Vesti prepared to get feisty around Spa ‘rollercoaster’

25 August 2022

Frederik Vesti is ready to get his elbows out and fight hard at the front of the field this weekend as Formula 2 heads to his favourite circuit on the calendar, Spa-Francorchamps.

While some time to relax and reset over the summer break might have been handy for the ART Grand Prix driver, the Dane is chomping at the bit to feel the thrill of racing around the iconic Belgian track.

“Well, I'm not feeling good that it's the final stages of the season,” Vesti said. “I would love it if there were more rounds in but I'm really feeling good to be back racing. Holiday was three weeks long – in some ways it felt short, but it mostly felt too long and to be here finally driving tomorrow is great.

“Spa is a difficult track; I’ve raced here four times before and some of them have been very successful, others less so. It’s my favourite track of the season and it’s bit like when you’re on a rollercoaster at a theme park – you always want to one more lap of the ride, but you always have to leave. Here you do one more lap and you’re like ‘yes!’ And then one more lap and one more, obviously the Practice, Qualifying and races come to an end, but Spa is one of the few tracks where you want to keep going every single lap.”

Entering the 11th round of his 2022 campaign off the back of four top five finishes on the bounce, including a podium in the Le Castellet Feature Race and an impressive late fightback to fourth last time out in Budapest, Vesti emphasised how crucial it would be for him to keep the momentum going heading into the final four rounds of the season as he closes in on the top five in the Drivers’ Standings.

“It’s important for my future, it’s important for this year’s Championship, so continue working hard and understanding how to continue that form will be absolutely key for both me and ART.”

With rain forecast for both Friday and Saturday’s running, Vesti believes he could have the upper hand over several of his frontrunning rivals – having previously raced in the extremely wet conditions Formula 3 enjoyed at the track last year. As a result, he’s already bracing himself to be harsh but fair in his fights up the field to score net as many points as possible.

“We raced here last year in the wet, so I'm not too scared. Many people here haven't done that because they weren’t in F3, so obviously I have an advantage there. If it’s going to rain, it’s going to rain and I’m happy with that, but racing at Spa is always a bit more fun in the dry.

“The perfect place is at Turn 4, after Raidillon you have a long straight with two DRS zones back-to-back and this really helps overtaking. Spa is really one of those tracks that if you have good pace in the car, you can actually make big moves in the race.

“The first thing I want to improve is definitely Qualifying and to continue the performances we did with P2-P1-P3 in a row. It seems like that for the past five rounds we’ve been really strong in Qualifying. Then in the races, I want to be a bit more aggressive, make better moves and decisions in order to score better points throughout the rest of the year.”