A satisfying step forward: Dino Beganovic’s Baku Debrief

Hitech TGR driver Dino Beganovic put together his finest weekend in Formula 2 so far, winning for the first time in the Championship and adding another podium on Sunday.

Reflecting on the weekend in Baku, the Scuderia Ferrari Driver Academy talent says it was an important round for him in multiple ways.

THE RIGHT APPROACH

“My approach in general didn’t change much from previous rounds. It was mainly building up from FP and then trying to do my best to not leave anything on the table, which we did very well in the races.

“Starting off well in FP is always an advantage. Getting to know the track and building up – we actually got quite a lot of green laps in FP, which was very helpful with it being my first time here.

“In general, the start in FP, having a good result there, it was like Monaco’s build-up and the same in Jeddah, new tracks and getting up to speed and getting the reference points down and then going from there.

“I’m pretty happy with that. We could have extracted more in Qualifying, but I’m happy with the weekend because there wasn’t that much more we could have done. I think it all comes from being well prepared and the momentum we got from Monza that we carried on to here.”

UNFORTUNATE IN QUALIFYING

“In Qualifying, I didn’t really put it together. We didn’t really extract what we could have because we were on a very good lap, but we prioritised going out with time for a second run, which never ended up happening.

“So looking back, we should have finished that lap and it would have put us a lot higher. But, we were lucky to be promoted to P9 and then we had a good starting place for both races.

A MAIDEN WIN IN F2

“It was a good race in general. I was very happy with the work we did in the Sprint Race. We made all the right decisions, and the car was very good.

“I think it was tricky with the conditions being as they were, but also with the Safety Car restarts and so on. But looking back after the race, it’s always a good feeling to have knowing you couldn’t have done much more differently or anything better.

“I’m very proud of that win and even though it was a Sprint Race, I’m very happy about it.”

READ MORE: Fornaroli taking the positives from first Baku experience despite missing out on victory

BACK-TO-BACK PODIUMS

“The podium almost felt better than the win. Starting from ninth and proving that we still had very good pace today, maybe not as good as yesterday, but we were still competitive.

“We kept our nose clean and moved forward. At the end of the day, that’s all that counts. We were calm and not stressed about what was happening ahead, doing our own race and managing things. When it was time to attack, we were able to do it.

“I thought about yesterday and it was a goal going into the Feature Race to be top five. But I didn’t overthink things. The first couple of laps were tricky conditions, cold tyres and it was the same at the Safety Car restart.

“From there, I just focused on my own race to always have a good connection with the tyres and to have them ready in case there was another restart.

“When we had the chance, we attacked, pulled away so overall, it was a well-executed race and I saw it coming a little bit, and that was the game plan going in.”

LESSONS TO TAKE FORWARD

“I think I learned to trust my instincts and not overthink things, overdo stuff with my driving and trusting what I know and how to best do it.

“This weekend obviously gives me a big boost in confidence going into the last two rounds and the rest of the year, especially after such a difficult season up to this point.”