2022 Round 11 post-Qualifying press conference

Thoughts from Drugovich, Fittipaldi and Sargeant

FIA Formula 2: Congratulations to the top three Qualifiers of the FIA Formula 2 Feature Race here at Spa-Francorchamps, in third place, Logan Sargeant for Carlin, in second, Enzo Fittipaldi for Charouz Racing System and taking pole position, Felipe Drugovich for MP Motorsport. Huge congratulations, Felipe. That was a mighty lap, giving you your first pole since Monaco. How good was the lap?

Felipe Drugovich: The second half of the Qualifying was very good, the car just felt on rails so a massive thank you to the team. I think the second sector was where I really got the lap time and it felt really good from inside the car.

FIA Formula 2: You say the car was on rails, but just tell us a little bit more about the conditions and how tricky it was out there.

Drugovich: I think in each corner you go into you have to kind of see how much drizzle you have on your visor and judge the breaking point, but in that lap, everything felt good. Obviously, you are risking a lot, you never what's going to happen if it has drizzled before or not. In that lap, everything came together so very happy.

FIA Formula 2: Felipe just a word on your mindset coming into this weekend on the back of what was a slightly more difficult weekend in Hungary?

Drugovich: It was a very difficult weekend for us in Hungary, but we had quite a lot of time to reflect. I think the summer break came at the right time for us and we managed to look into everything that was making us slow in Budapest and it looks like we improved. My mindset was just to get the best out of it, and I managed to do it.

FIA Formula 2: Very well done to you, thank you. Enzo coming to you, it's an all-Brazilian front row and this is your personal best grid position in Formula 2, your season just gets better and better.

Enzo Fittipaldi: I think the session was difficult for me in the beginning, we did a 2:01.8 on the first set and I was 19th or 20th and in my head, I was just thinking I have to send it. It was really tricky conditions, it was drizzling and it was all about having the confidence to say at this corner I can go this fast and I can do it. That's what happened on the second set, they were ready from the first lap, on the first push I did a 1:59.0 so I was already three seconds faster than my first set and then on the second push, I improved another half a second. So it was really good, I'm very happy about the Qualifying today. I think I am carrying the momentum from Budapest where we had a double podium, so it's good to be on the front row here in Spa.

FIA Formula 2: In the end, you were 0.4s off of Felipe, can you envisage in your mind where you lost that time to him?

Fittipaldi: Yeah, so I'm coming onto the back straight, kind of like Iwasa in Free Practice, I hit the inside curb on the fast right and I lost the rear of my car on my best lap. So I hit the limiter in fourth gear and I lost two or three tenths on the back straight up to the Chicane. I think it still wouldn't have been enough to beat Felipe's lap, that was a really fast lap.

FIA Formula 2: As you just mentioned, a double podium for you in Hungary, a front row start in the Feature Race here in Spa. What are your goals for the remainder of this weekend?

Fittipaldi: For the remainder of the weekend, it's very simple, just bring the car home and have a good race. I know I have good race pace, and I know that the team does good pitstops so it's just to have a clean race and always look ahead.

FIA Formula 2: Very well done to you. Logan, coming to you, great job by you as well. In the end, you were just pipped by Enzo. Talk us through the session from your point of view.

Logan Sargeant: I'd say considering we only did one proper lap this morning it was still a bit of a wake-up run for me. It still felt like I had to re-find that comfort that I had before the summer break. But I put it all out there, that's for sure and I was happy to have got a good lap in at the end.

FIA Formula 2: And how good was the car?

Sargeant: Well I think we can make a few tweaks but it was definitely pretty solid. I don't think I had the pace to match Felipe today but we got through Qualifying and the race pace is completely different so our focus will shift to that and we will see what we can do.

FIA Formula 2: Talking about the rest of the weekend, you're coming into this one off the back of two difficult race weekends, so what are the goals for you for the remainder of this Spa weekend?

Sargeant: I think it would be nice just to get a couple of good results in, get some points back up on the board. Obviously, we've lost quite a few over the last few rounds for multiple reasons. From my side, the only session I drove badly in those two weekends was the Feature Race in Hungary so I'm not too worried about it. We'll be strong on Saturday and Sunday.

FIA Formula 2: Thank you to you as well Logan.