Pourchaire takes second F2 victory with commanding drive in first Monza opener

Starting from fourth on the grid, Pourchaire was in the wars early on as he made his way through the field. 

As he attempted a move on Dan Ticktum into Turn 1 in the opening laps, he was forced to take to the run-off. 

Ticktum wasn’t as fortunate as when he tried to stay on the track, he was spun around by Felipe Drugovich. 

With Pourchaire up to third, he got past David Beckmann for second, after he made a mistake into Turn 1.

The Sauber junior got past Vips on Lap 15 with a late lunge into the lead of the race.

From that moment onwards, Pourchaire dominated the race, ultimately winning by 4.3s. 

It was a strong race from Guanyu Zhou as he made his way through up to second-place.

Zhou was only sixth after the first Safety Car but mistakes for Vips and Beckmann, followed by front wing damage for Liam Lawson, moved him up the order.

Christian Lundgaard finished third having started from 19th on the grid.

Lundgaard inherited the final spot on the rostrum thanks to Robert Shwartzman’s five-second time penalty for gaining an advantage at the start.

Points leader Oscar Piastri was fourth, continuing his strong streak of results, ahead of Lawson, who recovered well after his front wing change.

Shwartzman was sixth ahead of Bent Viscaal, while Vips dropped to eight having led the race after the opening lap.

Jehan Daruvala and David Beckmann rounded out the top 10 and thus will share the front row of the grid for the second sprint race this afternoon.

Marcus Armstrong narrowly missed out on the top 10 in 11th, finishing just ahead of HWA duo Jake Hughes and Alessio Deledda. 

Lirim Zendeli had been running inside the top 10 before grinding to a halt with three laps to go.

Click here for the full FIA Formula 2 sprint race (1) results