Frederik Vesti won a shortened Formula 2 Feature race in Monaco after Jack Doohan’s car burst into flames.
Vesti headed Theo Pourchaire at the chequered flag, with Zane Maloney third after 39 laps of racing.
Doohan was one of five retirements, the Australian reaching Lap 22 before striking trouble that would lead to a 20-minute red flag period.
The Virtuosi driver had started fourth on the grid, improving beyond Pourchaire in the opening exchanged before dropped back a spot soon after.
Amaury Cordeel was an early retirement as Vesti headed Victor Martins in the opening laps.
The pit stop cycle began on Lap 7 when Ralph Boschung and Clement Novalak took to the lane.
A brake failure for Arthur Leclerc saw the Monegasque become the race’s second retirement, followed 10 laps later by Enzo Fittipaldi on Lap 17.
The Brazilian’s car trailed smoke as he exited the tunnel, stopping at the Nouvelle Chicane to draw the Virtual Safety Car.
Five laps later, Doohan crashed out at Mirabeau.
Earlier in the race, the F2 race winner had picked up damage to his front wing after tagging the barrier at Swimming Pool.
The full extent of the damage became evident half a lap later when he spun at the op of the hill, his car bursting into flames as it did so.
That prompted Maloney, who’d been in pursuit of Doohan to take avoiding action.
The red flag was quickly called for as the stricken Dallara was retrieved, lining up behind Vesti, Martins, Pourchaire, and Maloney.
At the restart, Vesti remained in control while Martins was slapped with a drive-through for ignoring double yellow flags.
He fell to eighth as a result, promoting Pourchaire to second, Maloney to third, and Richard Verschoor to fourth.
Vesti, a Mercedes junior, now leads the championship by five points over Pourchaire, with Ayumu Iwasa third on 69 points – 20 adrift of the title leader.
Doohan meanwhile sits 13th in the standings with 28 points to his name from the opening five events (10 races).
Formula 2 follows F1 to Spain this weekend, where it will be in action in Barcelona, practice for which begins on Friday.
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