Joshua Duerksen on 2025 struggles, proving himself, and the support from Paraguay

Joshua Duerksen's 2025 season has not gone as planned, but the AIX Racing driver is still upbeat about his chances of fighting at the front in the second half of the campaign.

After eight rounds, the Paraguayan driver has finished in the points on just four occasions, and while two of those have been podiums – and one a Melbourne Sprint Race victory – he has scored just 23 points this year.

That leaves him 13th in the Drivers’ Standings, but following a strong end to the 2024 season, in which he won twice in the final three rounds, Duerksen acknowledges this form is not what he or AIX expected.

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“As in every category in motorsport, it's up and down,” Duerksen explains. “Generally, in sport, I think it’s like this. Last year, it was an amazing year, I think we broke everyone’s expectations, because nobody expected that performance from us.

“We were really happy with how last year went. Of course we came in with high hopes for this year, to replicate it or even make it a little better, but it's not been the case. We started really strong but we've had a period of a lot of difficulties and issues.”

So where exactly has it gone wrong for both team and driver? For Duerksen, in asking the same question of themselves, they have found answers both inside and outside their operation.

“It's been difficult to know where we have been going wrong,” Duerksen says. “It's a mix of small things making a big difference. I think it's very small issues but in different areas, which as a total result makes up a lot of performance.

“For sure, there are some things to improve from my side, and for sure some things to improve from the team side. We just need to correct everything, get everything right and we will start being quick again.

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“I think we also lost a bit of performance this year because the other teams improved. We are not stuck, but we are not improving as quickly as we should.”

STAYING IN A POSITIVE MINDSET

Despite the struggles, Duerksen is continuing on with a smile, keeping the positive mindset that has got him this far. He is very much enjoying this stage of his career, calling it a “great privilege to be racing in Formula 2”.

“Racing is the best school for life. This is the thing I love the most, it's what I want to live off in the future."

This outlook has been helped by working with a mental coach, which the 20-year-old says he has been doing for years, so he can have a better understanding of how the brain works, which he later uses to “optimise performance”.

But experience has also been a great teacher for Duerksen, and he explained how the current version of himself differs from the driver that started his maiden F2 campaign last year.

“We drivers are so young, but with what F3, F2, F1 require, we as drivers have to grow up very quickly,” he explains. “It's a great thing, but I just feel that in the last year I've been learning, learning and learning all the time.

“I’ve been learning about things I'd never knew, about stuff that I had to fix, like my behaviour, my mindset, my communication in strategy meetings. Every aspect you can imagine that a human being has to work on, I am improving on this.

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“Racing is the best school for life. This is the thing I love the most, it's what I want to live off in the future, so I use it as a school to learn and use it as a tool to get every teaching in life. For sure, there is a big difference between me this year and me last year.”

PROVING HIMSELF TO F1

Duerksen ended his rookie season 10th in the Standings but was also the third highest ranked driver not backed by a Formula 1 team throughout 2024 – behind Paul Aron and Richard Verschoor.

That is something the AIX driver has stated in the past that he would like to change, and while he feels he shown what his potential, he understands that more is needed to catch the attention of those in the F1 world.

“For sure that support is extremely important,” says Duerksen. “I think I've shown what I can do many times. Sadly, things are not going how we want now. I think there have been many situations this year that were out of our control, which affected my results.

“I don't think I've shown 100% yet to deserve a seat or an opportunity with an F1 team, but I'm very close to it.

“I think I've shown what I can do, I've shown that I have the potential, and I would like to say I deserve the opportunity. But sadly, motorsport is really tough, and you always need to perform.

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“So, we just need to pick up the pace again and hopefully gain good results again.”

SHOWING OUT FOR PARAGUAY

Part of Duerksen’s story is being the first Paraguayan in the Championship’s history, something he is very proud of, as each time he goes to the podium, he brings the flag with him.

But coming from Paraguay meant he was relatively unknown to many rising through the ranks, so moving over to race in Europe made him feel like “the new guy” in motorsport.

"I try to represent my country and for the people, it's something really special, and I really appreciate it.”

However, what comes with this is an unwavering support of people back home, from the President, who he speaks to often, to the kids he meets in the shopping centre.

“It's really amazing,” he continues. “I never expected to have such support from my country. I was in Paraguay recently, and I had an event in a shopping mall. So people came to meet me, they could take a picture, and I was really surprised that so many people came.

“Even the little kids, they were like, 'you are my hero, I wake up at 3am to watch you' and I was like, ‘this is having a big impact’. I think sometimes I just don't realise how big of an impact it is having in Paraguay.

“For me, I am just another human being, and I do what I love. I try to represent my country and for the people, it's something really special, and I really appreciate it.”

ENDING THE YEAR ON A HIGH

Duerksen says he his home support as “extra motivation”, especially when things get tough, as it has this season. But he is hoping results improve over the course of the next six rounds.

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The AIX driver is drawing inspiration from the end of his 2024 campaign, when he scored 63 out of his 87 points in the final five rounds.

“That's going to be the target, to end things like we did in the second half of the season last year,” Duerksen adds. “We have big hopes that we can now reset everything and just start having good results.

“The hard work will never stop. We had good results in the second half of the season last year, but it doesn't guarantee anything. The hard work has to be done, and we need to do the job properly.”