Kush Maini Claims Victory in Monte Carlo Sprint Race
Kush Maini, driving for DAMS Lucas Oil, secured a thrilling victory in the Monte Carlo Sprint Race, converting his pole position into a lights-to-flag win around the iconic Principality circuit. The Indian driver held off fellow Alpine Academy talent Gabriele Minì, who finished second for PREMA Racing, while Luke Browning inherited third place for Hitech TGR after a time penalty was applied to Campos Racing’s Arvid Lindblad.
According to the FIA Formula 2 website, Maini got the perfect start, but Luke Browning fell down the order to fifth by Turn 1. His poor getaway allowed Gabriele Minì to climb up to second place. The battle for third was intense, with Lindblad attempting a pass on Jak Crawford, but contact between the two allowed Browning back past for fourth and ahead of the American.
The FIA Formula 2 website reported that with DRS enabled, Minì was on the rear wing of the race leader, the gap hovering at 0.3s in the opening 10 laps while the pair pulled over eight seconds clear of Lindblad in third. However, the gap was neutralised on Lap 12 when the Safety Car was deployed to recover Joshua Duerksen’s AIX Racing #20, which had suffered race-ending damage after contact with MP Motorsport’s Oliver Goethe.
Back to racing conditions entering Lap 15, Maini escaped from DRS range to Minì behind, while Lindblad had Browning right on his gearbox in the battle for third on the road. Goethe was on the move again, sneaking his MP car up the inside of Victor Martins at La Rascasse to take ninth place, but contact between the pair resulted in a 10-second time penalty for Goethe.
As reported by the FIA Formula 2 website, with 10 laps to go, Minì was back to within 0.2s of the race leader, while Lindblad had dropped back by over 10 seconds in order to set up a late-race charge to minimise his time penalty. The Red Bull Junior Team driver was told to push on Lap 22, and he immediately upped his pace to put a buffer between himself and Browning.
In the end, Maini held on to claim his second F2 victory, with Minì finishing second and Browning third. The FIA Formula 2 website quoted Maini as saying, "P1, first Indian to win in Monaco too. It’s a great honour and a dream come true. I want to say thank you to DAMS and everyone who has supported me. We keep believing!"
The victory for Maini sees him move up the championship standings, while Alexander Dunne remains in the lead on 65 points. The FIA Formula 2 website reported that Luke Browning moves to within one point of the leader, second on 64, while Richard Verschoor is third on 59 points.
The Feature Race is set to take place on Sunday morning, with Alexander Dunne starting from pole position and Victor Martins alongside him on the front row. The FIA Formula 2 website confirmed that lights out is scheduled for 09:40 local time.
Source: FIA Formula 2
