Junior Formula Series
Starting P7, it was always going to be a difficult race. We made the most out of it
Finally, 19-year-old Barbadian Zane Maloney was able to show his great talent with an excellent 2nd in Sunday's F2 Feature Race at Silverstone.
Fellow Red Bull Junior Ayumu Iwasa had great pace all the way through but the 21-year-old Japanese had a technical issue in the Sprint Race and no luck with the Safety Cars on Sunday.
Isack Hadjar took a good 5th in the F2 Sprint Race and should have had at least as good a result in the Feature but for a lengthy pit stop.
Hard work puts on the podium
“Of course, it is an amazing result to finish P2. I really had to work hard for it.”
“Starting P7, it was always going to be a difficult race. We made the most out of it.”
Of course I am a little bit annoyed with myself that I couldn't get the win, staying within 5 seconds of Victor.
Martins was given a 5-second penalty.
“I am very happy with the P2 and we are working very hard as a team so to see it paying off feels great. We know that the job has only now started and we need to keep pushing, to keep improving in the next races and to keep this momentum and the upward spiral.”
“There are still a lot of things to work on and I am not getting ahead of myself. We have to find out why the pace was not as good as Victor's in the last stint and work hard for Budapest in two weeks.”
Ayumu Iwasa with good pace, little luck and more work to do
“It was quite a difficult weekend but it started well with P1 in Free Practice.'
“We felt good potential right away so it was a positive start for the weekend.”
“But then I had a big frustration in Quali, we had the potential to take pole position but I made a big, big mistake and we missed the pole position. It was just my mistake, the car had potential, but I didn't show my potential on track. It was a really big frustration.”
“So, Race 1, that was another frustration. We had a technical issue in the car, a brake problem, I lost the brakes completely at the rollings start. Then at the end of the race, in the wet, I was able to do the fastest lap so I think we had quite a good car for the wet conditions so that is quite positive for the future.”
“The Feature race pace was not so good, we were struggling a lot. We are not clear at the moment why we were missing the pace. So we need to go deeper analysing the details to see how we can improve.”
So we need to work hard as a team and I will try and improve my performance for the next round.
Enzo Fittipaldi thwarted by the Safety Car
“So the Silverstone race weekend is over, we qualified 6th, it was extremely close, about a tenth off pole,” stated the 21-year-old Brazilian.
“In the Sprint Race, we ended up P4 in the rain. It was a solid result, good points.”
“The Feature Race, we started 6th, had a really good start, fighting for P3. We were able to stick to P4 in the first couple of laps. We boxed as soon as the pit window opened, it was a good pitstop.”
We came out and unfortunately just after we boxed the Safety Car came out which really cost us a good result.
“We fell back to about 15th. I was able to fight my way back up to P8. So We were still able to get some points but obviously not what we wanted and I don't think it was what we deserved. We had the pace to be up there, just unfortunate timing for the Safety Car.”
“Of course, we continue to work hard and look forward to the next weekend in Budapest.”
Isack Hadjar out of luck in the pits in the Feature
“I had a tricky FP session with a big moment at the start of one of my laps that I had to abort and an electronic issue so only 4 push laps instead of 6 planned,” explained the 18-year-old Frenchman.
“So with a low amount of running, the confidence in the high-speed sequence going into Qualifying was quite low.”
In Q, I had a tough first run, being 1 second off P1, and with a very disturbed session we couldn’t do all the push laps wanted. On the last run, I really managed to find something on the first run and was only 2 tenths off pole but 9th.”
“It felt like a good effort but then on the second push lap, I was driving way better and was on a great lap until the rear tyres just gave up… still managed to improve a bit but not enough for pole. Anyway, good step from FP to Q, so was happy about that.”
“Race 1 was a rolling start on a really wet track, I had a decent start to the race, sticking to the race leader, but there was quickly a SC. On the second restart, the track was drying already and it felt straight away that the pace was less strong than at the very start of the race, so the restart was okay but then the more it was drying the more we were lacking pace, and I was doing everything to cool the tyres.”
“I was most of the time defending against faster cars and managed to stick to the podium places for a while until Doohan and Fittipaldi that were 2-3 seconds a lap quicker than me, went through like I wasn’t even there… so a P5 finish was absolutely the best I could do.”
“The plan for Race 2 was to start on the Prime compound and to pit for the option. I was the first car in that strategy, starting 9th. I knew that the first few laps were going to be difficult as the option would have the edge, but I did well and managed to have a strong start to the race and kept my 9th place.
“I was just waiting for all the cars ahead to pit so that I could use my pace in free air, but just when they started struggling a lot, the SC was out, so I obviously stayed on track.”
“Then I had a good first restart, but only for a bit as another SC came on track. The second restart felt even better and the car was great, I could go really long on these tyres, but also was hoping for a late SC to pit for the Softs.”
“It happened but quite early, my SC window was opened so I pitted, but it went wrong and I was back to P16 when Leclerc who was behind me the whole race exited 4th…”
From there with just 8 laps to go there was nothing we could do, especially with the deg of the option compound… No points!
Dennis Hauger keeping his head through a tough weekend
“Quali wasn't ideal, had a good first set, running in the top 5," stated the
20-year-old Norwegian. "But again we just struggled on the second set to get more out of the tires compared to others.”
“Starting P19 in the Sprint Race due to a penalty in Quali made the race in the wet hard obviously. Drove up to P12 in the end which was good compared to others but starting off the back foot made it hard for points.”
“The race today was just overall one big mess for me. Got spun off in Lap 1 but then drove myself up a bit again. Then we got the front wing clipped due to a collision right in front of me so we had to box.”
“Came back out and then we tried to box for softs for the last SC but they couldn't last long enough for anyone so it wasn't the right call.”
Overall a hard weekend mentally.
“We have to focus on the simulator to make sure we make the step in Quali. So we will regroup and go for Budapest!”
Jak Crawford had the early pace
“It was a bit of a rough weekend for us,” admitted the 18-year-old American following his win at the Red Bull Ring. “It was a place that we thought would be very good for us. We were immediately quick in Free Practice, fastest in the 2nd Sector so everything was looking good for Quali.”
“In Quali, we just missed a bit of balance in myself, I made a mistake on my lap. It was so tight that it made a big difference and I was super unhappy with the Qualifying.”
“Going into the Sprint Race we had no idea what the weather was going to do. It rained quite a lot just before and we were prepared for a wet race, we had some brake temperature issues that meant we weren't able to make any progress. It's a shame because I think we should have been able to score some points.”
“For the Feature Race, we started P15, on the softest compound. I had a really good start but struggled for pace on the softest compound.”
After a Safety Car and pit stop it was a bit of a game of survival and being smart with the tyres as well, knowing when to push.
“We didn't have the best pace on the hard tyre either but we were still able to make up places and finish in the points after this rough weekend. I know it's only one point but I think we had a good recovery but certainly hoping for more next time.”
British Grand Prix F2 Silverstone
Next Round Budapest July 22/23
Formula 1 YouTube Channel - Replays
- F2 Sprint Race Highlights | 2023 British Grand Prix
- F2 Feature Race Highlights | 2023 British Grand Prix
