on terms with Piastri for the lead. With the circuit beginning to dry Lawson tried to force a move at the Nouvelle chicane, although Piastri would block the move and force both to cut across the escape road as they remained in the same positions.

As their fight rumbled Armstrong's morning would end in further misery, with the #17 DAMS pulling off with an issue as Lawson made his second bid for the lead. This time Lawson tried a daring move down the inside of Piastri into Rascasse, with the #7 Hitech duly elbowing the #2 Prema out of the way to secure the lead.

With that Lawson was away, leaving Piastri to try and fend off the attentions of Ticktum for second, with the Brit eventually scrambling ahead with a strong run out of the tunnel. That move came after Marino Sato and Christian Lundgaard both found the barriers and retired, triggering a brief Virtual Safety Car that paused the race.

Indeed, the closing stages would be dominated by drivers losing grip as the circuit dried and their tyres wore out, with Roy Nissany finding the barriers while fighting with Ralph Boschung for sixth. Bent Viscaal then struck the back of David Beckmann at Sainte Devote to trigger a late Safety Car, which would force the race to be settled by time rather than race distance.

The race restarted with a minute to spare, meaning there would be a one lap sprint finish to the chequered flag, although there would be no stopping Lawson. Indeed, the New Zealander would complete the final tour some eight seconds faster than Ticktum behind to claim victory, while the Brit was hounded by Piastri and Vips to the line to just hold second.

After the race, however, it was revealed that Lawson's car had failed post-race scrutineering after a discrepancy was found with one of the standardised throttle maps. Lawson was hence disqualified from the race, handing victory to Ticktum ahead of Piastri and Vips, while Robert Shwartzman was elevated into tenth and so could claim the bonus point for fastest lap.

Background
There would be no changes made to either the Circuit de Monaco nor the entry list ahead of the second race around Monte Carlo for Formula 2 in 2021, although overnight rain had changed the conditions. The grid, meanwhile, would be based on the results of the 2021 Monaco Sprint Race 1, with Marcus Armstrong on pole position after finishing tenth in the opening race, while Sprint 1 winner Guanyu Zhou would start from tenth.

Sprint Success
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.

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 second Sprint Race of the weekend was set via the results of the first Sprint Race, with the top ten finishers reversed as per the new-for-2021 FIA Formula 2 Championship ruleset:


 * * Armstrong would start the race from the pitlane after an issue on the formation lap.

Results
The final classification of the is displayed below:
 * Italics indicate that a driver set fastest lap.
 * * Viscaal served a ten second time penalty for causing a collision with Drugovich.
 * † Lawson was disqualified from the race after his car failed post-race scrutineering for using an illegal throttle map.

Milestones

 * Second career victory for Dan Ticktum.
 * Carlin claimed their eighth victory as an entrant in Formula 2.

Standings
In the Drivers' Championship Guanyu Zhou had managed to retain his position at the head of the field, and had even managed to retain something of a comfortable margin over his closest challengers. Indeed, Monaco Sprint 2 winner Dan Ticktum had only been able to close the gap to the Chinese ace to eighteen points after the fifth race of the season, with third placed Oscar Piastri a further four behind. Liam Lawson was left to rue his disqualification as he slipped to fourth and failed to make ground in the early stages of the title hunt, while Jehan Daruvala completed the top five.

UNI-Virtuosi had retained the lead in the Teams' Championship despite failing to score in the second Monegasque sprint, although their advantage had been severely reduced. Indeed, Carlin had cut the gap to the leaders to three points ahead of the Feature Race, while behind Prema Racing had also moved closer to the leaders in third. The Italian squad themselves had moved back ahead of Hitech Grand Prix to complete the top three, with ART Grand Prix rounding out the top five.

Only point scoring drivers are shown.