Bruno’s Take: Why MP Motorsport impressed me in Round 6

CEO Bruno Michel looks back at an eventful sixth round of the 2020 season and picks out his key topics from Barcelona.

He looks at MP Motorsport’s fantastic weekend, delves into the teams and drivers who have impressed him the most and discusses the title race.

THE RISE OF MP MOTORSPORT

What an Incredible weekend for the Dutch team! They won both races in Barcelona. If memory serves, the last time this happened was back in 2018 with ART Grand Prix claiming both victories with George Russell and Jack Aitken…in Barcelona!

They are now the team with the most wins in 2020 (three). They have been fighting at the front since the start of the season. They’ve overtaken Carlin in the Standings and are catching up with ART. I’m very pleased for Nobuharu Matsushita; the Japanese’s season had been quite tricky so far. I am certain that this victory will help him throughout the second part of 2020. As for Felipe Drugovich, he’s confirmed that he is one driver to watch for the future.

ON THE TEAMS’ FRONT

Once again, Virtuosi and PREMA have done a great job. It’s really good to see Robert Shwartzman back on the podium in the Feature Race, while Mick Schumacher keeps on delivering strong performances and scoring big points. As for Virtuosi, they have been lightning quick in qualifying and Callum Ilott really dominated the Feature Race. It’s interesting to see that the British team had the quickest car on track on Saturday, but could not manage tyre degradation on Sunday.

A WORD ON THE DRIVERS

I think Nikita Mazepin should be praised for the awesome job he’s been doing this season. Ever since Budapest, he’s scored big points. Last weekend at Barcelona, he was fighting at the front, and only a time penalty in the final stages of a very hectic end to the Feature race saw him dropped from fourth to 13th. From P13 on Sunday, he moved up to sixth at the flag. He’s been very impressive.

I’m also quite pleased to see Pedro Piquet take his first championship points. I know he has been working hard with Charouz Racing to achieve this. I am sure he will score more in the second half of the season.

This week’s final honourable mention goes to Yuki Tsunoda. I’ve said this before, but the Japanese is one of our breakout stars of 2020. He was a tad too aggressive when the season started, but since then, he’s found the right balance to continuously fight at the front. With a little bit more consistency, he will surely be hard to beat.

THE TITLE RACE

Ilott has slightly pulled away in the Drivers’ Championship. The Briton is mighty fast and has been remarkable in the races, but we know how quickly things can turn around. And the competition is fierce! Behind Ilott, only 40 points cover the following eight drivers, from Robert Shwartzman in second and Dan Ticktum in ninth. We’ve reached the midway point of the season. With so much talent on the field, it’s very hard to predict who will come out on top.

GET WELL SOON SEAN

Sean Gelael is one of the most beloved drivers of our paddock. He’s part of our F2 family. He was injured on the final lap of the Barcelona Feature Race and had to miss the Sprint Race. We want to send him our best wishes for a speedy recovery and hope to see him back on our grid as soon as possible.

HALFWAY POINT

In these difficult times, we have now reached the midway point of the season. That’s a great achievement and it’s due in the most part to F1 and the FIA who have helped us to keep racing. They put in place a particularly efficient protocol to ensure that we can race in the safest way possible. Everyone in our paddock has done their part to keep things under control and I’m very pleased to see that.