Piastri beats Zhou to Formula 2 feature race victory at Monza

Starting from pole position, Piastri maintained the lead into Turn 1 ahead of main title rival Guanyu Zhou.

The race was immediately halted with a Virtual Safety Car, soon to be converted to a full Safety Car, due to Guilherme Samaia spinning at Lesmo 2. 

Once the race got back underway after the Safety Car, Piastri maintained the lead, while Zhou lost out to Lawson around the outside of Turn 4 with a spectacular move.

Fortune favoured the soft tyre starters as a second Safety Car caused by Juri Vips’ stricken car allowed them to switch to mediums and complete their mandatory pit stop. 

Dan Ticktum took the lead of the race having started on the mediums, with Piastri, Zhou, Daruvala, Lawson and others stopping for fresh rubber.

The race turned on its head again as the Safety Car was deployed for a third time, allowing Ticktum to switch to softs, dropping to only 11th. 

As Piastri resisted Zhou on the restart, Ticktum started to cut his way through the field. 

On Lap 29, Ticktum moved up to third having overtaken Theo Pourchaire until Turn 1.

With the win in his sights, another Safety Car was deployed after David Beckmann and Bent Viscaal collided at Turn 1.

With the race neutralised, it ensured Piastri took the victory ahead of Zhou.

Ticktum finished a superb third, although he’s currently under investigation by the stewards for failing to follow the FIA’s guidelines when leaving the track at Turns 4 and 5.

The Carlin driver was hit into Turn 4, forcing him to cut the corner. 

Behind Ticktum was Pourchaire in fourth, ahead of Jehan Daruvala. 

Robert Shwartzman recovered to finish sixth after starting down in 12th, while Richard Verschoor and Lirim Zendeli enjoyed a strong end to the race to finish inside the top eight.

Roy Nissany and Marcus Armstrong rounded out the top 10.

Click here for the full FIA Formula 2 feature race results from Monza