Less than half a second. That’s how much separated the Pole from happiness in Monaco

Kacper Sztuka was very close to winning his second points this season. He drove quite conservatively on the streets of Monaco, but benefited from the mistakes and accidents of his rivals in front. The calm driving did not give Kubica’s successor any points, although he was very close to them. However, we are glad that this time he reached the finish line and did not lose the pace compared to the rest of the group, which happened in recent races.

The events of Saturday’s sprint had to be erased from memory. Kacper Sztuka did not finish Saturday’s ride after an accident with Sophia Floersch. The German was punished with five places at the start and two penalty points on her license. Piotr Wiśnicki was the last classified driver after receiving a 20-second penalty. Sunday’s main race, held in the morning, was supposed to be different, better.

Another quick departure of the safety car

There was a lot going on at the start, we had a lot of wheel-to-wheel fights throughout the entire field. At the Portier corner, a slow right, before the tunnel, Charlie Wurz spun after contact with Piotr Wiśnicki. The Austrian was unable to return to racing and had to deploy the safety car. It happened again on the first lap, but this time not after a crash. The Pole received a ten-second penalty for causing the accident.

Sztuka maintained 15th position after the start, bravely defending himself against Nikita Bedrin and Tommy Smith. Gabriele Mini was driving ahead of Christian Mansell and Luke Browning.

On the fourth lap, Sztuka was very lucky in the famous Grand Hotel hairpin. He left a lot of space for Bedrin to attack, but he overcorrected and hit the car of Nikita Colov, who was just in front of the Pole. The driver with an Italian license pitted with a damaged tire and a front wing that needed to be replaced.

In the following laps, the Polish driver did not lose the distance to the drivers in front, he did not lag behind him, which can be considered an improvement compared to yesterday’s sprint or last weekend at Imola. The field from 6th to 17th place was quite tight. This group was long led by Joseph Loake. On lap 15, Mari Boya escaped. Sztuka maintained 15th place.

Lap 20 brought us another safety car. All because of Colov’s accident with Noel Leon. The Bulgarian made an overly optimistic maneuver in the Mirabeau corner (slow right, before the turn) and hit the Mexican. Surprised by the event, Sami Meguetounif missed the braking. Although he avoided a collision with Colov’s car, he hit a barrier and had to withdraw from the race. Interestingly, Colov and Leon were able to continue driving. Due to this incident, Sztuka gained three positions and was already 12th. The points were within reach.

The drivers did not last one lap after the restart, and the safety car was again necessary. This time Laurens van Hoepen had an accident, the Dutchman was fighting for position with Joseph Loak, but he took the wrong turn into Tabac (left fast, before the swimming pool section) and ended up in a bunch.

The competitors returned to racing on the last lap, they had a moment to fight on the legendary track, but nothing changed. Mini was the first to cross the finish line, leading from start to finish and thus becoming the new leader of the general classification. He was followed by Mansell and Browning. Art finished the race in 11th place. Less than half a second was needed to win one point. The Pole was behind Oliver Goethe at the finish line. Wiśnicki arrived in 14th place, but after the penalty he dropped to a distant 25th place.

Formula 3 will return to racing in four weeks. Then the drivers will fight on the track in Barcelona (June 22-23).

Will Kacper Sztuka have a double-digit number of points at the end of the season?