Round 6 Post-Feature Race Press Conference

FIA Formula 2: Welcome everyone to today's FIA Formula 2 press conference, following a thrilling feature race here in Austria. Joining us in P3 from MP, it's Oliver Goethe, and in second place also from MP, it's Gabriele Minì, from Campos capturing his third feature race win in F2, it's Nikola Tsolov. Congratulations Nikola, that was an incredible race. Can you just take me through your start off the line there, because it looked like you were shot out of a cannon.

Nikola Tsolov: Yeah, it was quite exciting because I had a good start in the launch, I think my reaction time was quite good, so I managed to get Alex Dunne off the line. And then I felt like I was under pressure going into T3, so I defended. My intention was not to overtake Noel at that point, but I guess he got afraid that I would hit him, because I did brake late, but I think I was under control, and then he left some gaps, so I just went for it, and I came out first out of T3. So in that sense it was, I think, a great choice, a good thing to do. Then I believe I messed up a little bit in the pit stop because I didn't hold the brakes, so the mechanics couldn't put the rear tyres on very well, so I lost maybe two seconds there, and that made my race a bit more difficult.

FIA Formula 2: You being a Red Bull back driver, getting a victory here at the Red Bull Ring, what does that mean to you?

Tsolov: It means a lot. It’s kind of a flashback from last year. Hopefully a better end result, because I got disqualified last year, but yeah, it's just great. I always have good memories from this track. The past three years, again, like Monaco, I'm able to fight in the front, and for me that's very important, and it's a special weekend, obviously.

FIA Formula 2: Well, you've closed the gap in the Championship. For yourself moving forward, is this something you really, really focus on, or do you just try to take things race by race?

Tsolov: I do take it race by race, but obviously I do look at the championship as well, because it can help you judge your movements better and not take so much risk. So I look at both, but I'm not really focused on that. Obviously it's still very early in the season, so it is good to close the gap after the last three rounds. We've been going similar on points with Gabriele, and we've been really competitive, if you check previous years as well. So it is good to pull away from the rest of the pack as well.

FIA Formula 2: Thank you, Gabi, coming to you, well done out there. It looked like a hard-fought race from yourself. You had Mari Boya break down in front of you. How were you able to avoid that?

Gabriele Minì: I don't know, to be honest. I was fighting with Alex, and I got a really good exit, and I was using all the track, and I just saw him stop, broke, turn fully on the right, and hoped for the best, but I really got scared there. Because I just saw him in the last moment, and it's like a car appears in front of you, stopped, what do you do. First of all, you are getting a good exit, and you're in a fight. So it just came by surprise, really. I was really lucky not to hit him.

FIA Formula 2: Did you want the team to extend you at all for the first stint or the opening stint there? Because I think Tsolov pitted on lap nine, I believe you were lap ten. Could you have gone a little bit longer, or did you want to go earlier?

Minì: No, I made the call, I mean, we did it together, of course, but the tyres felt good when Alex boxed... No, when Noel boxed first, and even when Nikola boxed, I felt like I could do one more, and that's when we boxed, and it went quite well. We came out in front, of course it’s not easy on cold tyres, but still, I think it was the right moment.

FIA Formula 2: Same question for you about the Championship. Is it something that you focus on race by race, or do you just let it flow and see what happens race by race?

Minì: Well, of course, I always say this, but I keep on saying the same. In the end, it's about maximising everything, but in a way, as Nikola mentioned, you also think about it, because if you are P2 and in front there is someone with zero points, you're not going to risk or to try and be as aggressive as you would, for example, with Nikola. So it's something to think about, but it's still really early on. We're not even halfway through the season, so it's still a very long way.

FIA Formula 2: Well, well done. Great race today. Ollie, coming to you, congratulations, your first F2 podium. How does that feel?

Oliver Goethe: Yeah, it feels good. I mean, it's about time. I feel like I definitely had moments where I should have been on the podium before, but yeah, it feels good to finally be here, better late than never. It was a good race. We executed the strategy well. Yeah, I'm happy.

FIA Formula 2: For the opening stint, how was the tyre holding up? Was it degrading quite heavily because of how hot it was?

Goethe: Yeah, I mean, when you start the race on the prime tyre, often you struggle a bit with the pace compared to the guys that pit on lap eight. I was really pushing the limit out of the tyre. I was dropping off quite a lot, which is why we pitted for the option tyre, let's say, a tiny bit earlier than expected. But in the end, the super soft held on well and I managed to overtake a few cars in front.

FIA Formula 2: The pass into turn four was very impressive. How were you able to pull that off and what were you thinking in that moment?

Goethe: Yeah, I mean, ideally, I would have liked to pass them sooner because for a couple of laps, they were really battling hard. I didn't want to take any risk. I knew I had an advantage with the tyre, so I didn't want to destroy my tyres by trying to do some extreme stuff as well. So I just kind of stayed behind and waited for the opportunity to get them under braking and on traction. So yeah, I'm glad with the job I did.

FIA Formula 2: Thank you everyone.