Stoffel Vandoorne’s sensational start to the 2015 GP2 Series season continued in Monaco on Friday as he edged out American driver Alexander Rossi to claim his third feature race win in a row and extend his lead at the top of the drivers’ championship.
Starting from fourth place, Vandoorne managed to jump Rossi during the round of mandatory pit stops before eking out a lead and winning the race by 6.2 seconds.
“Things are feeling quite special at the moment,” Vandoorne said after the race. “I mean, winning in Monaco is probably one of the nicest races that you can win.
“To have achieved that is just great. It wasn’t easy. I had to fight for it so it makes it even better.”
Despite extending his lead at the top of the drivers’ championship to 43 points, Vandoorne is refusing to rest on his laurels heading into the rest of the season.
“I need to keep going until the end,” the Belgian said. “For sure, we have scored a lot of points so far, but I really want to continue like this until the end.”
After starting from pole position, Rossi admitted that he was disappointed not to have won the race, but was pleased to continue his run of podium finishes at the start of the 2015 season.
“When you start from pole especially around Monaco, you think that you’re in a really good position to win,” the Californian said. “Unfortunately, we lost a lot in the pitlane because the team that was before us was also preparing for a pitstop so it was a very tight angle and I couldn’t get in.
“Because Stoffel’s spot was before us, he could get a quicker pitstop and he got me at the end. And then, the race was about pushing and seeing if we could overtake, but to be honest I did not have high hopes considering who was in front of me.
“Obviously, it’s great to be on the podium, but it hurts a little bit to lose a win in Monaco from pole.”
The podium was completed by Sergio Canamasas, who moved up to third by virtue of Julian Leal’s penalty. Ferrari junior driver Raffaele Marciello dropped from second on the grid to finish eighth at the flag, but will start tomorrow’s sprint race from pole position thanks to the reverse grid.
To view the complete results from Monaco, click here.
