THOUGHTS FROM ILOTT, LUNDGAARD AND AITKEN

FIA Formula 2: Hello and welcome to the press conference with the top three qualifiers for tomorrow's FIA Formula 2 Feature Race here at Silverstone. We are joined by polesitter Callum Ilott for UNI-Virtuosi, in second place is Christian Lundgaard for ART Grand Prix, and third is Jack Aitken for Campos Racing. Callum, your second pole position of the year, and continuing your run of always qualifying in the top three. I'll admit, today I thought that run was coming to an end. Just where did that final lap come from?

Callum Ilott: It was, and it wasn't. I was a bit confused really. The car was a bit unstable in the first run, so I struggled a lot to put a lap together. We also had this thing where you hit a limiter out of nowhere, into a corner, and you lose a lot of power. A lot of guys are hitting it, and I hit it pretty much with every high-speed corner of the first run. You lose one hundred or two hundred horsepower on the exit. That was why the first run was a bit bad. Otherwise, I thought I was doing a good job and then to be P12 I was disappointed. We put it together with the car, didn't really change much but we changed something specific and it worked.

Jack Aitken: Which was?

Callum: I'm not going to tell you! It was very small, and if you really want to know it's on the front.

Jack: I'll get the microscope out.

Callum: We made a really small change, but it worked. The first lap, bang, I was in P1. The second lap was improving in the first sector but obviously we had the yellow flag. It was a bit of a shame we didn't get to complete that because I think a lot of guys would have put in a good lap as well. Big thanks to the team, and again managed to continue the run.

FIA Formula 2: Just how eager were you to get out there and get a result, given the way Sunday's race went for you?

Callum: Pretty! It was not the best way to finish a weekend. Especially with the amount of pace we had. It was not my best moment, but these things happen. I was pretty much just waiting to get back to the circuit on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, to make up for what I did wrong. So far, one better than last week. Try not to stall and I'll be alright.

FIA Formula 2: Good luck. Christian, moving on to you. You said before that final attempt on team radio that you promised it would be a good lap. It wasn't quite enough, but do you think pole was on the cards for you today?

Christian Lundgaard: Definitely. I think not being on pole is on me today. The car was great. I was really comfortable in the high-speed stuff, and obviously this track is a high-speed track. I made a mistake at the end of the lap which cost quite a bit of time. We ran out of time and tyres in the end, so let's try again next week.

FIA Formula 2: Something we're not going to let go is the fact that you say you don't like this circuit! Do you still not like it? You've been either second or fourth in every session so far here.

Christian: It's improving. It's getting better.

FIA Formula 2: Do you find you're more comfortable with it this weekend? This is your best qualifying result of the season so far.

Christian: Absolutely. Last week I was not expecting to have the pace that I had, compared to my feeling of the track. It's definitely getting a lot better. I'm getting more comfortable, but also I think the car plays a part in that. If I went back to EuroCup, I might still not like it! The car is great around here.

FIA Formula 2: Good luck tomorrow, thanks very much. Jack, speaking about best qualifying results of the season so far, this is yours. How satisfied are you to be back in the top three?

Jack Aitken: Pretty happy! I was so happy I even forgot there was a press conference. It's been a bit too long since I was in one of these, but we did a lot of work from last weekend. It probably helped a bit that we're back at the same track, which is a bit of a weird occurrence, as a lot of things are this year. I'm super happy.

FIA Formula 2: That's now four-straight top eight qualifying results I think, so it's clear that the one lap pace isn't particularly lacking. What have you changed setup-wise for the race? Are you in better shape for tomorrow?

Callum: Yeah, what have you changed?

Jack: You tell me, I'll tell you! My run of top eights doesn't compare to Callum's run of top threes, but we are getting there. I think race pace is probably more our concern at the moment. We've done a lot of work on that side as well. I'm going to go into tomorrow with an open mind. It will be interesting to see how the soft tyre works out compared to last weekend.

FIA Formula 2: Good luck tomorrow. Callum, just returning to you. Another four points on the board to close the championship gap to Robert a little bit more. With PREMA struggling slightly here, they had another tricky day, does this feel like a big opportunity in terms of the championship picture?

Callum: Last weekend was a big opportunity, and I didn't make the most of that. It was an even bigger opportunity than this one. But I'm in a good position. We'll see how they do. I think they made a step up this weekend, maybe they were caught out a little bit by the yellow flags. We know the big thing here is the race pace, and I was able to come from the pit lane to P5 last weekend. If they've made a big step there, I wouldn't be surprised if they can make their way up. But if they perform like they did last weekend then that's not ideal for them.