Monaco Grand Prix: Championship leader OUT of race amid red flag madness

Formula 2

Championship leader OUT of Monaco race amid red flag madness

It's been a weekend of incident

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Sunday 26 May 2024 14:12 Updated: 14:35

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A world championship leader has seen his hopes quashed at the Monaco Grand Prix after a huge incident which led to red flag conditions.

The historic Monaco track, known for its windy streets and close-up barriers, often provides incident-hit races with the chances of there being a safety car or a red flag relatively high for a track that has been in use since 1929 across multiple motorsport disciplines.

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The Formula 2 championship has been in town this weekend for round five in the championship, alongside Formula 1 sessions.

Qualifying for F2 saw some lightning quick reactions from Red Bull junior driver Isack Hadjar enable him to escape from what would have been a nasty collision in the tunnel section of the track with Ritomo Miyata.

Isack Hadjar narrowly avoided a big crash

Zane Maloney could not extend his championship lead

F2 red flag chaos in Monaco

In the sprint race, taking place just a few minutes before F1 qualifying got underway, another incident at the penultimate corner of the track, Rascasse, saw championship leader Zane Maloney out of the race.

Maloney was tagged from behind, spinning him around and leaving his Rodin Motorsport car deserted in the middle of the track, alongside Invicta Racing's Kush Maini.

With the pair clearly blocking the track, a red flag was waved, prompting a lengthy delay to the sprint race.

LAP 24 / 30

? RED FLAG

Maloney is tagged and spun at Rascasse with Kush Maini also caught up in the incident #F2 #MonacoGP pic.twitter.com/Qv5f5VBdxg
— Formula 2 (@Formula2) May 25, 2024

Eventually, the cars and debris were cleared, and the race got back underway, with Brit Taylor Barnard claiming his maiden victory in the series.

It was a huge blow to Maloney's championship chances, however, with some of his championship rivals managing to score points in the first race of the weekend. After claiming a podium in the feature race on Sunday, Paul Aron now leads the F2 championship.

Disaster for the championship leader!

He is OUT of the Monaco Sprint Race ?#F2 #MonacoGP pic.twitter.com/KGvel7GKS3
— Formula 2 (@Formula2) May 25, 2024