George Russell soars to Monza victory

After Formula One Qualifying was delayed on Saturday due to the heavy rain over the track all day, GP3 Series Sprint Race got erased from the Italian race weekend’s schedule, while the feature race got postponed and held on Sunday morning.

Grid positions with no qualifying were given by Friday’s free practice results, which meant pole position for Nirei Fukuzumi followed by his teammates, George Russell, Anthoine Hubert and Jack Aitken in order.

The Japanese ART driver got stuck at the pit exit with an electrical gremlin and could not start the race, which made the Briton’s job easier, putting him to pole position on the 22 laps long feature event.

The ART drivers caught the start perfectly setting a stable 1-2-3 ahead of all grid. First lap could not pass off without drama, when Leonardo Pulcini messed up the breaking points, firstly followed by an incident with Boccolacci, which made the Italian driver using the alternative track line at Turn 1. The Arden driver made a mistake again at the next corner using the dry breaking points on wet track running straight on the rear wing of his compatriot, Alessio Lorandi pushing both Italians out of the race just after the start. The Jenzer driver was understandably disappointed following an incredible start from P9 falling out of his home race from when he was already on P5 with chances and hopes for a victory on mind.

The incident caused a long safety car period which ended on the 8th lap. Following the restart, a big battle started for P4 between Niko Kari, Steijn Schothorst, Dorian Boccolacci and GP3’s new driver Dan Ticktum. Unfortunately, the rookie could not enjoy racing too long, as he finished the fight with a puncture, while his opponent was forced to pit for new nose.

ART was uninterruptedly leading the race with George Russell on P1 when Anthoine Hubert attacked his teammate and took the leader position using DRS on 11th lap. The top team brought excitements midway of the race, with all three drivers aiming victory.

Steijn Schothorst grabbed all opportunities to overtake, which made the Dutchman leaving the track several times during his attacks, resulting a 5 seconds time penalty for him.

George Russell took back his first position 2 laps later, just before the two remaining Jenzer cars crashed. Juan Manuel Correa braked too late, flying over his teammate Arjun Maini whose rear wing got hardly damaged in the incident. The Indian stayed on track, while Correa crashed to the barriers causing Virtual Safety Car.

The 3 ARTs Russell, Hubert and Aitken were leading the Italian race tightly together, with Kari, Hyman, Siebert, Alesi, Maini, Falchero and Schothorst behind them.

When the green lights went on again, Jack Aitken grabbed the opportunity and took the leadership overtaking both his teammates in race with an incredible restart.

The great battle ended when George Russell took back the leader position after 2 laps with Aitken and Hubert behind the Mercedes Junior.

When only few minutes left, Arjun Maini’s damaged rear wing fell apart leaving debris all around the track.

The race ended behind safety car after Niko Kari ripped over the kerbs at Lesmo 2 and crashed to the wall on the final lap of the race.

George Russell claimed to win to extend his lead in the drivers’ championship over Jack Aitken 162 points to 119 with Anthoine Hubert at third place in the race and 4th in the championship behind Fukuzumi 99 points to 97. Campos’ driver Marcos Siebert finished with an impressive fourth place ahead of Ryan Tveter, Giuliano Alesi and Tatiana Calderon with P7 achieving her best result so far followed by Falchero, Jörg and Bruno Baptista completing the top 10.

Race 1 Classification

  Driver Team   
1. George Russell ART Grand Prix   
2. Jack Aitken ART Grand Prix    
3. Anthoine Hubert ART Grand Prix   
4. Marcos Siebert Campos Racing   
5. Ryan Tveter Trident   
6. Giuliano Alesi Trident   
7. Tatiana Calderon DAMS   
8. Julien Falchero Campos Racing   
9. Kevin Jörg Trident   
10. Bruno Baptista DAMS   
11. Raoul Hyman Campos Racing   
12. Steijn Schothorst Arden International   
13. Daniel Ticktum DAMS   
14. Dorian Boccolacci Trident   
15. Niko Kari Arden International   
16. Arjun Maini Jenzer Motorsport   
        
  Not Classified     
  Juan Manuel Correa Jenzer Motorsport   
  Leonardo Pulcini Arden International   
  Alessio Lorandi Jenzer Motorsport   
  Nirei Fukuzumi ART Grand Prix   
        
  Fastest Lap      
  Anthoine Hubert 1:40.232 on lap 11