FIA Formula 2 Championship
Oscar Piastri had a productive weekend in Monaco, as the FIA Formula 2 Championship enjoyed three races as a support category to Formula 1.
The Victorian ended the round with two second-place finishes – one of which came in Saturday’s feature race and the other in the second of the two sprint races.
Picking up a P8 in the round’s first race of the weekend, which was a reverse top 10-grid, Piastri then earned a vital second row start for race two.
The difficult roads of Monaco allowed the 2020 FIA Formula 3 Champion to hold his position for the whole race and cross the finish line third– before being elevated to P2 after race winner Liam Lawson was disqualified.
The result set up an opportunity to fight for the lead, but it turned out to be a difficult task for Piastri who faced some issues and had to fight off an undercut from Briton Dick Ticktum.
Ticktum pushed hard but couldn’t pass a stubborn Piastri, ultimately hitting a barrier in an attempt to overtake allowing Piastri to cruise to a second-place finish behind Théo Pourchaire.
The three results saw Piastri collect a solid 31-point haul and slot into second place on the outright standings just 16 points behind fellow Alpine Racing academy driver Guanzao Zhou.
The FIA Formula 2 Championship returns for the third round of the year in Baku on 5-6 June.
British Formula 3 Championship
Piastri wasn’t the only young Aussie to see success over the weekend with Christian Mansell enjoying a dream debut in the British Formula 3 Championship.
One of two Australians competing in the Championship, last year’s British Formula 4 Rookie Cup winner would have been hoping for a good start to the year and the teenager achieved just that, finishing the season opener at Brands Hatch with one race
win and two top-10 finishes.
Mansell didn’t get off to the greatest of starts though, qualifying in P13 for the opening race despite topping the timesheets in practice 1 earlier. The 16-year-old then showcased that same pace from practice to climb five positions to P8.
It was a similar story in the weekend’s second race as he progressed from P12 to P10.
His biggest moment came in the final reverse grid race where he started from P7, but stormed to the lead by turn two after a brilliant getaway off the line helped him pass the six cars ahead of him around the outside. He then led the race until the chequered flag to cap off a brilliant weekend.
Fellow Australian Bart Horsten had a more challenging round despite a strong start, as his P4 in the opening race was overshadowed by a DNF in race two after he tangled with another competitor while battling for the lead.
The West Australian recovered nicely in the final race to jump from P15 to P8.
Ahead of the championship’s second round at Silverstone late next month, Mansell sits fourth on the standings and just 28 points off the lead, while Horsten’s last result helped him squeeze into the top 10.
2021 Formula Regional European Championship
Tommy Smith’s tough start to the Formula Regional European Championship continued over the weekend as the category also enjoyed competing on the streets of Monaco.
A P25 in the first race was as good as it got for Smith as he couldn’t qualify for the second race and was unable to finish the weekend’s final race.
Smith doesn’t have to wait long until getting another shot behind the wheel with the Championship having back-to-back rounds at the Circuit Paul Ricard this coming weekend.
