Goethe thrilled with confidence-boosting performance in Lusail Feature Race

Oliver Goethe had his best race to date in Formula 2, securing P4 in the Lusail Feature Race for MP Motorsport after a ‘crazy’ afternoon.

Starting from eighth on the grid, Goethe lost places at the start and faced a comeback drive to get back into the points. Making several passes during and extending his first stint, he was able to put himself back into contention.

A mid-race Safety Car allowed Goethe to stop and make some more places back but after that he says, the team’s true pace was on show.

“I got a poor start like yesterday, so I think I lost five positions or so at the start. The starts are something for us to work on, but then I made some positions back in the first half of the race and stayed out longer than some others.

“Then we got some good luck with the Safety Car, but after that the pace was really strong. I was with the quick guys at the front with the likes of Bortoleto, Aron and Hadjar.

“It was a hectic race, a lot of overtaking and defending, all very chaotic. So in the end, I just missed out on the podium with Hadjar just in front and Bortoleto having a time penalty. But I’m really happy with the pace and with the team, the progress we’ve made and I’m looking forward to Abu Dhabi.”

Perhaps one of the most chaotic moments of the race came when Goethe was battling with DAMS Lucas Oil driver Dino Beganovic and ART Grand Prix’s Luke Browning.

The Briton was running on old Hard tyres and trying to maintain track position, with Beganovic and Goethe fighting for position in the middle and final sector.

In the final section, Goethe was able to pull off a cutback through the fast triple right-hand corners to move ahead of both with a great move, one that he says was crucial to his late-race speed in the podium fight.

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“Browning was in front and defending a lot with old tyres and it put me in a bad spot where Dino was behind and making it a three-way fight. At some point, both were ahead of me but they were fighting quite hard, and I managed to cut back on both of them in the high speed section.

“It was a bit of a sketchy move, but I couldn’t let that happen. I was able to pull it off in the end and it helped me catch the guys ahead later on.”

Goethe stepped up to Formula 2 with MP after Franco Colapinto’s mid-season call-up to Williams in F1, and he says he is still feeling a lack of experience versus rivals around him.

The MP driver says that the strong points finish and performance in Lusail has helped his confidence going into the final round of the year, where he hopes to make another step forward and show good speed.

“I still feel very new to the car. I did two rounds before this in Monza and Baku but I missed out on two races anyway because of crashes at the start, so the car still feels new to me.

“I’m still learning a lot and I feel like I’m getting better and better, and the pace is up there already, so I’m confident going forward.

“It would be amazing to finish of the season with at least one podium as a rookie. That’s the goal but at the end of the day, I just want to learn as much as possible. I need to give it my all and I just want to learn as much as I possibly can, get some points for the team for the Teams’ Championship. To get a trophy would be nice too.”