The start of the Formula 2 feature race went without any major incidents or excessive corner cutting, except for Victor Martins who, again, had a poor getaway and dropped 14 places in the first lap. Jak Crawford gets a little nudge from Kush Maini in the Hotel Hairpin, hits the outside wall and is the first retirement of the day.
With the field settled a bit it is Andrea Kimi Antonelli who is piling up the pressure on Franco Colapinto, while Roman Staněk complains about the Italian Mercedes-junior shedding some dry ice in front of him.
Richard Verschoor leads for Isack Hadjar, who have a bit of a gap to Paul Aron, while Oliver Bearman managed to convert a poor qualifying in a provisional sixth place. He does however not have the pace as the super soft tyres seem to lose their pace quite quickly.
Amaury Cordeel is the first one to enter the pits, and he does so quite slowly. The mechanics signal the right side of the car is damaged and that his race is over, making him the second retirement fo the day.
Antonelli seems to employ a similiar strategy to yesterday, dropping back to set the fastest lap if overtaking seems impossible.
Pepe Martí is the first one to make a scheduled stop in lap 11, switching from the super softs to the softs. Bearman and Gabriel Bortoleto refuse to do so for now, with a line of cars starting to form behind the latter.
Colapinto is getting pressured by Antonelli again, resulting in the MP Motorsports-driver to miss the chicane. In the meantime Zane Maloney comes to the pit to switch his tyres, and he’s passed by Martí on the run up to Massanet, courtesy of his tyres being already on temperature.
Bearman is the next one to stop, coming back out in a nice gap between Ritomo Miyata and Martí. Bortoleto follows duly, while Verschoor complains about an issue, instantly losing most of his lead. The car somehow manages to get back alive, but the issues seem far from over.
Rafael Villagómez has hit the wall coming out of the Rascasse, prompting him to get a new front wing, and in the chaos Bearman has overtaken Bortoleto and is putting down the fastest lap in an attempt to get to the front.
Aron and Antonelli stop, and the Prema-driver gets back in front of his teammate Bearman. The Italian tries with all his might, but eventually Bearman switches back through the hairpin, passing his teammate.
Colapinto and Hadjar stop a lap later in an attempt to stay ahead of the people they were battling. Both succeed, but are under immense pressure of said opponents.
Race leader Verschoor stops in the next lap, and despite a slow stop he comes out ahead of Hadjar. However, because of the mechanical issues the Frenchman grabs the lead on start/finish.
Aron overtakes Verschoor the next time around, and Bearman tries to overtake later in Tabac, after Verschoor struggles through the chicane. The Prema-driver almost hits wall, but eventually finishes the move on start/finish. Colapinto passes Verschoor on Beau Rivage, while Antonelli and Bortoleto pass in tunnel, while the Dutchman also gets a penalty for cutting chicane and gaining advantage.
Miyata is first to pit of the drivers that are going long, while Verschoor stops a second time to serve his penalty, before retiring the car.
Antonelli once again is all over Colapinto, but without the advantage of better tyres there is little more he can do than piling on the pressure.
Juan-Manuel Correa and Taylor Barnard stop, dropping the American right in the middle of the Colapinto-Antonelli battle, but neither of them can profit of the tyre difference. Leader Dennis Hauger stops the next lap and falls back behind Correa, which again holds up the battle, and again neither can profit.
This means Zak O’Sullivan is now the leader, while Bearman skips the chicane under pressure from Correa, who clearly has the better tyres at the moment. Colapinto in the meantime has created a train of cars until 14th place. Barnard hits Maloney in the hairpin, while second place Hadjar brushes the wall on the inside of the second pool chicane.
Hauger deploys the Antonelli tactic by dropping back for the fastest lap. Then Colapinto outbrakes himself into Rascasse, giving Antonelli the opening he needs. He overtakes into Anthony Nogés, and Colapinto immediately loses more places Bortleto and Maloney. Barnard again tries to overtake in hairpin, but Colapinto refuses to yield.
Enzo Fittipaldi hits Barnard in Rascasse, but no harm is done. Martins and Joshua Dürksen are the next stop, and coming out back on track the Paraguayan steers straight into Maloney, almost flipping the Rodin-driver. The AIX-driver cannot continue, with prompts O’Sullivan to stop, which he does just before the virtual safety car is called. This gives him the lead, but on colder tyres.
The field goes green with one lap to go, but O’Sullivan gets his tyres in the operating window before Hadjar can launch a final attack, and the ART-driver secures the win! Hadjar becomes a disgruntled second place driver, for Paul Aron, who is the new leader in the championship. Bearman holds off Correa and Hauger for fourth. Antonelli comes home seventh, Bortoleto eighth, while Martins recovers from his poor start to ninth. Maloney rounds up the points scoring positions despite some airtime in the final stages.
