Wehrlein wins rain-soaked race two at Monza

Photo: FIA F3 Europe

F3 Euro Series vice-champion Pascal Wehrlein took his first win of the season in race two of European F3 at Monza, beating Raffaele Marciello in a closely contested race that was cut short due to rain and a plethora of accidents.

The race started under safety car, but that didn’t stop the treacherous weather conditions from affecting the drivers, with Lucas Auer, who started it in third, spinning out on lap four and hitting the wall.

The actual competitive racing began on lap five, with Wehrlein almost immediately running way wide and letting Marciello into the lead. They would remain like that for the majority of the race, until Wehrlein passed Marciello back with a bold overtaking move.

“Conditions were anything but easy and for me, it was even the first time driving at Monza in the rain,” said Wehrlein. “On the first free lap, I made a mistake because I was pushing too much. But I was able to close up to Raffaele again and overtake him later on. Victory in my final weekend of Formula 3 racing is what I had hoped for.”

Marciello added: “Second place is a good result, I am happy with it as it gives many valuable points. When Pascal attacked me just before the end, I didn?t do much to defend my position. Pascal is only racing Formula 3 this weekend and will then graduate into the DTM, so he isn?t a rival in the battle for the title.”

The race was cut short almost immediately after that as Mans Grenhagen crashed into the back of Jordan King and tagged Will Buller out as he was leaving the track airborne. All the drivers escaped unharmed but were out of the race, bringing out a safety car which ran the race to the flag.

Red Bull junior Tom Blomqvist rounded out the podium ahead of Felix Rosenqvist and Harry Tincknell. Prema’s Alex Lynn took sixth ahead of Felix Serralles and Josh Hill, while Pipo Derani and Sven Muller completed the top ten.

Marciello will start the third race of the weekend from pole, ahead of Wehrlein.

Race results