Round 10 Post-Feature Race Press Conference

FIA Formula 2: Hello and welcome back to Budapest where it’s time for the press conference with the top three finishers in today’s FIA Formula 2 Feature Race. In third place, we have Jak Crawford for DAMS Lucas Oil, in second place is Roman Stanek for Invicta Racing and your race winner is Leonardo Fornaroli, also for Invicta Racing. Leo, that looked like tricky conditions out there for that victory, and you had a penalty to deal with. Just how stressful was it to get that one over the line?

Leonardo Fornaroli: It was really really hard because after the pit stop, I managed to stay in front of Roman, even if he got very close to me. So there it was difficult. Also, the conditions of the track, they were not so good. So to warm up the tyres was quite dangerous because the chance of locking up or wheel spin was very high. But I knew something didn’t go right with the pit entry because I had 50 Kilometres per hour a bit after the line. My engineer wasn’t telling me anything, maybe to not scare me, but I wanted to know to be able to push a bit more or not. So, I was asking are we in danger or something? He said Yes, maybe the other drivers on the opposite strategy, and said only that. He didn’t say anything, only that. So that was with 13 laps to go at the time. I knew I had to push as much as I could. It was very difficult to deal with the degradation, because at the end, I dropped a bit, but probably the clean air made some difference, so I had a little advantage compared to Roman and Jak, so I was able to use that opportunity and finish more than five seconds in front. I couldn't believe I was going to do that, because Roman at the start of my prime stint, he was very close to me, and I was super scared of a Safety Car, VSC or something, because if it was coming, my race was destroyed. So, I was praying every lap, I was watching the big screens if something was happening, and in the last three laps, I actually saw that some cars were fighting, and I was saying, ‘Please don't touch, don't do anything bad.’ Luckily nothing happened and we won the race, and I’m super happy.”

FIA Formula 2: Well, congratulations on an Invicta one-two, so Roman coming to you now. Leading from Pole Position in that first part of the race, was it the pit stops you think that really cost you the chance of victory today?

Roman Stanek: Well, I don't know. I have to look back to see what really happened there. I think Leo just made a simple overcut. But also at the same time, when he was in front of me, I tried to catch him. I was close for a couple of laps, but then he was just better today, I guess, and he just escaped from me. I couldn't keep up with him because I was struggling with my car balance a little bit, so I didn't want to ruin the tyres. But in the end, I think second place, one and two for the team is still very good. Overall, very happy about the weekend, especially about my Pole Position, my first one in F2. Just have a bit more work to do for the races. But I have the winner here, who was very quick.

FIA Formula 2: Well, another very strong result for you today, well done today Roman, and Jak, coming on to you now. P3 and you looked at Roman’s gearbox for a lot of that second stint. I guess it was a bit frustrating, or was that the maximum you could get today?

Jak Crawford: Yeah quite frustrated to be honest. I felt I had really good pace, I had a really slow stop, which hurt me a lot, because I came quite close to Roman on the pit entry, but I came out losing two seconds or three seconds, so had to gain that gap again. Just frustrated because I only had one opportunity, and it was a bit dirty on the inside, and just had a small lock up which put me a bit off line. But yeah, I mean tricky to pass in these conditions as we know. But still really happy with the points even though it's not exactly what we wanted.

FIA Formula 2: Well done today.