2010 Monaco GP2 round

   2010 Monaco GP2 round

Round details
Round 2 of 10 rounds in the 2010 GP2 Series
Circuit de Monaco
Location	Circuit de Monaco Monte Carlo, Monaco
Course	Street Course 3.34 km (2.08 mi)
GP2 Series
Feature race
Date	14 May 2010
Laps	42
Pole position
Driver	Dani Clos	Racing Engineering
Time	1:37.572
Podium
First	Sergio Pérez	Barwa Addax Team
Second	Pastor Maldonado	Rapax
Third	Dani Clos	Racing Engineering
Fastest lap
Driver	Sergio Pérez	Barwa Addax Team
Time	1:21.823 (on lap 25)
Sprint race
Date	15 May 2010
Laps	30
Podium
First	Jérôme d'Ambrosio	DAMS
Second	Giedo van der Garde	Barwa Addax Team
Third	Jules Bianchi	ART Grand Prix
Fastest lap
Driver	Sam Bird	ART Grand Prix
Time	1:22.052

The 2010 Monaco GP2 round was a GP2 Series motor race held on May 14 and May 15, 2010 at the Circuit de Monaco in Monte Carlo, Monaco. It was the second race of the 2010 GP2 Season. The race was used to support the 2010 Monaco Grand Prix. GP2's feeder formula GP3 does not appear at this event, with Formula Renault 3.5 Series replacing it on the support bill.

Pastor Maldonado was fastest in free practice. This circuit is favorite for the Venezuelan, he won here in 2006 Formula Renault 3.5 Series, 2007 and 2009 GP2 Series. Maldonado was ahead of Sergio Pérez and Christian Vietoris by 0.441 seconds. Vladimir Arabadzhiev missed his car in Saint Devote and crashed his left rear into the wall, later Max Chilton made same mistake at the same corner but he escaped on the track.

Dani Clos claimed the top spot in heavy rain conditions ahead of Sergio Pérez and practice’s fastest man Pastor Maldonado, who crashed into the wall four minutes before the end of the session. This pole was the first in Clos's GP2 career.Davide Valsecchi, who set seventh fastest time in qualifying got a five place grid penalty for his accident with Pastor Maldonado.

Sergio Pérez took his maiden GP2 race win in the feature race at Monaco. The Barwa Addax driver crossed the line 0.6s clear of Pastor Maldonado, although the margin did not reflect Pérez's dominance around the Monte Carlo streets. The Mexican had led by as much as 5.2s at some points of the race, although that was eroded by a safety car following a Ho-Pin Tung's heavy crash at the Swimming Pool on lap 16. Pérez stretched his lead back out to well over 2.0s after the restart, but while he backed off over the closing laps, he never allowed Maldonado to get close enough to attempt at a pass. The pair moved into the top two spots at the start after capitalising on a slow getaway by polesitter Dani Clos, although the Spaniard made up for it with a solid drive to third, giving him his third-straight point-scoring finish. ART's Jules Bianchi was fourth, the Frenchman making up a few spots with a well-timed pitstop, but he was forced to keep an eye on his mirrors due to some late-race pressure from Coloni's Alberto Valerio. It was a less fruitful morning for Bianchi's team-mate Sam Bird, who was on track for points until suffering a severe delay in the pits that dropped the Briton back in 15th. Giedo van der Garde was sixth after having early made one of the only passing moves of the race when he overtook DAMS' Jérôme d'Ambrosio, but the Belgian had the last laugh when he crossed the line in eighth behind Luiz Razia, giving himself pole for tomorrow's sprint race. In typical Monaco fashion there were a few drivers whose race ended at the first corner. Max Chilton removed himself from the race by sailing into the back of Davide Valsecchi, forcing Valsecchi into the pits for repairs to his rear wing, while Trident's Adrian Zaugg was also hit from behind and forced to retire. Valsecchi got back out, only to later tag the wall and bend his suspension, forcing him to park. Having already lost Chilton at the first corner, Ocean Racing had to wait just one more lap before it could begin packing up after Fabio Leimer crashed at Mirabeau, and Coloni's Vladimir Arabadzhiev was also forced to retire with accident damage after a brush with the tyres.