Bird Beats Bianchi In Monaco To Fly Into FR3.5 Points Lead

Sam Bird kept Jules Bianchi at bay to win on the morning of the Monaco Grand Prix and move into the Formula Renault 3.5 Series points lead after a sublime weekend.

After heading practice on Thursday, Bird was again the man to beat in qualifying on Saturday. The field was split into two groups, with ISR driver Bird running in the first. He finished up exactly a second quicker than fellow GP2 convert Bianchi in that first group, but hit the barriers at Ste Devote just moments after setting that blistering lap time.

Alexander Rossi (Arden Caterham) was fastest in the second group, but was seven tenths slower than Bird, despite the track conditions having been expected to have improved.

Bird made a good start to the race to retain the lead ahead of Bianchi, who had got the jump on Rossi. Fourth-place starter Kevin Magnussen (Carlin) was forced wide by Aragon winner Robin Frijns (Fortec), and the Dane ended up in the tyre barrier.

Bird and Bianchi set a rapid pace to streak away up front, with the gaps between them fluctuating throughout the race. The pair were still trading fastest laps in the closing stages as Bianchi applied some intense pressure.

On the final lap, recognising the chicane offered his final chance of getting by, Tech 1 driver Bianchi made an attempt to dive down the inside of Bird but outbraked himself and was lucky not to collide with his rival. Bird was released to claim a fine victory, banishing the memories of 12 months ago when he stalled on pole in GP2.

Rossi was a quiet third during the first half of the race, but once Frijns retired out of fourth place on lap nine with a mechanical issue, Kevin Korjus was released to charge Rossi down. The American successfully held onto his podium ahead of the Estonian, but they were more than 30 seconds down the road from the dominant leading pair.

Nico Muller kick-started his season after a double non-finish in Aragon by finishing fifth for Draco, ahead of Lotus’ Marco Sorensen. Season-opener victor Nick Yelloly came home seventh for Comtec Racing with Team RFR’s Mikhail Aleshin in eighth. Walter Grubmuller (P1) and Carlos Huertas (Fortec) completed the top ten.

Richie Stanaway had been running tenth until a heavy impact with the barriers at the exit of the swimming pool section after his throttle became stuck. Other drivers to find the barriers included Anton Nebylitskiy and Yann Cunha.

Bird now leads the points on 45, five ahead of Frijns with Yelloly next up on 31. Round three takes place at another legendary venue; Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium on 2-3 June.


Pete Allen