2023 Round 9 post-Feature Race press conference

Thoughts from Martins, Maloney and Pourchaire

FIA Formula 2: Many congratulations to the top three finishers of the FIA Formula 2 Feature Race here at Silverstone. In third place, Théo Pourchaire for ART Grand Prix. In second place, Zane Maloney for Rodin Carlin and taking his first win in FIA Formula 2, our winner Victor Martins for ART Grand Prix. Victor, you’ve had the podiums, you’ve been really fast all year. You’ve finally got the win, what does this mean to you?

Victor Martins: A lot, extremely a lot. We have worked really hard on the races to understand what kind of approach, how to manage the tyres and the mindset I need to have for the races compared to Qualifying. I think I’ve found it since a few rounds and it was all about time, just to wait for this one until we had almost, I would say everything right because that was a tough race still today. But I will say now I had a great car; ART is doing a super job. Also, with Théo, it’s amazing to be the two of us sharing the podium. I think it’s there and we just need to continue that honestly.

FIA Formula 2: Now, by almost you must be referring to the five-second penalty after your battle with Ayumu Iwasa at the start. Can we get your thoughts first of all on that battle and the penalty itself, the five seconds?

Martins: So, I had a good temperature in the tyres, I think more than Ayumu and I did a bad start. He was in front into Turn 1 and coming into Turn 3 he braked really early. I knew if I was going around the outside, I will just get the position. Honestly, I don’t know. I think anyone was just not deserving of a penalty, him or me. It was just a racing incident on the first lap and I didn’t have the space to stay on track, so I just went off, but by just a bit. Then, I just sent it into Turn 4, where he also squeezed me. That’s how it happened, but honestly, I wasn’t actually thinking about getting a penalty. It’s just that at some point my engineer told me ‘we have a mega pace, so let’s try to make a big gap around five seconds’ and I went like ‘what do you mean five seconds? I have a penalty?’ He went ‘yeah you have a penalty, but you are super quick. You will get the gap until the end’. That’s how it happened.

FIA Formula 2: And you did get the gap, obviously. How hard were you having to push in those closing laps to get the gap on Zane?

Martins: I felt with the cool temperature today, it was all about getting the tyres ready after every Safety Car and honestly, I was just working at my best to keep them warm and then, just to push. But I will say not until the limit where you can do small mistakes. I knew I had great pace and to just keep the consistency throughout 10 laps, I would get the five seconds. Honestly, I was just pushing. Obviously, I was pushing super hard, but I did no mistakes and it's what mattered there.

FIA Formula 2: So with this car, with the form you're in the cockpit, what can you achieve over the remainder of this season?

Martins: I don't know. When you get your first win, it's always kind of opening the box. I feel it, it's giving you confidence, but honestly, I will not change anything in my approach to Free Practice and then the preparation for Qualifying. I always had the pace, I’ve already done three poles, two in a row, so I feel I have the confidence. I have the car, I have the team, I have the people around me to do it. In the races, for sure this one will give me big confidence on how to do it I will say, so I don't want to say there will be many more, but I will do my best to do many more.

FIA Formula 2: Very well done to you. Thank you, Victor, and Zane, coming to you now. A tremendous race by you from seventh on the grid. What were you expecting when you came into this race?

Zane Maloney: After yesterday, to be honest, I wasn't expecting much. I was just going to go into the race and push as hard as I can and see what pace we have. Straight away from the beginning we had great pace, so I knew we could do something in the race, but it's great to get a podium, to be back up on the podium after two very difficult rounds. It's giving me good confidence and the team good confidence going into the next round.

FIA Formula 2: It was a difficult race to navigate with the three Safety Cars, you had to be very aggressive. What was your strategy?

Maloney: Just send it and hope for the best. Of course, with the right mindset, but to make up places properly. You really need to be aggressive in this Championship, everyone else is in every race. So, I just was very aggressive and didn't quite have the pace to keep up with Victor, so need to work on that still from my side but very happy to be back up on the podium.

FIA Formula 2: Can you just talk us through that final stint. Had you been told by your engineer that Victor had the five second penalty and was there anything left in the car for you?

Maloney: Yeah, there was more left, to be honest. Obviously, there was Arthur behind on the option tyres, so I had to defend from him a little bit and that messed the rhythm up, let's say. But generally, just a few too many mistakes, a few hairy moments which allowed Victor to run away with it. Of course, I'm happy but again, I could have done a better job in that last stint. There was more in the car and more in myself, so a bit annoyed about that, but that's life and we work for the next one.

FIA Formula 2: All right Zane, very well done to you as well. And Théo coming to you now. Big day in the Championship this, six points the gap between you and Fred Vesti now. Of your 16 podiums in FIA Formula 2, do you think this one could prove crucial?

Théo Pourchaire: Yeah, I mean it feels good. Two podiums this weekend, great pace and of course, today a bit lucky with the Safety Car at the right time. A bit lucky as well because Fred, I think he got pushed. It’s not his mistake, it's not his fault, but it's a race incident. It can happen, we know that and, in those moments, you have to maximise everything. This is what we did, so from P8 on the grid, finishing P3 is a great performance. Of course, I'm really happy. Now the one weekend break will feel much better now, I’m feeling confident for the for the next two races.

FIA Formula 2: Look how confident were you coming into the race starting it in P8?

Pourchaire: Starting from P8, we wanted to go for the opposite strategy at first. We wanted to go for the prime-option tyre strategy like Fred basically and one of the Carlins, we thought that they were going like that as well. It was raining a little bit in the Formula 3 race. The track was damp a little bit in Turn 9, so it was tricky to warm up the prime tyres, so on the grid I decided to put the options on to have a better first few laps. Unfortunately, I did a bad start and I was fighting, but it was a better decision in the end because we were lucky with the Safety Car, so the strategy was fine. Car setup was a lot better than the last races, so I’m happy.

FIA Formula 2: Final one from me, can you just talk us through your battle with Arthur Leclerc in that final stint?

Pourchaire: Crazy battle and it was a little bit over the limit I would say into Turn 15, but I can understand. He tried everything to keep his position and he was struggling a lot on the option tyres. After four or five laps, we know that it's really difficult, but it was fun. It was fun and we did some great moves.

FIA Formula 2: All right, very well done to you.