Russian Time’s Luca Ghiotto snatched victory during a bonkers FIA Formula 2 race in wet conditions and fading light in the Feature Race at Monza.
Ghiotto started from 11th on the grid but worked his way forwards, following DAMS driver Oliver Rowland, who had carved through rivals from 13th spot.
Ghiotto held fourth position, which became third once Rowland exited when his left-rear wheel detached in the wake of his pit stop.
Nyck de Vries and Charles Leclerc had escaped into the distance at the start, moving ahead of their opponents, but their buffer was extinguished due Rowland’s issue, with the Safety Car deployed.
The restart was signalled with just two laps remaining and Leclerc challenged de Vries, only to run wide through the Rettifilo chicane.
Leclerc had to give the position back, but in the meantime de Vries had been overhauled by Ghiotto, meaning the title leader had to give up two places, dropping to third.
De Vries, though, was not done, and challenged for the lead once more against Ghiotto, the pair running side-by-side along the pit straight at the start of the last lap.
Ghiotto ran deep, taking to the run-off, while Leclerc attempted to pass a compromised de Vries as the pair exited the chicane, only to be edged onto the grass and into the wall by his rival.
Leclerc labelled de Vries’ actions as “stupid,” while Ghiotto moved into the lead once more, despite cutting the chicane after his battle with the Racing Engineering driver moments beforehand.
Ghiotto went on to triumph, while Antonio Fuoco picked his way through the chaos to take second, in front of pole sitter Nobuharu Matsushita, as de Vries tumbled down the order with damage.
Nicholas Latifi took fourth, ahead of Alexander Albon, who recovered from a first-lap spin, and Sean Gelael, the Arden driver making his pit stop just as the Safety Car was deployed.
Sérgio Sette Câmara, Louis Delétraz, Gustav Malja and Artem Markelov rounded out the top 10, the Russian Time driver having dropped back after a failed attempt at taking the lead at the start.
UPDATE: Ghiotto was later handed a five-second penalty, dropping him from first to fourth, whilst the stewards also stripped him of the fastest lap after he cut the first chicane on the final lap of the race.
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