Round 3 Post Qualifying Press Conference

FIA Formula 2: Welcome to today's FIA Formula 2 press conference following the qualifying session here in Montreal. In third place we have Alex Dunne for Rodin Motorsport. In second place is Rafael Câmara for Invicta Racing, and in first place, on pole position for the very first time in Formula 2, is Laurens van Hoepen for TRIDENT. Laurens, congratulations an amazing result and what a way for you to get it. How was it from the car and how are you feeling?

Laurens van Hoepen: It was a very exciting session with a lot of things happening during the session, and we made the most of it. We got the lap in the end, which was quite tight on timing, and I got my first pole position. So I'm very happy, ready to keep working and to make sure that we capitalise on this in the races.

FIA Formula 2: It was a hectic session with two Red Flags. How difficult was it for you to get back into the game and at which point did you realise that you could get pole position?

Van Hoepen: It was difficult because I thought it was done after the second Red Flag. Then I had to refocus to make sure I was still in it for the last two laps. So that made it a bit more difficult, but honestly, I felt strong the whole session and also on the last Red Flag I was already on a good lap, so I know the pace was there. It was just about having a lap where I could put it all together, which we did in the end. So that was good.

FIA Formula 2: How important was it for you to get that pole today, so early in the season, and having had two podiums already in Formula 2?

Van Hoepen: It's been nice. It shows that we are there. We have been competitive every weekend, and we are just improving step by step, which is the target. So it's good. Also, the team has done a good job, we've been working really hard and it shows. Now we have to just keep going like this and keep working hard which I'm sure we will be doing.

FIA Formula 2: Thank you Laurens and congratulations once again. Rafael, it was quite the eventful session for you today, having touched the wall in the first stint and then having to hope that your team could pull of a miracle. How is it for you?

Rafael Câmara: Definitely not an easy session. I think we started quite strong in this session. After FP, we were not in the right place, but I think we got a good read of what we needed to do for quali, and then we started on the right foot. So I was quite confident it was going to be a good quali, but then it was a small touch on the wall and the team did an amazing job to fix it for the last run. Then we were able to maximise it and to be there on the front row. It is a good place to start for the race on Sunday, and then obviously on Saturday we'll try our best.

FIA Formula 2: Having touched the wall and getting the car fixed, did that change the approach of your final push?

Câmara: Not really. I'm just trying to always maximise every corner, and just do the best job I can to make sure that I was putting it all together, and I think we managed to do that quite well. I'm pretty happy with what we did, it didn’t change much.

FIA Formula 2: Thank you very much Rafa. Alex, thank you for waiting. P3 for you today after topping Free Practice earlier this morning. How was the session for you from the car?

Alexander Dunne: It was a pretty good session. Well, actually, no, I can say that it was a difficult session until the final run. The team and I tried a different downforce configuration at the beginning of quali in comparison to what we ran in Free Practice. It just wasn't working at the beginning. I felt like I got the most out of it, and at that point, halfway through the session I thought the best we could have got was P10, which is where I was before my final run. With the two Red Flags, I thought we were going to end up in a difficult position, but then we put the car back to what we knew was working from Free Practice, and up until I got impeded on my final lap, we would have been quite comfortable on pole without that. So I think the pace was good.

FIA Formula 2: It was the first time that the F2 cars ran on this particular track. What did you learn, and what surprised you the most today that will maybe serve you and help you in the races?

Dunne: In general, probably the level of dust on the track. To be honest, I think even in qualifying, it was still very dirty and very dusty. I fully expected after an F1 Academy session, an F2 session, and an F1 Free Practice for it to be a lot cleaner by the time F2 quali came, and I expected there to be a lot more grip and a lot more track evolution. But to be honest, it didn't really change so much if you consider the fact that we had a softer compound of tyres and less fuel on our final push in comparison to what we would be running in Free Practice for example. There wasn't really a huge jump in the evolution of the track, so I think that's probably something that surprised me the most. Going into the race, I think that is something that, with how much dust there is off-line, you need to be careful off.