F2: Schumacher triumphs at Monza

Mick Schumacher has won the Monza Formula 2 Feature Race after what had been a difficult start to the weekend for the Ferrari Driver Academy (FDA) student, as he went off the track a few minutes from the end of the qualifying session. It was the German’s first win of the season. The key moment of the race for him was the start when he got away perfectly, to run second into the first chicane, behind leader and pole sitter Callum Ilott. 

Perfect strategy. Schumacher kept Ilott in his sights for the first eleven laps, until the Englishman steered his Uni-Virtuosi Racing car down pit lane for the tyre change. Unfortunately, his engine stalled as he went to pull away and firing it up again cost Callum around 20 seconds. Schumacher thus found himself out on his own in the lead, running at a good pace all the way to the chequered flag.

Perfect race. “It was an incredible race,” said an emotional Mick. “I had a good pace and no particular problems and I was able to concentrate on managing the tyres, controlling the race from the front. My Prema team did an impeccable job in terms of managing the pit stop and also the start. The title? I’m not thinking about it, as there are still a lot of races to go and I want to take it one race at a time, being consistent. We can do the maths at the end.” Ferrari Team Principal Mattia Binotto and Sporting Director Laurent Mekies were on hand to applaud Mick on the podium for a win he will no doubt remember for a long time. 

Championship. The Monza win puts Schumacher up to third in the championship standings on 131 points, behind Ilott and Robert Shwartzman both on 134. It was a disappointing race for Callum, who was the quickest driver out there, which he proved with a fight back up the order after the problem at the pit stop. He finished sixth, 15 seconds behind Schumacher, thus picking up a few points.

Robert. Shwartzman paid the price for his bad luck in yesterday’s qualifying, when he was only 16th fastest, caught out by the red flag which ended the session early after Schumacher’s accident. The Russian fought his way up to ninth to pick up two points.

Marcus and Giuliano. Marcus Armstrong also raced well, in the top ten for much of the time having started 14th. Unfortunately, his tyres went off in the closing stages, after being the first to make his pit stop. In the end he finished 14th. It was a similar picture for Giuliano Alesi, 18th past the chequered flag. Tomorrow the Sprint Race, starting at 11.10 CET, brings the Monza weekend to a close, with Ilott starting third on the grid and Schumacher eighth ahead of Shwartzman.