Round 12 Post-Feature Race Press Conference

FIA Formula 2: Hello from Baku and welcome to the press conference with the top three finishers in today’s FIA Formula 2 Feature Race. In third place we have Andrea Kimi Antonelli for PREMA, second is Victor Martins for ART Grand Prix and your race winner is Richard Verschoor for Trident. Richard, congratulations. Victory in Baku never seems to come easy, and I imagine it was a pretty emotional one for you today.
Richard Verschoor: Yeah, it was. First of all, super good race, but of course, emotional. I think it was in the news already that something happened with the family of the team owner and for the team it was very emotional. Yeah, especially for the Team Manager it was not very nice this morning, so I’m very happy to give them this win. I want to say my condolences to the Salvadori family.
FIA Formula 2: Well said and congratulations on the win to mark it today. I mean, Victor put pressure on you though. He looked very quick early on in that race and was then trying to close you down after the pit stop as well. Were you thankful for the Safety Car at the end or did you think you had the pace to fight him off?
Verschoor: Well, we were fighting all race, he was quicker on the Supersoft. He passed me and then I had a very good pit stop, so I was in front and then he was just catching from, I think three seconds back and at some point, and the gap went from 2.1 to 1.6 or something similar. I thought, ‘I’m not going to make this,’ then I did some qualifying laps, and the gap started to reduce slower and of course, the Safety Car in the end helped me, but I think it would have been tight. I’m not sure if I still would have lost it but it would have been tight.
FIA Formula 2: Well, congratulations on the win, but talk us through the Red Flag period we had early on. You started from pole and got about two corners in before it’s Red Flagged. How do you stay in the right mindset in such a delay?Verschoor: This one was quite long. It’s never nice, especially because I had a good start. I would have preferred to just keep going, but in the end it’s the same for everyone and it’s not always easy to stay in your rhythm. You did everything right at the beginning and then you go out, you have to go back again. The question was whether it was going to be a rolling or standing start. Of course, for me it was a bit beneficial to do a rolling start because less could go wrong and I had a very good restart as well. So, in the end, once the helmet goes on, you’re backing your focus.
FIA Formula 2: Well, you did a great job, well done today on the win. Victor, it was P2 for you. A very good first part of the race but did the pit stop cost you victory today, do you think?
Victor Martins: Yeah, 100% for sure. You know it’s like this, its life, you need to accept and move on. What I can reflect on are the pit stops we have been doing since the beginning of the year have always been one of the fastest, always. So, they have done a mega job since the beginning, and I cannot blame them today because they made a mistake. I still don’t know if I also did a mistake there, for them to take more time at the pit stop. So, I still need to see with them and just try to move on and not do it again. For sure the pace was mega today from Lap 1 to the end. On Supersoft and Soft, so for sure it’s a good for confidence boost for Qatar and now we just need to keep this positive mindset.
FIA Formula 2: Well, that pace was showing certainly at the start when you moved away through into the lead. Were you able to push flat out in that first stint knowing it was a shortened race or did you still have to do some management as well?
Martins: I think what I like is that I know how to push 100% without actually going over the limit with the tyres, so for sure I was saving but smartly. I was still able to be fast and overtake Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Richard and also pull away and after for sure the pit stop was the weakest part of the race and after that it thought, ‘I need to do it again’ and I was on it. Until the Safety car came out and with the race also shortened, it was not so easy to be able to have the time to do it.
FIA Formula 2: You made two of those positions after the pit stop, when Kimi and Zane Maloney came together, what did that look like from your perspective?
Martins: Just smoke, I couldn’t see anything. I just went out of the corner; I was like ‘Oh P2’. I don’t know what happened there for sure it was not ideal. You never want to see that, you always want to fight on the limit with the guys, with respect. But I don’t know what happened. I couldn’t actually see anything. So, after that I just focused ahead and I was like, ‘I’m going to catch Richard as soon as possible’.
FIA Formula 2: Well, thanks very much and well done today. Kimi, thanks for waiting, P3 for you today and the second place did seem to get away from you there in that instant with Zane. Just talk us through it from your perspective.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli: We had a good pit stop and a decent out lap and then Zane just came in front of me with cold tyres, so I knew I had to make the move. One of the best spots was T3 because usually it’s quite difficult braking there on cold tyres. He tried still to defend the position. In my opinion, he broke a bit too late and locked up. The car was on the limit as well in the braking and I was going into the escape road as well, so I had to turn at one point. I got squeezed into the wall and made contact and unfortunately, I lost the position as well. I am still happy to come away with P3 because it could have ended way worse.
FIA Formula 2: It certainly could have, but did you pick up any damage in that incident, or was the pace of the car about third place today?
Antonelli: I definitely got damage, the front suspension was bent and the car under braking was pulling on one side and then in the right-hand corners it was really under steering. So, it was a bit difficult to manage, but still happy to come away with the P3.
FIA Formula 2: It’s been a typically chaotic weekend here in Baku in the racing, but solid points for you across the two races, you’re just 22 points off third place in the Championship. Is that your target with two rounds to go?
Antonelli: Yeah, of course. I mean, we’ve been improving weekend by weekend, so definitely I didn’t expect to be so close to P3 in the Championship. So that is the goal to at least finish on the on the podium in the Championship. That would be really nice. So yeah, we’ll just keep working hard in order to achieve that.
FIA Formula 2: Thank you very much, well done today.