Italian GP: Daruvala wins dramatic feature race

Jehan Daruvala secured his first win of the season, and Prema’s home win, after a dramatic feature race which included a safety car intervention and a red flag stoppage.

How the feature race unfolded…

It was a horrific start from the pole sitter, Virtuosi’s Jack Doohan, as the Australian slowly moved off the line – as he did at the formation lap. The Australian was quickly swallowed by the following pack. However, there was a spin further behind as the field exited the second corner.

Campos’ Ralph Boschung took to the first corner shortcut as he was forced onto the grass. As the Campos returned to the circuit, he made contact with ART’s Theo Pourchaire and both drivers spun out before they collected Dams’ Luca Ghiotto in their way to the barrier.

The carnage didn’t stop there as Doohan ran into the side of Carlin’s Logan Sargeant into the Della Roggia chicane (turns four and five). Sargeant was forced to retire from the race in the run off area as Doohan was able to limp back to the pit lane before he retired.

The safety car was soon deployed, on the opening lap.

Prema’s Dennis Hauger was issued with a drive through penalty for not having his tyres fitted at the three-minute mark, on the grid.

During the safety car intervention, Van Amersfoort Racing’s David Beckmann peeled into the pit lane to change his tyres from the mediums to the soft compound. However, as per the regulations, this stop wouldn’t classify as Beckmann’s mandatory stop – which is set to be completed from lap six, onwards.

At the end of the fifth lap, Carlin’s Liam Lawson bolted away down the back straight – towards the Parabolica – to get the race back up to speed as the safety car peeled back into the pit lane.

However, the safety car was redeployed as Trident’s Calan Williams was found in the barrier, halfway through the Ascari Chicane, on lap seven. The Trident went wheel-to-wheel, alongside the VAR of Beckmann, into the Ascari Chicane before the two make contact and ricocheted Williams into the barrier.

As the Safety Car was filtered out of the pit lane, a handful of drivers peeled into the pit lane to complete their mandatory stops before the rest of the soft-tyre runners .

After some consideration from race control, to find a way to remove Williams’ stranded Trident, the stewards decided to red flag the session – on lap 10 – to allow the marshal’s to place a vehicle on the circuit.

During the red flag stoppage, Hitech’s Marcus Armstrong was slapped for a 10-second time penalty for failing to follow the race directors instructions. During the latest safety car intervention, prior to the red flag stop, Armstrong darted to into the pit lane from the wrong side of the pit entry bollard.

Before the race got back underway, Armstrong was put under investigation again: for speeding in the pit lane. The Kiwi was soon slapped with a 10-second stop/go penalty for speeding in the pit lane.

The race finally got back underway and Verschoor was clear from Virtuosi’s Marina Sato’s challenge who was in second place.

On lap 13, Hitech’s Juri Vips tried to make up a place on Carlin’s Liam Lawson into the Della Roggia Chicane but the Estonian tagged the Kiwi and sent Lawson into a spin. Fortunately, the Carlin was able to continue on with the race.

Lawson was soon issued with a black and orange flag which required the Carlin driver to pit for a fix his front wing after it became dislodged following the contact with Vips.

Vips was soon given a 10-second stop/go penalty for causing a collision with Lawson.

After a handful of laps behind the race leader, Trident’s Richard Verschoor, Prema’s Jehan Daruvala inherited the race lead – on lap 25 of 30 – after the Trident peeled into the pit lane for his mandatory stop.

Podium:

1. Jehan Daruvala, Prema
2. Frederik Vesit, ART
3. Ayumu Iwasa, Dams

That’s it for the article: Italian GP: Daruvala wins dramatic feature race! What did you think of the race? Let us know in the comments!

Read more Formula Two here:

• Italian GP F2 Sprint: Drugovich secures title from the pit lane
• Belgium GP: Doohan tyre strategy secures first feature race win
• Belgian GP: Lawson secures F2 win after early move
• F2 Hungarian GP: Pourchaire wins after Armstrong’s pit lane woes
• F2 Hungarian GP: Doohan dominates sprint after early blunder

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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.

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.