Round 2 Post Sprint Race Press Conference

FIA Formula 2: Hello and welcome to the press conference of the Top 3 finishes here in Jeddah for Round 2 of the FIA Formula 2 Championship. In third place we have Paul Aron from Hitech Pulse-Eight, in second we have Dennis Hauger from MP Motorsport, and our race winner today is Richard Verschoor from Trident. Richard congratulations, it looked like a great battle out there for the lead and ultimately the win. Talk me through the race from your perspective.

Richard Verschoor: Thank you, to be fair I am really happy. First of all, we got a good start because I wasn’t too confident with it at first. From the first lap I had very good pace, I felt strong at the beginning of the race but also after all the restarts we did. To be fair I really have to give credit to the team for giving me a good car today. I am sure there is some things we can improve for tomorrow even though it will be different conditions. But overall super happy to take 10 points.

FIA Formula 2: The perfect way to kick start your season after Bahrain, first podium of the season and it’s a win.

Verschoor: Yeah, we had good races in Bahrain but the performance in qualifying was very bad. Especially because of that, I am proud of the team that they were able to give me such a good car in qualifying. So, I am really looking forward to tomorrow.

FIA Formula 2: Dennis coming over to you, a great late move from you for P2. How do you feel about your race?

Dennis Hauger: Overall I think it was a good race. It took a bit of time to get past Hadjar, I didn’t seem to quite have the pace. But after that, to be honest within the Top 3 it was quite close in terms of lap times and the pace was good for all of us compared to the others behind. Overall, I had a good one, a clean one after Lap 1 at least. Happy with the P2 and my first podium of the season. Hopefully we can carry that forward to tomorrow.

FIA Formula 2: You just mentioned it, the first podium of the season for you. What has clicked this weekend around this very high speed Jeddah street circuit?

Hauger: All weekend we had really good pace, we have made some steps in the right direction. Especially for qualifying we really had good pace. Unfortunately, I managed to clip the wall in qualifying which broke my wishbone, so I was basically driving with an incorrect steering wheel. So, it wasn’t showing our true pace on the last run. I think we have had that pace and we showed it today and hopefully we can make another step for tomorrow.

FIA Formula 2: Thank you, Dennis. Paul coming to you, you started this race at the front, you ended up P3. How do you reflect on that one?

Paul Aron: Obviously it is never good to start on pole and then finish third but it’s still our second podium of the year which we can be very happy with. Coming from Bahrain I think it was very important for us to be quick here also. It is a completely different circuit, so it shows that Bahrain isn’t just an outlier, and we are completely in the game, both me and Hitech. I am still happy to come away with the podium. From what I understand I also have the fastest lap. It’s still seven points which is very good for the Championship. We have some work to do for tomorrow, but I also think that the race didn’t quite play out for us. I think the Safety Car restarts didn’t really suit the car we had; we had a car for a longer race. I am still looking forward to tomorrow. It was not easy out there compared to Bahrain, but it will be interesting and let’s see how it goes.

FIA Formula 2: You mentioned keeping that momentum going, how important is that over the course of a long season?

Aron: It’s my rookie season in Formula 2 but I think you if you really want to make an impression you have to do well in your rookie season and that is what I am trying to do. I think today we didn’t have the outright pace to win but we were still in the game. I really didn’t try to risk a lot out there, I think it is all about building confidence, especially at this stage at the beginning of the year when I am still getting comfortable with the car. It’s important to just bring points and take the maximum out of every day. I think yesterday in qualifying we had very good pace, on set one we were battling for pole and on set two on the first push we were up there as well, I just did not put it together. It shows that we have the potential and it’s just about putting it together.

FIA Formula 2: And to all three of you, some big news today with Oliver Bearman’s call up to Ferrari. Can I get all of your thoughts on that move, and do you have a message to him for the rest of his weekend here in Saudi Arabia?

Verschoor: I think it’s very nice for him and he can be very proud of himself. This opportunity didn’t come out of nowhere, he did a very good job. He is very young, so he is a talent for sure and I wish him the best of luck.

Hauger: There’s no better place for him to do his debut, he is quick around here. I am looking forward to seeing how it goes in Qualifying. I hope for the best for him for the weekend.

Aron: I think the others said it, for me it’s one place up tomorrow so thanks for that Ollie. I think he likes this circuit; he is quick around here so a good place for him to make a debut. It’s always nice to see a driver from Formula 2 get a chance to step up.

FIA Formula 2: Thank you all.