Would You Rather with Frederik Vesti

21 August 2023

Our dynamic Dane and title contender Frederik Vesti is all amped up ahead of Formula 2’s return to action for Round 12 in Zandvoort this weekend.

Dusting off his racing gear after a well-earned summer break, the PREMA Racing driver gave us the lowdown on some thought-provoking questions. From reminiscing about his memorable win in Monte Carlo to not being a fan of the cold despite his Nordic roots, the Mercedes junior weighs up his choices carefully.

WEIGHTS OR CARDIO?

“That's difficult. I would have to go with cardio because getting outside and doing a run or something like that, I quite enjoy that. It’s really a 50-50 to be honest. It also depends on the month and week I think, but I am always quite in favour of doing a bit of cardio.”

HOME OR MONACO GP VICTORY?

“I'm going to have to go with Monaco because of its history. It's the pinnacle of Formula 1 and it’s the one round everyone wants to win on the whole calendar. So, I think if we had to ask all the drivers in F2 and F1 which place they would most prefer to win, I'm pretty sure the majority would go with Monaco. It's just a special weekend with such a special feeling to it and winning it - when I see the pictures and the videos, I'm just still trying to realise it actually happened.”

UNDERSTEER OR OVERSTEER?

“Any day I will choose a bit of oversteer. I want the perfect car, so I prefer it to be neutral, but if I have to choose, definitely a little bit of oversteer.”

GIVE UP YOUR FAVOURITE MEAL FOR LIFE OR EAT IT EVERYDAY FOR A YEAR?

“I would definitely and easily eat Schnitzel for one full year, which is what I did the whole week in Austria so it's quite nice.”

HANDS FOR FEET OR FEET FOR HANDS?

“Definitely hands for feet, I would say that that seems a little bit more possible (laughs).”

FIRST TO ARRIVE OR LAST TO ARRIVE?

“I'm definitely the first to arrive and I'm the first in nine out of 10 situations. Then, I get frustrated when someone is two minutes late, so it's typical me.”

TOO HOT OR TOO COLD?

“Definitely too hot. I stay quite cool quite easily, so it has to be quite hot for me to actually struggle, but not very cold for me to feel very cold. I definitely prefer the summertime with a lot of sun.”

RACE SUIT THAT’S TOO BIG OR TOO SMALL?

“I think I have had a tendency in previous years to have my suit a little bit too tight and this year I've gone for a little bit bigger. So, I have to say a little bit too big because having too tight of a suit, especially on the podium and during the celebrations is not very convenient. It just feels a bit tight, so this year I've gone for a little bit of a bigger fit and it works perfect because when it goes into the wash it still fits perfectly halfway through the season.”

ROCK OR HIP HOP?

“Hip hop I would say. It's funny, I don't really listen to a specific type of music, if it sounds good in my ears, I like it. Either way, whatever it is, it just has to sound good.”

KARAOKE OR DANCE OFF?

“I would prefer neither to be honest with you, but probably karaoke. My song, I would just choose Eye Of The Tiger because it's such a simple song that I know I can probably sing it.”

WIN THE INDY 500 OR THE 24 HOURS OF LE MANS?

“That's a tricky one! I would choose the Indy 500 just because it’s an individual victory and I think with what I'm doing currently in Formula 2, I'm used to that individual fight for the victory. I quite like to have all the pressure and to deal with that. I’d just need the whole milk for the win.”

TELEPORTATION OR ABILITY TO READ PEOPLE’S MINDS?

“Definitely teleport. I think first of all, reading people's minds would be way too confusing. I think in a few situations it would be good, but probably in the majority of situations, it actually wouldn't be very nice and very confusing. Teleporting would be amazing because 80% of my time is spent travelling somewhere for racing, so that would make life very easy.”

OPTION PRIME OR PRIME OPTION?

“I'm going to go with option prime because it means that you have done a good Qualifying and should have quite a clean race. However, I will say though that the most fun I’ve had in Formula 2 is going for prime option. It’s tricky to make it work and you need a little bit of luck because the Safety Car is not always on your side, but when it works as in Barcelona, it’s such an amazing feeling to get through the pack with brand new tyres on at the end of the race.”

SHOEY OUT OF YOUR TEAMMATE’S SHOE OR YOUR BOSS’ SHOE?

“Eww, I cannot choose that, that’s very bad (laughs). I’ll go with René (Rosin)’s shoes because he hopefully hasn’t been sweating quite as much as Ollie has during the race.”

LATE-BRAKING DIVE DOWN THE INSIDE OR SWEEP ALL THE WAY AROUND THE OUTSIDE?

“I think around the outside always, as when you pull it off it’s a bit more special. I think it's less common to overtake around outside, so when you do a proper good overtake around outside, it just feels good. At least for me as a driver, I know exactly when it's been a good overtake and it’s a good feeling.

“I was quite proud of myself with one of my moves in the Barcelona Feature Race, I know I had better tyres but overtaking Jack Doohan at Turn 10. I just wanted to see how the situation would unfold and I didn't actually plan to overtake him straight away, but I just used the grip I had around the outside and all of a sudden, I was past him without even trying too hard. That was really nice because I quickly got past him and around outside it’s always a bit risky, so it was nice to pull it off.”

WIN FROM POLE OR LAST?

“I think winning from last is special because you have achieved something that almost no one has achieved and that would be incredible, so I’ll pick that one. I would also mention that getting pole position and then the win is domination and what I’m looking for is to dominate this field. Let’s win one from last and then do the rest from pole, that would be ideal.”