Thoughts from Vesti, Pourchaire and Martins

FIA Formula 2: A very warm welcome to the top three finishers of the FIA Formula 2 Sprint Race in Barcelona. In third place, Victor Martins for ART Grand Prix, in second place Théo Pourchaire, also for ART, and winning for PREMA Racing, two wins in less than a week, our winner Frederik Vesti. Fred, a hugely impressive race by you in such difficult conditions as well. Talk us through everything that was thrown at you during that race.

Frederik Vesti: It was a very difficult race, starting on the wet tyre. I had a little contact at T1, but I managed to get going. I was almost losing the car but we just managed to survive. Then when I overtook for P1, I actually wasn't sure I was overtaking because I was on the inside and I couldn't see Cordeel but all of a sudden I was in the lead and I tried to maximize the gap to Victor. Five laps before the Safety Car I started to struggle a little bit, like everyone. I was quite ready to go to the slick tyre but it was tricky as you sort of have to predict the grip and that's very difficult.

FIA Formula 2: Without that final VSC and Safety Car, could you have made it to the end of the race on the wet tyre?

Vesti: I think so, in testing, we did a long run like this and it was ok. It does get more difficult and the car gets more difficult to drive. In the end, we had quite a big lead to the guys on slicks so as long as we didn't crash it should have been ok.

FIA Formula 2: And how was the car in the different conditions, wet and dry?

Vesti: To be honest it was good in both conditions. In the wet, I felt very comfortable early on. I'm happy we did a lot of testing here in the wet so I was very confident in the car. I just tried to maximize the whole lap.

FIA Formula 2: Fred you're starting tomorrow a little bit further back than you would like, how much confidence does this race give you?

Vesti: It always helps, there's no doubt that winning a race helps and it gives the belief that we need to have every day. We need to see what we can do tomorrow, strategy will be important, tyre management will be important, and of course, we will see what the weather will do.

FIA Formula 2: Good luck with that and well done today. Théo coming to you next, crickey, you had electric pace at the end. Talk us through when you had the slick tyre.

Théo Pourchaire: It was very stressful because the track was a bit damp in some places so it was tricky conditions, but we boxed earlier than the other drivers for the slicks so I had one more lap to warm them up. Under VSC and then SC I could see places where there was a bit more water and I learned a bit about the lines and I knew I was going for an overtake in Turn 1 on Hauger. Then my teammate made a small mistake in Turn 3, so that allowed me to brake really late into Turn 4 and then I tried to overtake Fred but he was a bit faster. Unfortunately, there wasn't any DRS enabled which would have maybe helped me a bit, but it's like that. I'm happy with P2.

FIA Formula 2: You were the first of the leaders to pit, under the Virtual Safety Car, can you talk us through that decision?

Pourchaire: It was a tough decision, I was in the right place because there was a car in the gravel and I could see it on the big screen and my engineer told me 'Théo, box this lap' at the exit of Turn 12, which is quite late. I was wondering 'why do we box I'm going to lose everything?' but I just trust my engineer and my team, I trust them every time and it worked so a big thanks to them. They did a great pitstop and I did a great job on track.

FIA Formula 2: Great job by you, well done. Victor coming to you now, it's fantastic to see you back on the podium. It must feel good.

Victor Martins: Obviously it feels good. It feels like a long time, I've not been on the podium since the start of the season so of course this is good for my confidence, good for the team and also for myself, for the future. It was a tricky race, honestly. Fred had a good pace, but I was managing the tyres because I was thinking we would go to the end with wet tyres. I would say if we didn't have the Safety Car and the incident at the end to allow us to pit, I think we would have been good at the end of the race. I don't know if we would have been there to attack for P1, but the pace was good. In the end, it's just a matter of bringing the car home. I tried to do my best under the Safety Car to warm up the tyres but I wasn't really confident, I almost lost the car at some point and then I had to give up to score points for myself and the team.

FIA Formula 2: Very well done to you.