DAMS driver Oliver Rowland took his maiden Formula 2 victory in the Monaco feature race, with championship leader Charles Leclerc retiring.
Prema racer Leclerc led away from pole position at the start, ahead of ART Grand Prix’s Alexander Albon, and quickly built a solid lead to those behind.
On lap seven, Rowland’s team-mate Nicholas Latifi stopped on the entrance to the tunnel with a mechanical issue and the safety car was deployed.
Albon was one of several drivers to pit immediately to change tyres, with Rowland and Nobuharu Matsushita moving up to second and third.
Leclerc opened up a comfortable advantage once again before Louis Deletraz and Robert Visoiu – racing for Campos – collided, bringing out another safety car just past the mid-way point.
The race leader pitted just prior to the safety car being deployed, with Rowland and Matsushita, along with several others, then stopping to change tyres.
It proved costly for Leclerc, as he dropped to fourth, with Rowland taking over the lead ahead of Artem Markelov.
The race went from bad to worse for Leclerc when his car soon picked up a left-front tyre problem, suffering vibrations. He pitted twice for it to be checked but eventually retired.
Rowland was left at the front of the field to take a clear first victory in F2, with Markelov eight tenths further back after closing in the final laps.
Matsushita completed the podium, ahead of Albon, Luca Ghiotto – who also pitted under the first safety car – and Gustav Malja.
Nyck de Vries, Johnny Cecotto Jr, Jordan King and Sergio Canamasas rounded out the top 10.
