Thoughts from Doohan, Iwasa and Fittipaldi

FIA Formula 2: Many congratulations to the top three finishers of the FIA Formula 2 Sprint Race here at Silverstone. In third place, Enzo Fittipaldi for Charouz Racing System, in second place, Ayumu Iwasa for DAMS, and winning his first race in FIA Formula 2, our winner Jack Doohan for Virtuosi Racing. Jack, you've been knocking on the door of a win all year, and now you've done it. Describe what this moment means to you?

Jack Doohan: It's an amazing feeling, to say the least, and really nice to finally get that first win after having pace for so long and always being really quick over one lap. In the last two rounds, we haven't found the sweet spot, like we had been in the early parts of the year, but it ended up paying off today. I'm just really happy with the Virtuosi boys giving me an amazing car. We've kept the spirits up all year, despite a bit of bad luck, some of my mistakes, you know the highs and lows. We've really had it this year. So to finally give myself a win and also give the boys a win, because they deserve it more than anything. I'm really happy, but obviously now just eyes forward to try and keep some consistency going.

FIA Formula 2: Eyes back just briefly, because there was a lot of pressure at the end from Ayumu, just how tense did it get on that final lap?

Doohan: It was difficult trying to find where the water was on track, and when to push went not to. When we had three laps to go the gap was around three seconds or two seconds. I tried just to manage it as much as I could, but the rear left was already starting to go and the same with the front left. To be honest, I was just trying not to make a mistake, not look in the mirrors and run my own race. When I saw on the last lap that had a two-second gap I knew if I didn't make mistake, he could cross the line right up my rear or five seconds back and it wouldn't matter. It doesn't change the results. So, I was just managing it, trying not to make a mistake, but he sure had some pace.

FIA Formula 2: How difficult was it to judge the tyre life in those conditions?

Doohan: Really difficult. I think the critical moment was the first five laps. It's really about trying to not stress the rear at all. To try and keep the rear as calm as possible. Short shifting, doing gears higher than we were in dry conditions just to try and keep the RPM load as low as possible in the rear. It was just a constant fight to try and find where the water was. Everyone going to the inside on the first few laps to get the spray up, and then at kind of half race distance you have to move to the dry line again because no one's been driving there, so you're constantly trying to find the correct line, but in the end, I'm just really happy that we held on.

FIA Formula 2: And let's throw it forward now to tomorrow's race with the car that you've got, what is possible?

Doohan: In Practice yesterday on the hard compound and with really heavy fuel, we were really fast. I was expecting to be a lot quicker in Qualifying and I thought we would have we kind of had pole under control, to be honest, but things didn't go our way for one reason or another on the soft compound. So if it's dry tomorrow, moving back to the hard compound with heavy fuel, I think everything is possible. We're going to just chip away at it, keep our nose clean. Manage the race lap by lap and hopefully, we can get a good haul of points.

FIA Formula 2: Good luck tomorrow and very well done today. Ayumu coming to you now. Very well done to you as well. Your second podium of the season and so close to Jack at the end. Just talk us through those closing laps?

Ayumu Iwasa: Yeah, it was very close. To be honest, I was struggling with the car balance even at the end, but it was quick, so it was not bad. I was the same as Jack, managing the tyre from the beginning, focusing on not sliding, and overheating on the rear, including down the straight. It didn't have a big effect, so the tyre was getting worse and worse, and it was very difficult. I think if I could push a little bit earlier I think I could catch him. But this is a good experience for me so I will keep pushing for the next race now.

FIA Formula 2: Apart from you wishing that you'd started pushing a little bit earlier, are you pleased with how you executed that race?

Iwasa: Basically, yeah, I was thinking I was managing the tyre to the end, but Jack started to push quite early and it was like eight or nine laps to go. Then I started to push as well, but it was a bit too late, so I think I should have reacted a bit earlier.

FIA Formula 2: Now after a couple of difficult races, how have you managed to improve the car this weekend at Silverstone?

Iwasa: Actually, the car was quick all the time for me, I just could not get enough results with it. I had a bad Quali in Baku and Monaco and then also I had a bad race, so I was making the bad situation myself. The car was quick, just I couldn't manage the weekend myself, so I think this is a good point to change everything and also to get one good step forward. I think this weekend will be important.

FIA Formula 2: Very well done today. Enzo, coming to you, like Jack, you were a man under pressure in the latter stages of that race, you judged it very well in the end, but just talk us through the pressure from Theo Pourchaire?

Enzo Fittipaldi: Me and him had really similar pace so I knew that it was going to be a fight for P3 at the end, but I started going a bit faster. I pushed a little bit more and we were able to create a little bit of a gap in the last couple of laps. The pressure was there, but I think we managed it well and we came home with a P3.

FIA Formula 2: Now, as you were lining up on the grid in P2, what did you think was possible you were going for the win clearly. So how do you feel now with the P3?

Fittipaldi: Honestly, I think we maximized the result we had today because Jack and Ayumu were honestly really quick. We couldn't keep up with those two. I'm just really happy with the P3. I think we came home with a good result. Very good points for the championship. I think we were able to maximize the whole race. Considering the start, we had a good pace. I think we were just too quick in the beginning, me particularly because I was able to get past Jehan and then the tyre just fell away and it was about managing from the middle to the end. I think we had a different approach and their approach ended up working out well for them and I'm still happy with the result today.

FIA Formula 2: Well very well done to you.