F2 Monaco Qualifying: Liam Lawson on pole after Drugovich crashes
27th May 2022Although MP Motorsport’s Felipe Drugovich crashed out, Carlin’s Liam Lawson secured pole position for the feature race in Monaco but it could be under threat as he improved under yellow flags.
Group A
As the pit exit light went green, the drivers were itching to get out as they filtered out into the streets of Monaco. The drivers on the track, in Group A were:
- Liam Lawson (Carlin)
- Jack Doohan (Virtuosi Racing)
- Dennis Hauger (Prema)
- Amaury Cordeel (Van Amersfoort Racing)
- Calan Williams (Trident)
- Ayumu Iwasa (Dams)
- Ralph Boschung (Campos)
- Frederik Vesti (ART)
- Marcus Armstrong (Hitech)
- Felipe Drugovich (MP Motorsport)
- Cem Bolukbasi (Charouz)
Doohan was the first driver to start his flying lap but as he exited the famous Rascasse corner, he quickly dipped back into the pit lane. Cordeel was the first driver to set a competitive lap time as he set a 1:23.693 on a push lap.
By the halfway point, only Cordeel, Doohan and Drugovich were the only drivers to complete their timed laps, ordered P1, P2 and P3 respectively.
Williams was issued with a pit lane infringment, with just over seven minutes left on the clock.
The championship leader, Drugovich, jumped to the top of the timing board after he secured the quickest lap of the group with a 1:21.795. Boschung almost toppled the MP driver as he secured the second fastest lap, 0.064 seconds slower than the Brazilian.
With less than two minutes remaining, Boschung was forced to retire from the qualifying session as he came over his respective team radio and stated he damaged his steering, after he made contact with the wall.
Group A came to dramatic end as Drugovich made a heavy hit with the final corner. As he passed over the crest in the road, at the final corner, the Brazilian made contact with the barrier and brought his car to a stop down the main straight.
Despite the yellow flags, Lawson secured the fastest lap of the race as he passed the stationary Brazilian, followed by Iwasa who went up to second which demoted Drugovich to P3.
As a result, all of the passings from turn 19 were under investigation by race control.
Group B
In a similar manner to Group A, the drivers in the second – and final – group of the session quickly drove out onto the Monte Carlo track. The drivers who were in this group were:
- Jake Hughes (Van Amersfoort Racing)
- Logan Sargeant (Carlin)
- Olli Caldwell (Campos)
- Roy Nissany (Dams)
- Juri Vips (Hitech)
- Richard Verschoor (Trident)
- Jehan Daruvala (Prema)
- Marino Sato (Virtuosi Racing)
- Enzo Fittipaldi (Charouz)
- Clement Novalak (MP Motorsport)
- Theo Pourchaire (ART)
Fittipaldi was the first driver to set the first lap time of Group B but he was soon beaten by Verschoor. The Dutch driver topped the timing board ahead of Caldwell and Fittipaldi, respectively.
However, Novalak quickly went to the top of the table with a 1:29, but after a very committed push lap he cut the time down to a 1:23.This was soon beaten by Sargeant who moved to the top of the leaderboard with a 1:22.230, 1.6 seconds quicker than Novalak.
Cordeel, who completed his qualifying in Group A, was noted by the stewards for erratic driving in the pit lane. This was upgraded to an investigation but it would be dealt with after the session.
As the qualifying session drew closer to the end, many drivers had improved their lap times with Pourchaire on the top of the timing board after he secured a 1:21.535, ahead of Vips and Fittipaldi respectively.
With less than two minutes left on the clock, the red flag was quickly brought out.
On a push lap, Hughes made contact with the kerb into the swimming pool chicane and lost his front wing in the process. As a result, Hughes drove over the following kerb as his front wing went under and his car rose up into the air and crashed, heavily, into the adjacent barrier. After it dragged itself down the track, the car finally stopped in the barrier at the last chicane.
Thankfully, Hughes was fine and got out of his car.
That’s it for the article: F2 Monaco Qualifying: Liam Lawson on pole after Drugovich crashes!
Read more Formula Two here:
- F2 Spanish Grand Prix: Felipe Drugovich takes max points in feature race win
- Spain GP: Felipe Drugovich tops F2 practice
- F2 returns to France in 2022
- F2 Emilia-Romagna Feature Race: Theo Pourchaire wins after late drama
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Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.
I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
Kamron Kent
Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
