The eleventh round of the FIA Formula 2 championship gets underway at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza with the weekend’s first and only practice session. With only four rounds left in the 2024 season, the championship fight is well underway, with almost all remaining drivers still mathematically in contention for the victory. This weekend will also see two drivers make their F2 debuts, with Niels Koolen (KOO) replacing Taylor Barnard at AIX Racing following the latter’s promotion to the McLaren Formula E Team and Oliver Goethe (GOE) replacing Franco Colapinto at MP Motorsport following Colapinto’s promotion to the Williams Racing F1 team.
Unlike the poor weather conditions experienced during the last Formula 2 outing in Belgium, conditions at the Monza Circuit are good, with a track temperature of 37.8 degrees Celsius and an air temperature of 29.5 degrees Celsius. The track is expected to continue heating up as the session progresses.
The session gets underway under a virtual safety car. This, however, lasts for less than five minutes, leaving the drivers free to attempt their first flying laps around the Monza Circuit. Joshua AIX Racing’s Dürksen (DUR) is the first to put himself on the timesheet, setting a benchmark team of 1:52.248. He drops to second as Rodin Motorsport’s Zane Maloney (MAL) goes fastest with 1:49.232. Debutant Goethe goes third with a time of 1:52.723 but quickly drops to fourth as PREMA Racing’s Andrea Kimi Antonelli (ANT) finishes his first lap time.
Unlike the earlier FIA Formula 3 practice session which saw the majority of drivers remaining in the pits for the first third of the session, the Formula 2 drivers are almost all out on track, aiming to maximise their practice times in the hopes of finding the best set-up and strategy for qualifying and the sprint and feature races.
With the first ten minutes now complete, ART Grand Prix’s Zak O’Sullivan (OSU) goes just over 0.1 seconds faster than PREMA Racing’s Oliver Bearman (BEA) to go to the top of the timesheet with a time of 1:34.577. Only Campos Racing’s Isack Hadjar (HAD) and Trident’s Roman Stanek (STA) have yet to set a time, with both still in the pits. Maloney goes top with a time of 1:34.060, but quickly drops to second as Trident’s Richard Verschoor (VER) goes fastest with a time of 1:34.012. As the drivers continue to rise and fall in the standings, Bearman rounds out the top three with a time of 1:34.269, just about 0.2 seconds behind Verschoor. Hadjar and Stanek are now out of the pits, completing their outlaps around the circuit.
With the first fifteen minutes of the session now complete, the standing are VER, MAL, BEA, FIT, OSU, VMA, ACO, DUR, BOR, CRA, JCO, GOE, JMA, ARO, MIY, VIL, KOO, ANT, HAU, MAI, HAD and STA.
Antonelli gets a lap time deleted for track limit violations, as Maloney goes top with a time of 1:33.664. The Barbadian soon falls to second as O’Sullivan goes 0.022 seconds faster, setting a new top-time of 1:33.464. Only Stanek has yet to set a time, though there appear to be some issues with his car. Maloney goes top with a time of 1:33.381, but soon falls to second as MP Motorsport’s Dennis Hauger goes top with a time of 1:33.209. Only about five seconds separate Hauger’s top time from that of Koolen.
With more than half of the session now complete, Stanek is back out of the pits on another outlap. His first lap time of the session is recorded as 1:47.952, putting him more than 14.7 seconds off Hauger’s top time. The activity on track seems to have somewhat settled, with the majority of drivers having returned to the pitlane. Current championship leader Hadjar is one of the few drivers still out on track. He runs wide at Parabolica, compromising his lap time and ending up ninth. Antonelli, who is scheduled to run his first Formula One practice session today, is nineteenth, ahead of newcomers Goethe and Koolen, and the struggling Stanek.
The drivers have been struggling with the track limits, with several having had their times deleted for violations. However, many, including Paul Aron, have had their times reinstated. This may pose an issue in qualifying later today.
With only one-third of the session remaining, the standings are HAU, MAL, OSY, VER, BOR, ARO, FIT, BEA, HAD, MIY, VMA, ACO, CRA, MAI, JCO, DUR, VIL, JMA, ANT, GOE, KOO and STA. These are expected to change as the session progresses, however, with the drivers keen to improve their times.
Hadjar has been noted for driving unnecessarily slow on the racing line. Meanwhile, Dürksen goes to the top of the timesheet with a time of 1:32.953, 0.2 seconds faster than Verschoor who settles in second place with a time of 1:33.175. At the other end of the timesheet, it appears that Goethe’s and Antonelli’s sessions may be under threat, with both drivers being pushed back to the pits after having stopped ahead of the pitlane exit.
With just over ten minutes left in the session, Rodin Motorsport’s Ritomo Miyata (MIY) goes top, improving on Dürksen’s time by 0.007 seconds. The time to beat is now 1:32.946. The issues with Goethe’s and Antonelli’s cars appear to have been resolved, with both drivers now able to leave the pits to get an outlap underway. Stanek, however, does not appear to be sharing their luck with the driver once again stuck in the pits, having stalled.
As the drivers get into the final seven minutes of the session, Maloney goes fastest with a time of 1:32.532, just 0.015 seconds ahead of Invicta Racing’s Gabriel Bortoleto (BOR). Bearman rounds out the top three with a time of 1:32.857, just about 0.1 seconds faster than Miyata.
With five minutes left in the session, Maloney sets the fastest first sector one time, eventually improving his time to 1:32.385 to hold on to his position at the top of the timesheet. O’Sullivan goes second with a time of 1:32.534. With just about three minutes remaining in the session, Bortoleto goes up to second, improving his time to 1:32.530.
A yellow flag is brought out in Sector 2 as Stanek pulls off the track on the run to Ascari. The yellow flag is upgraded to a red, and with less than two minutes remaining in the session, it is unlikely that the drivers will be able to return to the track. This is confirmed by race control as the final seconds of the session tick down.
The final standings are MAL, BOR, OSU, MIY, BEA, VMA, DUR, HAU, HAD, ARO, VER, JMA, CRA, FIT, VIL, ACO, GOE, ANT, JCO, MAI, KOO and STA.
