Kush Maini celebrated a remarkable achievement by securing his second victory in the Formula 2 championship and his first on the track during the sprint race held in Monaco on Saturday. The Indian driver skillfully navigated the challenges of the Circuit de Monaco, successfully fending off Gabriele Minì to clinch the win. Luke Browning rounded out the top three, finishing in third place after Arvid Lindblad received a penalty for instigating a collision with Jak Crawford.
The race showcased Maini’s determination as he skillfully maintained his lead against Minì for significant portions of the race, despite the latter’s close pursuit. Prior to this impressive performance, Maini had only managed to score a single point across the initial four races of the season, making his triumph in Monaco all the more significant.
Reflecting on his victory, Maini shared, “Yesterday’s qualifying was intense. It was very close, so I was glad we were in the bubble to get reversed. Obviously, this is the sprint race, and we all want to win the feature, but it’s still a win in Monaco. As a young kid from India playing F1 on the PlayStation, I never thought I’d be here and I’d be winning in the second tier. I’m really grateful, grateful to the team as well. We’ve had a very rocky start with a lot of things going on – some in our control, some out – but our season starts today and there’s still a long way to go for us.”
In the lead-up to the race, Maini and Browning had secured the front row by qualifying in the 10th and 9th positions for the upcoming feature race. However, Browning experienced a challenging start, losing ground to Minì, Lindblad, and Crawford right from the get-go. Meanwhile, Alex Dunne, who was leading the championship standings and started on pole for the feature race, had to take evasive action, navigating to the pit lane exit to avoid a collision with Ritomo Miyata.
As the cars ascended the hill towards Beau Rivage and descended into Mirabeau Haute, Lindblad made a bold overtaking attempt on Crawford, which led to an unfortunate collision. The front-left corner of Lindblad’s car collided with Crawford’s rear-right, resulting in Crawford spinning out and struggling to regain control. During this chaos, Browning seized the opportunity to slip past Crawford and secured fourth position.
On lap six, Lindblad was handed a ten-second time penalty for his role in the incident. In response, his Campos team devised a strategic plan to recover from the setback. Given Monaco’s notorious lack of overtaking opportunities, Lindblad was instructed to create a twelve-second gap between himself and the leaders, Maini and Minì. The strategy aimed to position him favorably for the closing stages of the race.
Initially, Lindblad distanced himself from Minì, increasing the gap to as much as 11.5 seconds by the end of lap 11. However, his efforts were thwarted when the safety car was deployed to address a situation involving Joshua Dürksen, who had to retire his car due to suspension damage after a collision with Oliver Goethe earlier in the lap.
Once the safety car exited at the end of lap 14, Lindblad attempted to execute his team’s strategy. He quickly fell back from Maini and Minì, extending the gap to 12.041 seconds by lap 21 of the 30-lap race. Following this, Campos instructed him to push forward, and he soon began to close in on Minì, who was attempting to set the fastest lap after dropping back from Maini.
While Campos’ plan did not unfold as perfectly as anticipated, Lindblad managed to bring himself close to Minì as the race neared its conclusion. Despite this progress, he was ultimately relegated to eighth place after the penalty was applied, finishing just 0.061 seconds behind Minì and 0.532 seconds behind Leonardo Fornaroli, who secured seventh for Invicta Racing.
Further behind Maini and Minì, who finished with a gap of 3.705 seconds between them, Browning’s elevation to third came courtesy of Lindblad’s penalty. Crawford ended the race in fourth, followed closely by Richard Verschoor in fifth. Sebastián Montoya achieved a commendable sixth place, marking his best result since the opening round in Melbourne, while Fornaroli extended his impressive streak of scoring points to eight consecutive races with a solid seventh-place finish.
Race dynamics were notably characterized by limited overtaking opportunities, with Goethe making some moves that stirred controversy. His earlier overtaking of Dürksen led to the latter’s retirement, and shortly after, he engaged in a close battle with Victor Martins at La Rascasse on lap 15. This maneuver resulted in contact, causing Martins to hit the barrier and sustain damage to his front wing. In the aftermath, Goethe received a ten-second penalty for causing the collision.
Despite the tumultuous nature of the race, Martins managed to secure the fastest lap after making a pit stop to replace his damaged front wing. In an effort to claim the additional point for the fastest lap, Minì, Browning, and Dunne all fell back from the leaders, but none could match Martins’ pace. Ultimately, as the Williams junior finished outside the top ten in 17th place, he did not earn the extra point, which went instead to Dunne, who finished ninth. This result left Dunne with a mere three-point lead in the drivers’ standings over Browning.
The Monaco sprint race highlighted the complexities and challenges inherent in Formula 2 racing, particularly on a circuit known for its tight confines and limited overtaking opportunities. As the season progresses, the teams and drivers will surely analyze the strategies employed in this race, looking for ways to improve their performances in future rounds. The competition remains fierce, and with Maini’s confidence boosted by this victory, he and his team will be eager to build on this momentum as they head into the next races of the season.
