MONACO GP: WIN AND DOUBLE-PODIUM!
Virtuosi Racing and KENNOL clinched a victory and double-podium in Monaco GP! The 2nd weekend of the 2021 FIA Formula 2 season saw both drivers stepping on the 2 highest places of the podium. That’s a first on the mythical track of Monte-Carlo. And thanks to a very good overall weekend, we lead both drivers and teams rankings!
▌THE MONACO PERFORMANCE
KENNOL and Virtuosi Racing already did good in Bahrain, for the opening of the 2021 season in FIA F2. But racing in Monte-Carlo, on the mythical and tricky Monaco GP urban racetrack, is another story.
Thursday’s qualifying session saw Drugovich finish in 9th place and Zhou qualify 10th. But the newly-revised Formula 2 qualifying format meant Zhou took reverse-pole position and Drugovich P2 for the first Sprint Race of the weekend. Zhou led from lights-out to the chequered flag to secure victory in the streets of Monte Carlo. While his teamate had to fight a little bit more to regain his early-lost 2nd place.
I was really happy to get a gap straight away and come home with the victory in Monaco – it’s something quite special!
Guanyu Zhou, KENNOL-sponsored car #3
A late safety car wiped out the eight-second lead Zhou had built up over the field, but a perfectly executed race restart allowed him to quickly rebuild a gap. This was for the “easy” part, because the Feature Race was to be way more complicated, starting from P9 and P10…
▌A WEEKEND TO BUILD ON
The UNI-Virtuosi duo lined up alongside each other on the 5th row of the grid for the Feature Race. With 2 different strategies, which proved to be good, both drivers had a lot to do, before reaching the podium.
Zhou made his way up the order as the early leaders came into the pits, with the Chinese racer eventually taking the lead of the race on lap 31, before his pit stop. On cold tyres and with four cars to hold off, Zhou was able to hang on to P5 and claimed an additional 2 points for the fastest lap time of 1:21.912 seconds. While Brazilian teamate Drugovich was 3rd over the line, earning him his second podium of the weekend!
UNI-Virtuosi now tops the Drivers’ Championship, with Guanyu Zhou 16 points ahead of 2nd place, and the Constructors’ Championship, where they lead PREMA Racing by 15. Round 3 of the 2021 FIA Formula 2 Championship will be held in Baku, Azerbaijan from 4-6 June.
