ART Grand Prix driver Zak O’Sullivan capitalised on a well-timed Virtual Safety Car period late in the race to secure his maiden Formula 2 win at the Monaco Grand Prix.
Richard Verschoor was cruising but a technical issue sent him into a heartbreaking retirement and had Isack Hadjar on course to win until O’Sullivan’s fortunate break.
Verschoor lined up on pole position with ART’s Victor Martins alongside, with the top 11 drivers on the grid all prioritising the Soft tyres to complete their opening stint.
Meanwhile, Gabriele Bortoleto, Enzo Fittipaldi, Oliver Bearman, Zane Maloney, Amaury Cordeel, Jak Crawford and Pepe Marti chose to go on the alternative Supersoft.
Verschoor made a storming start from pole to maintain a coveted lead, but Martins tumbled down to 15th as a stalled launch continued his tough start to the season.
The Frenchman’s misfortune elevated Hadear into second place and Paul Aron into third, while Bearman utilised his grippier rubber to gain five places on the first tour.
A pass on Bortoleto would move the Briton into the points places, while Crawford dived to Kush Maini’s outside at the Loews hairpin and pinned his rival to the barrier.
The DAMS driver would be placed under investigation. However, it would prove to be redundant as Crawford became the first retirement from the race on the third lap.
Mercedes prospect Andrea Kimi Antonelli was circulating in an encouraging fifth and recorded the fastest lap, but was noted due to leaking dry ice from his Prema car.
Verschoor had created a small margin across the opening five laps, but Hadjar lowered the benchmark time on his next lap to get back within range of the race leader.
As Antonelli dropped Roman Stanek behind, Prema team-mate Bearman was sat in seventh place as his Super Soft tyres began to degrade as the laps ticked onwards.
Pepe Marti was the first of the drivers to make their mandatory pit stop, discarding the Super Soft compound on Lap 11 and returning to the track down in 20th place.
An eager Antonelli was courting Franco Colapinto over fourth and a slight error from the Argentinian almost opened the door for the Italian in the Prema to sneak past.
Colapinto would then cut across the Nouvelle chicane on the next lap and retained the position as Antonelli continued to ramp up the pressure on the MP Motorsport.
Maloney entered this round as the championship leader, but he had endured a difficult outing in Monaco and was facing a daunting task to even add to his points total.
While he cleared Marti in the pit stops, cold tyres saw the Campos car regain the place with ease, as Fittipaldi and then Bearman detoured into the pits in the next laps.
Bearman managed to emerge ahead of those who had pitted before him, while Invicta Racing responded to Prema’s strategic move and stopped Bortoleto on Lap 18.
At the front, Verschoor was four seconds clear and looking en route to convert pole at the head of the field when he reported that his Trident car was “breaking down”.
But while a small stall saw the race leader cut Turn 10, Verschoor had returned to racing speed and remained in position, albeit with a reduced lead to Hadjar behind.
Elsewhere, Rafael Villagomez fled into the pits with front wing damage to his Van Amersfoort Racing car on Lap 20, as Stanek came into the pits to take on the Softs.
Aron would become the first of the leading contenders to stop on Lap 22, with Antonelli also pitting and coming out of the pits involved in a battle with his team-mate.
The Premas went wheel to wheel around the Loews hairpin, but Bearman completed a neat switchback move on his less experienced partner to seize the upper hand.
Hadjar had pitted on Lap 23 to ensure he maintained track position over Aron and he was clambering over Verschoor’s rear amid the Trident’s slow pit stop on Lap 24.
The Frenchman was desperate to displace Verschoor for the effective race lead and a good exit onto the start-finish straight enabled Hadear to complete the overtake.
Aron would be the next driver seeking to demote Verschoor and a moment at the Nouvelle chicane saw both drivers cut the track and the Trident driver remain ahead.
However, Aron would soon be in a position to make the move for 10th place as Verschoor’s earlier issue worsened, with Bearman and Colapinto the next to pass him.
To worse matters, Verschoor was handed a 10-second time drop for leaving the track and gaining an advantage over the incident that saw him and Aron cut the track.
Verschoor would come into the pits and serve his punishment prior to retiring on Lap 30, bringing a sobering end to a battling drive that had warranted a strong result.
Back to the action and those still running in the race, Hauger would become the next to pit as he went onto the Super Softs on Lap 33, dropping from second to eighth.
Antonelli had been unable to overtake Colapinto and the overcut had seen Hauger move past both along with Juan Manuel Correa, who was now pressuring Bearman.
Bearman would cut across the Nouvelle chicane as the battle for a net podium place rambled on, while Hadear reported over the radio that he had glanced the barrier.
O’Sullivan was continuing to pump in the lap times on his starting Soft tyre and was 18 seconds clear as the action unravelled behind in the closing stages in Monaco.
Antonelli caught Colapinto out to make his long-awaited move on the MP Motorsport driver at the final corner on Lap 38, opening the door for Bortoleto to get through.
Maloney, who had been clipped as Sprint victor Tailor Barnard sized him up into the hairpin, would also capitalise on Colapinto being startled to drop him back to 12th.
The race would change on its head on Lap 40 as Joshua Durksen rammed into Malonei on the exit of Turn 3, leading to caution flags to be waved as the PHM stopped.
O’Sullivan was still required to complete his mandatory stop and he dived into the pits as a Virtual Safety Car was called, earning him a pit stop at a reduced time loss.
The Briton had come into the pits prior to the VSC being called, meaning that his stop was counted as legal and he had cleared the pack behind to inherit first position.
Despite Hadjar mounting extreme pressure throughout the final lap, O’Sullivan crossed the line and took the chequered flag to take his first-ever podium and win in F2.
Aron was made to settle for the third step of the podium rostrum but claimed the championship lead over Maloney, as Bearman’s spectacular recovery delivered fourth.
Correa rounded out the top five drivers, with Hauger sixth, Antonelli seventh and Bortoleto eighth. The slow-starting Martins was ninth, with Maloney earning one point.
