2014 Monaco GP2 Series round

Feature race

The first race began under sunny weather conditions with an air temperature of 18 °C (64 °F) and a track temperature of 23 °C (73 °F) at 11:15 Central European Summer Time (UTC+02:00) on 23 May.^[5][15] On the grid, Palmer made a slow getaway on his soft compound tyres and lost the lead to second-placed Evans who began on the super soft compound on the approach to Sainte Devote turn.^[16][17] This was in contrast from the year before when a traffic jam brought the race to a halt.^[18] Palmer was busy holding off an challenge from his teammate Richelmi and the duo were followed by Cecotto, Vandoorne and Coletti.^[19][20] Nasr made the best start in the field, moving from eighteenth to twelfth by the end of the first lap as Evans opened up a one-second advantage over Palmer over the same period. However, Evans was prevented from extending his lead further when the safety car was deployed at the beginning of lap two for Regalia who stopped on the inside line at the exit of the Tabac corner with a drive train failure that began at the Novelle chicane.^[15][17][20] Evans maintained his lead at the lap four restart and Palmer retained second as the top six drivers began pulling away from Haryanto in seventh.^[20]

Jolyon Palmer (pictured in 2012) won the feature race after retaking the lead on the eleventh lap by passing Mitch Evans.

Further down the order, Nasr Pic, Quaife-Hobbs, Canamasas and de Jong made their mandatory pit stops during laps seven and eight as they sought to move up the order through better strategy.^[20] By this point, Evans lost grip due to worn tyres, allowing Palmer to gradually lower his lead.^[18] Palmer took the lead from Evans by going to the inside of him entering Sainte Devote corner at the start of the 11th lap. Palmer opened up a two-second lead over Evans before the lap was over.^[17] Evans' slow speed enabled Richelmi to close up and a small train of cars formed behind them as Cecotto was on Richelmi's tail.^[19] Abt retired at the Loews hairpin after contact with Rossi on lap 11.^[20] On the next lap, a multi-car crash at the Loews hairpin caused the race to be red flagged to a halt.^[21] Binder tapped his teammate Negrão into a pirouette and blocked the entrance to the corner; he was stranded in the middle of the circuit and created a traffic jam.^[18][20] Markelov could not avoid Negrão and ran into his car.^[19] All cars returned to the grid and were permitted to change tyres. The order was also rearranged so that the race could resume.^[18][19] This was despite the engines in some cars such as Rossi's and Richelmi's starting to overheat on the downhill approach to Mirabeau corner while stationary in traffic; their on-board computers went into safe mode. Marshals were prompted to push start the affected cars down the tunnel and into the Novelle chicane.^[17][20][21]

The race started half an hour later behind the safety car and the race was run to time instead of laps.^[18][20] Palmer held the lead at the restart and set a series of fastest laps to open out a nine-second lead over Evans. Palmer's main concern, however, was Nasr who made his compulsory pit stop before the stoppage and he required a half a minute advantage over Nasr.^[17][19] The safety car was dispatched for the second time on lap 25 after Leal mistimed an overtake on Marciello and lost control of his car which veered him into the tyre barrier at the exit of the Novelle chicane.^[17][20][21] Palmer and Evans immediately responded by making their mandatory pit stops and emerged ahead of Nasr.^[20] Palmer avoided a penalty after clipping a tyre designated for his teammate Richelmi on the way out of the DAMS pit stall. The tyre rolled down the pit lane and narrowly missed Cecotto's car.^[17][21] Vandoorne chose not to make a pit stop and led at the lap-28 restart with Palmer in second.^[17][20] Coletti immediately pressured Canamasas and overtook him at La Racasse corner for sixth. On the next lap, he got past Nasr at the same turn.^[19] Coletti promptly overtook Evans and set himself after the yet-to-stop Trummer in third who was struggling on worn tyres.^[20]

Trummer defended hard from Coletti; as Coletti tried to overtake Trummer with an analogous move, the two made contact as Trummer turned in for Anthony Noghes turn. Both cars were sent straight into the outside barrier and retired on lap 32. On the lap, Izawa became the next retiree when he went into the wall at Mirbeau corner. In the meantime, Palmer regained the lead when Vandoorne made his mandatory pit stop on the lap and emerged outside of the top ten.^[20][21] Binder misjudged an overtake on Markelov that put Markelov out of the race at the entry to the Novelle Chiane on lap 36 and Binder then retired by going into the barrier at Tabac corner. Markelov's crash prompted course officials to wave yellow flags in and after the chicane.^[17][18][20] Palmer appeared he would win the race with a healthy lead but his soft compound tyres degraded in the closing laps.^[20] Evans subsequently drew nearer to Palmer but did not risk anything for the win as Nasr was close by and put him under pressure. The first three crossed the start/finish line after 40 laps covered by six-tenths of a second with Palmer winning the race, Evans second and Nasr third.^[17] Cecotto was a further second adrift in fourth, having held off Canamasas in fifth.^[20] Pic and Haryanto were sixth and seventh. Richelmi took eighth and the sprint race pole position. Quaife-Hobbs and Ellinas completed the top ten. The final classified finishers were de Jong, Marciello, Daly, Vandoorne, Sato, Rossi and Berthon.^[19]

Sprint race

After reviewing footage at the conclusion of the feature event, the stewards imposed a five-place grid penalty on Trummer as he was deemed to have caused the collision with Coletti and Binder was handed the same infraction for his clash with Markelov.^[22] The second race commenced in sunny weather conditions with a respective air and track temperatures of 17 °C (63 °F) and 34 °C (93 °F) at 16:10 local time on 24 May.^[5][23] Richelmi and Haryanto got good starts off the line with the pair alongside each other on the run to Sainte Devote corner.^[24] Haryanto was forced wide by Richelmi and lost momentum, allowing the fast-starting Canamasas to get past him at the exit of Sainte Devote corner.^[24][25] Canamasas focused on Richelmi as Haryanto began challenging him.^[26] On the opening lap, Markelov braked abruptly on the run to Massenet corner and Ellinas could not avoid running into the rear of his car.^[27] Markelov was issued a drive-through penalty for causing the incident,^[28] and Ellinas broke his front wing, necessitating multiple visits to the pit lane, putting him a lap behind Richelmi.^[24] Nasr then sustained a right-rear punctured tyre at Casino Square turn. He locked his brakes and went straight into the run-off area at Mirabeau corner to retire.^[24][25][28]

Stéphane Richelmi (pictured in 2018) led every lap of the sprint race to repeat Stefano Coletti's success in the same event from the 2013 round.

Coletti made the best getaway in the field as he went from nineteenth to thirteenth by the end of the first lap.^[27] On lap three, Marciello earned a drive-through penalty after a driving error while trying to overtake de Jong pushed the latter into the barrier at the Loews hairpin.^[23][24] Upfront, Richelmi was not able to pull away from Canamasas who was close by and put him under pressure; the two however pulled clear from the quartet of cars comprising Haryanto, Cecotto, Pic and Evans. Palmer was stuck in seventh and was ahead of fellow British driver Quaife-Hobbs.^[24] Left-front braking problems on Izawa's car meant he joined the list of retirees on lap 13.^[20] The following lap, Markelov drove too fast into Sainte Devote corner and dislodged the TecPro barrier at the exit of the turn. He littered debris on the track and stopped on the outside line going into Beau Rivage turn. The safety car was deployed as a result and Richelmi and Canamasas' advantage at the front of the field was reduced to nothing.^[24][28] The race restarted on lap 17 with Richelmi holding off Canamasas and Haryanto repelling an attack by Cecotto for third. Richelmi and Canamasas distanced Haryanto soon after but the latter had a safe advantage over Cecotto.^[24]

Since pit stops were not required, and weather conditions were dry, it was now a question of who could preserve their tyres the best and whether anybody could overtake those whose tyres had degraded in the race's latter stages.^[24] Canamasas out-braked himself for the entry to the Novelle chicane and ran straight across the corner. Canamasas stopped his car to prevent himself from gaining an unfair advantage and gave Richelmi back the lead.^[24][25] Richelmi's advantage over Canamasas increased to one second for the first time all race. Although the deficit was soon reduced, Richelmi appeared that he would remain unchallenged. Further back, Daly lost ninth to Coletti.^[24] On his 54th attempt,^[27] it was Richelmi's maiden GP2 Series victory and DAMS' second consecutive win,^[29] repeating the success that Coletti attained in the 2013 Monaco sprint race.^[30] Second-placed Canamasas was distanced by Richelmi more than two seconds in the final few laps and Haryanto was a further four seconds in arrears in third. Off the podium, Cecotto was two seconds off the pace and led a large close pack of cars in fourth.^[24] Pic, Evans, Palmer and Quaife-Hobbs rounded out the top eight. Coletti, Daly, Rossi, Berthon, Vandoorne, Sato, Negrão, Leal, Abt, Trummer, Marciello, Binder, Regalia and Ellinas were the last of the classified finishers.^[30]