Trident leaves Monza without scoring points

The Feature Race, which concluded the eleventh round of the FIA Formula 2 Championship, held in Monza, saw the Trident Motorsport drivers finish outside the points. On a circuit like the Temple of Speed, where overtaking is difficult and must be carefully considered, including by playing with slipstreams, the qualifying result inevitably affects the final outcome of the race.

Sami Meguetounif, starting from twelfth on the grid, immediately attempted to make his way forward. The 20-year-old from Marseille then decided to make an early pit stop at the end of lap eight to switch from Option to Prime tires. However, the deployment of the safety car, due to contact on the track on the following lap, worked against him.

Trident Motorsport's strategy then backfired on the Frenchman, who slipped to nineteenth. Taking advantage of a second neutralization, Meguetounif managed to move up a few positions. But on the third restart, the Trident Motorsport driver was forced to dodge the group ahead of him, spinning at the first chicane and then retiring.

In a race where the rhythm was disrupted by three safety cars, Max Esterson was unable to immediately find his pace. Forced to start from the back row, the 22-year-old American struggled significantly in the early stages of the Feature Race. But, as the race became more linear, the other Trident Racing driver showed good pace, climbing to fifteenth place overall.

The FIA Formula 2 Championship now takes a week off before returning to the Azerbaijani street circuit of Baku in the second half of September.

Giacomo Ricci, Team Manager: "Today's race was marred by numerous incidents and was unsatisfactory. Sami Meguetounif was forced to retire after spinning to avoid the pack under braking after a restart. We were unable to maintain a competitive race pace on Max Esterson's car throughout the weekend. This prevented our drivers from scoring points."