Round 9 Post Feature Race Press Conference

FIA Formula 2: Hello again from Spa, where we're joined by the top three finishers in this morning's FIA Formula 2 Feature Race. In third place, we have Romans Stanek for Invicta Racing. In second is Arvid Lindblad for Campos Racing, and your race winner is Alex Dunne for Rodin Motorsport. Alex, a third win of the year for you, but was that the toughest one of the lot out there?

Alexander Dunne: Yeah, by far. That was very, very difficult. I think I massively struggled with rear deg at the beginning of the race. I think I felt pretty confident, like as soon as the race started, and the green flag dropped, I felt pretty comfortable, and I got into a rhythm pretty quickly. Then it soon kind of fell down and down, and I kind of degged off a cliff. I'm not really sure if that's something to do with the car or if I just pushed too hard. I'm not really sure, to be honest, but I think definitely the first couple of laps, I was struggling, and I was much slower than I would say, majority of the people behind me, but I just tried my best to hang on. I think I knew from the experience I gained in Silverstone with the rain, I knew that it was kind of a similar position to that, so I knew what to what to expect and what to manage if I put myself in that position in the middle of the first stint, then it kind of came back to me a little bit, and then I started pulling away again. So it was tricky, and definitely a difficult race, but I'm happy that we kind of maintained and hung on, and in the end, we did a good job to win the race.

FIA Formula 2: Just speaking of that deg and drop off in pace, we didn't see it after your pit stop. Is it something you learned from as well in time for the second stint, or with conditions just so different at that point?

Dunne: I think first of all, we probably didn't do enough laps to see it, but definitely, I think the first couple of laps of my second stint, I pushed a bit less, just to try and avoid that, but also it was a lot wetter. So I think naturally, because there's more water on track, the tyres last a little bit longer. So yeah, I tried to manage them a little bit more, but I didn't do much different to the beginning of the race, to be honest.

FIA Formula 2: Well, after this win, you're now 15 points clear at the top of the standings with five race weekends remaining. How are you feeling about your title chances now?

Dunne: Good. I knew that this race was going to be an important one. You know, I knew that majority of my really close championship rivals were either starting behind me or outside of the top 10, and I knew that if I could manage to hang on and get the win today, then it would mean a lot in the championship. So I'm very happy we did that. You know, I think there's been a couple of rounds recently where we haven't scored the points we quite wanted to. So, yeah, it's been been a very good weekend. The pace has been really, really strong. So I'm hoping we can carry that into Budapest next week.

FIA Formula 2: Congratulations, thanks very much for that. Arvid, we're going to come to you now back on the podium for the first time since Spain, and that victory in the Feature Race there. Looked like you enjoying yourself in the wet though?

Arvid Lindblad: Yeah, it was a fun race. I mean, started P5 and really fast all throughout. I was a bit gutted when the Safety Car came out, because I was really fast at that point of the race. And it would have been cool to sort of have a bit of a hunt and a go to try to get towards Alex. But, yeah, just happy to be on the podium again. It's been a bit difficult the last couple of rounds, so hopefully this is the start of a good form again.

FIA Formula 2: How crucial was the move on Roman out of La Source, given the pace you're showing at that point, to be able to get up into the podium spots?

Lindblad: I saw from the first thing that it was, it's not easy to pass. Even with Victor, I was quite a lot quicker, and I really struggled to get through. And I knew when I saw Ritomo and Roman fighting that that was an opportunity to try to capitalise, and I needed to make the move stick. So yeah, it was really good to get the move done on Roman at that point, and definitely helped help my race to go forward.

FIA Formula 2: You just mentioned the tough run of results you've had since that win in Spain, and maybe a bit of a lack of points there. Did you feel like you needed a result like this just to keep yourself in total contention as well?

Lindblad: It's not been good. The last few rounds, we've struggled a lot as a team, so I knew that this here in Budapest is going to be crucial to stay in in the fight. I mean, you said Alex got bit of a lead now, so it's a bit difficult towards him, but at least for second is still very close. So yeah, it was important, and I think today shows that. But we need to keep this, keep this up now.

FIA Formula 2: Well, well done today, thank you very much for that. Roman, moving on to you now, started P3 and ended P3 but that doesn't tell the whole story. Just how tricky was it out there today?

Roman Stanek: Yeah, it was very fun. Actually, at one point we couldn't see anything in and up to Turn 5 because it started to rain more. But it was nice. The conditions for the drivers were changing a lot. Also with the tyres, it was very hard to manage. Maybe one lap you had understeer. The other one, you pushed just a bit more, and the car went completely to oversteer. So yeah, it was all about managing the tyres and being focused. Because here, in spite is a very long lap, you know, very hard corners, so you have to really be focused on driving. But yeah, really enjoyed it.

FIA Formula 2: You had a moment as well, attacking Alex for the lead, I think after Alex's pit stop, where you'd made the earlier stop. Just how close was that? And what were you thinking in that moment?

Stanek: I left him maybe a bit too much space, to be honest. But also at the same time, when I went out of the box, I immediately had the tyres in the window, and I think that was a bit of an advantage, that he could actually attack me, his tyres were not cold because they work very well in the in the wet, especially the first laps. But yeah, maybe I could have been a bit more aggressive, but didn't want to crash at the same time.

FIA Formula 2: Well, speaking of not crashing, it's meant you've resulted in your first Feature Race podium of the year. Comes off the back of two third places in Sprint Races recently. Just how pleased are you with your run of form?

Stanek: Yeah, happy, obviously a bit late, struggling a bit in the first part of the season, bit unlucky, did a lot of mistakes. So yeah, hopefully, we can start off from here and go on to Budapest.

FIA Formula 2: Thank you very much. Thanks to all three of you.