Roundup of the fifth round of the 2024 F2 season which delivered high drama and a change of title lead.
Famed for its unpredictability, Monaco delivered plenty of twists from a wet practice to a surprise pole-sitter to two British victories, of which the Feature Race winner came from nowhere through a classic slice of sporting luck.
Now here is a roundup of all the action from the fifth round of the 2024 F2 season in Monaco.
Practice
ART GP’s Victor Martins and Zak O’Sullivan were first out onto a wet track and it was the Frenchman who set a benchmark time of 1m 43.224 in the fifth minute.
Martins proceeded to dominate the top of the timesheet there afterwards in tough conditions and ultimately posted a session-topping 1m 39.237 in the 18th minute, just before Colapinto crashed into the outside barriers of Racasse to bring out the red flag for seven minute.
The rain however fell harder as the session resumed to prevent any further improvement as Martins finished fastest from Dennis Hauger, Richard Verschoor, Isack Hadjar and O’Sullivan.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Victor Martins | ART GP | 1m 39.237 |
| 2 | Dennis Hauger | MP Motorsport | + 0.601 |
| 3 | Richard Verschoor | Trident | + 0.901 |
| 4 | Isack Hadjar | Campos | + 1.374 |
| 5 | Zak O’Sullivan | ART GP | + 1.509 |
| 6 | Taylor Barnard | AIX Racing | + 1.638 |
| 7 | Franco Colapinto | MP Motorsport | + 1.727 |
| 8 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | PREMA | + 2.144 |
| 9 | Paul Aron | Hitech GP | + 2.445 |
| 10 | Jak Crawford | DAMS | + 2.498 |
| 11 | Kush Maini | Invicta | + 2.534 |
| 12 | Juan Manuel Correa | DAMS | + 2.764 |
| 13 | Pepe Marti | Campos | + 2.813 |
| 14 | Roman Stanek | Trident | + 2.954 |
| 15 | Oliver Bearman | PREMA | + 4.256 |
| 16 | Rafael Villagomez | VAR | + 4.383 |
| 17 | Zane Maloney | Rodin | + 4.709 |
| 18 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Invicta | + 5.698 |
| 19 | Amaury Cordeel | Hitech GP | + 6.647 |
| 20 | Ritomo Miyata | Rodin | + 7.667 |
| 21 | Enzo Fittipaldi | VAR | + 7.754 |
| 22 | Joshua Durksen | AIX Racing | + 8.205 |
Qualifying
Qualifying Group A
O’Sullivan led the even-numbered cars out onto the track in the first Qualifying group but it was Verschoor who soon set the initial benchmark of 1m 31.058 in the sixth minute, as everyone encountered a dry track for the first time on the weekend.
O’Sullivan however would sit top with 1m 23.118 after the first fliers then found 0.916s to top the second round of flying laps from Verschoor and Hadjar, although Hadjar was lucky to avoid a massive collision with a slow Miyata out of the tunnel who had a technical issue on his Rodin car.
Verschoor however snatched provisional pole with 1m 21.283 in the 14th minute ahead of Hadjar, Colapinto, Antonelli and Bortoleto.
Fittipaldi finished sixth quickest ahead of Manuel Correa, O’Sullivan, Cordeel, Durksen and Miyata.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Richard Verschoor | Trident | 1m 21.283 |
| 2 | Isack Hadjar | Campos | + 0.157 |
| 3 | Franco Colapinto | MP Motorsport | + 0.372 |
| 4 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | PREMA | + 0.386 |
| 5 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Invicta | + 0.387 |
| 6 | Enzo Fittipaldi | VAR | + 0.440 |
| 7 | Juan Manuel Correa | DAMS | + 0488 |
| 8 | Zak O’Sullivan | ART GP | + 0702 |
| 9 | Amaury Cordeel | Hitech GP | + 0.936 |
| 10 | Joshua Durksen | AIX Racing | + 1.104 |
| 11 | Ritomo Miyata | Rodin | + 6.215 |
Qualifying Group B
Martins was first out on track as odd-numbered drivers eventually headed out in the second group but it was Maloney who was first to set a representative lap of 1m 31.871.
Red flags were however out after Villagomez crashed at St Devote with 9 minutes and 52 seconds left on the clock, although the session resumed five minutes later with Maloney setting 1m 21.941 as a new benchmark time.
Martins however delivered 1m 21.744 to go fastest in the 13th minute but Stanek went 0.278s faster with a lap time of 1m 21.466.
Stanek however crashed into the barriers at Tabac to ruin his final lap, which allowed Martins to snatch top spot in the group with 1m 21.310 ahead of Aron by 0.037s and Stanek in third.
Hauger qualified fourth ahead of Barnard, Bearman, Maloney, Maini, Crawford, Marti and Villagomez.
Martins’ lap time however was 0.027s shy of Verschoor’s effort in Group A which meant that Verschoor claimed pole for the Feature Race, with his Group A rivals lined up behind him in the odd-numbered grid slots.
Martins meanwhile would start second with his Group B opposition all lined up behind him on the even-numbered side of the grid, which in-turn handed Barnard reverse pole for the sprint.
Post-session, Bearman, Maini and Manuel Correa received three-place grid penalties for the Sprint after impeding Marti, Antonelli and Maloney respectively.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Victor Martins | ART GP | 1m 21.310 |
| 2 | Paul Aron | Hitech GP | + 0.037 |
| 3 | Roman Stanek | Trident | + 0.156 |
| 4 | Dennis Hauger | MP Motorsport | + 0.349 |
| 5 | Taylor Barnard | AIX Racing | + 0.521 |
| 6 | Oliver Bearman | PREMA | + 0.609 |
| 7 | Zane Maloney | Rodin | + 0.631 |
| 8 | Kush Maini | Invicta | + 0.678 |
| 9 | Jak Crawford | DAMS | + 0.720 |
| 10 | Pepe Marti | Campos | + 0.916 |
| 11 | Rafael Villagomez | VAR | + 19.055 |
Sprint Race
At lights out, Barnard fought off a faster-starting Bortoleto for the lead as the top four held position whilst Colapinto jumped Stanek for fifth as Aron and Hadjar kept position in seventh and eighth respectively.
Martins however got a poor start from ninth and collided with Crawford plus Marti which ultimately resulted into a slide into the barriers at St Devote, which triggered a safety car.
Racing resumed at the end of Lap 2 but the safety car was back out on Lap 6 after Marti crashed on the exit of the Swimming Pool chicane.
Racing resumed three laps later as Barnard drove a measured race to keep Bortoleto at bay whilst Verschoor lost his front wing at the apex of Mirabeau on Lap 11, which caused the Virtual Safety Car (VSC) to be deployed briefly for debris to be removed.
Bearman recovered from 15th on the grid to 11th but bent his steering at Anthony Noghes on Lap 13 then dropped to 14th on Lap 20 due to a momentary technical issue.
The Brit however regained 11th three laps later after Maloney rear-ended O’Sullivan into Racasse but locked up his brakes in the process which sent him spinning and collected Maini.
Manuel Correa meanwhile cautiously drove round the outside of the pair which allowed Bearman to sneak up the inside to take 11th with the red flag thrown soon afterwards for 17 minutes to safely remove both Maloney and Maini’s cars from the track.
Once racing resumed with a rolling start on Lap 26, Barnard sprinted away to his and AIX Racing’s maiden F2 victory ahead of Bortoleto and Hauger.
Antonelli, Colapinto, Stanek, Aron and Hadjar rounded out the top eight which had remained static since Lap 1.
In the drivers’ standings, Maloney’s retirement meant that his title lead was reduced to just three points by Aron, with the pair sat on 68 and 65 points respectively as Hadjar sat five further points back in third with 60 points.
| Position | Driver | Team | Laps | Time |
| 1 | Taylor Barnard | AIX Racing | 30 | 1h 4m 20.946 |
| 2 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Invicta | 30 | + 5.246 |
| 3 | Dennis Hauger | MP Motorsport | 30 | + 5.817 |
| 4 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | PREMA | 30 | + 8.213 |
| 5 | Franco Colapinto | MP Motorsport | 30 | + 10.857 |
| 6 | Roman Stanek | Trident | 30 | + 13.594 |
| 7 | Paul Aron | Hitech GP | 30 | + 15.085 |
| 8 | Isack Hadjar | Campos | 30 | + 16.495 |
| 9 | Enzo Fittipaldi | VAR | 30 | + 16.890 |
| 10 | Zak O’Sullivan | ART GP | 30 | + 17.752 |
| 11 | Oliver Bearman | PREMA | 30 | + 18.334 |
| 12 | Juan Manuel Correa | DAMS | 30 | + 18.830 |
| 13 | Jak Crawford | DAMS | 30 | + 19.225 |
| 14 | Amaury Cordeel | Hitech GP | 30 | + 22.049 |
| 15 | Rafael Villagomez | VAR | 30 | + 24.054 |
| 16 | Richard Verschoor | Trident | 30 | + 24.327 |
| 17 | Ritomo Miyata | Rodin | 30 | + 25.203 |
| 18 | Joshua Durksen | AIX Racing | 30 | + 25.915 |
| RET | Kush Maini | Invicta | 22 | Collision |
| RET | Zane Maloney | Rodin | 22 | Spin |
| RET | Pepe Marti | Campos | 4 | Crash |
| RET | Victor Martins | ART GP | 0 | Collision |
Feature Race
At lights out, Verschoor made a clean start to lead Hadjar and Aron as Martins got a slow getaway and slumped down to 16th position.
Crawford meanwhile retired at Portier after he got hit by Maini on the rear at Lowes Hairpin to end his race with severe damage.
Up front, Verschoor led from Hadjar in a quiet opening half of the race as he built a three-second lead whilst Marti was the first of alternate strategy runners on super-soft tyres to pit on Lap 11.
Bearman however was the lead runner on the alternate strategy as he worked his way up to seventh in a chaotic start, and waited until Lap 17 before pitting which put him net fourth once Verschoor, Hadjar and Aron completed their stops in reverse order.
Verschoor however began to experience engine issues on Lap 19 as his three-second lead evaporated despite fending off Hadjar until their pit stops, but Hadjar managed to get the net lead into St Devote on Lap 25 with Aron and Bearman following suit in the next laps.
Verschoor eventually retired at the end of Lap 30 as his engine issues became terminal whilst Hauger got jumped by Manuel Correa for net fourth-place when he pitted on Lap 33.
ART GP meanwhile kept O’Sullivan and Martins out in the lead in hope for a late safety car before pitting, but their wish never came as Martins pitted on Lap 39 followed by O’Sullivan on Lap 41 after a VSC was deployed after Durksen hit Maloney as he exited the pits on Lap 40.
O’Sullivan’s gamble saw him make a successful stop and re-join in the lead which he held to the flag to take his maiden F2 win from 15th on the grid ahead of Hadjar, Aron and Bearman – who fought off Manuel Correa for fourth.
Hauger, Antonelli, Bortoleto, Martins and Maloney rounded out the top ten.
In the drivers’ standings, Maloney lost the lead to Aron who moved top on 80 points ahead of Hadjar by two points as Maloney dropped to third and 11 points off the summit, whilst O’Sullivan’s victory lifted him up to seventh on 40 points.
F2 now takes a short break but returns to action in Barcelona, Spain on weekend of 21-23 June in a triple-header, which is followed by trips to Austria then Great Britain.
| Position | Driver | Team | Laps | Time |
| 1 | Zak O’Sullivan | ART GP | 42 | 1h 0m 25.696 |
| 2 | Isack Hadjar | Campos | 42 | + 0.580 |
| 3 | Paul Aron | Hitech GP | 42 | + 8.053 |
| 4 | Oliver Bearman | PREMA | 42 | + 9.118 |
| 5 | Juan Manuel Correa | DAMS | 42 | + 9.586 |
| 6 | Dennis Hauger | MP Motorsport | 42 | + 9.945 |
| 7 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | PREMA | 42 | + 17.540 |
| 8 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Invicta | 42 | + 17.847 |
| 9 | Victor Martins | ART GP | 42 | + 18.021 |
| 10 | Zane Maloney | Rodin | 42 | + 26.555 |
| 11 | Taylor Barnard | AIX Racing | 42 | + 26.983 |
| 12 | Enzo Fittipaldi | VAR | 42 | + 27.418 |
| 13 | Franco Colapinto | MP Motorsport | 42 | + 30.213 |
| 14 | Pepe Marti | Campos | 42 | + 31.662 |
| 15 | Ritomo Miyata | Rodin | 42 | + 32.386 |
| 16 | Roman Stanek | Trident | 42 | + 33.309 |
| 17 | Kush Maini | Invicta Racing | 42 | + 33.796 |
| RET | Joshua Durksen | AIX Racing | 39 | Collision |
| RET | Richard Verschoor | Trident | 30 | Engine |
| RET | Rafael Villagomez | VAR | 18 | Crash |
| RET | Amaury Cordeel | Hitech GP | 5 | Mechanical |
| RET | Jak Crawford | DAMS | 0 | Collision |
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