Round 1 Post Sprint Race Press Conference

FIA Formula 2: Well, a very warm welcome for the second press conference for F2 this weekend, 10-year anniversary for F2, celebrating here in Melbourne, and we are back after the Sprint Race. And we have three drivers here who have already enjoyed their first podium. In third place, we have Alexander Dunne for Rodin Motorsport, in second place Noel León for Campos Racing and in first place Joshua Dürksen also for Invicta Racing. Joshua, this was an around-the-outside type of victory. You had a few good moves there. Talk us through it.

Joshua Dürksen: Oh yeah, thank you, for sure it was a very good race, very nice move actually around the outside in T9, a bit risky because of course T9 is not the best corner to overtake, but it was my only chance to make the move before I get stuck on the DRS train, so I just made sure to overtake as quickly as possible. It worked pretty well, so from that point onwards I could just manage my tyres, manage the pace and just bring it home, generally it was a very good race.

FIA Formula 2: We heard early on in the race already some drivers mentioning rear tyre degradation. How difficult was it to actually keep the tyres alive for the entire race?

Dürksen: No, for sure you had some rear degradation, because this is actually the first time we raced with a Soft tyre as a Prime tyre, last year was with the Medium, the Medium was holding quite well during the race, but with the Soft, for sure you feel that there's more degradation, so you need to be careful. Luckily, Melbourne is not a track which is so aggressive on the tyres anyway, so it's a bit easier to drive, but still with the softer compound, you still need to be careful because you can destroy them quite easily if you don't do it well, so yeah.

FIA Formula 2: And you had some work to do, the race was neutralised, so you had it all to do again?

Dürksen: Yes I had to, luckily I managed to have a good Safety Car restart, I think I broke the one second gap just before T1 already, so that was very important, very good, because I know that once the guy is inside the DRS it will be difficult to just go away of it, so it was very important to have this one second gap before T1 and then just creating the bigger gap, so yeah, luckily the Safety Car restart went well.

FIA Formula 2: Your fifth victory, your first weekend for Invicta Racing, I know it's a Sprint Race, you have a lot more to do for the main race tomorrow, but as starts go, this is a pretty good start with a new team.

Dürksen: For sure I can't complain with a victory, I mean I'm very happy that I got the first victory of the season and with Invicta, for sure it's the Sprint Race, the main goal is to have this kind of victory spot on the Feature Race, that's the target and I think we will have to pace for it, but we have to maximise every opportunity, this time I had the opportunity to win the Sprint Race. So we did it, we got some good points, but for sure we will keep working to get more points, which is in the Feature Race.

FIA Formula 2: Great thank-you, Noel Leon for Campos Racing, starting seventh, finishing P2, but there was a lot happening in those opening laps. Noel León: Yeah, it was a really good race to be honest, a very fun race, I did a lot of overtakes, there were some risky ones, but we managed pretty well, the car was really good as well, so everything felt nice and in the end the first podium with a team, so very happy to start the season like this.

FIA Formula 2: Were you surprised by the overtaking opportunities? There seemed to be a lot of grip out there early on.

León: I mean, not surprised, I think where I was overtaking were the typical points where you can overtake here in Melbourne, the car was good, so I just took the opportunity and sent it.

FIA Formula 2: We know you love to send it in F3 and now in F2, how's the transition been?

León: The same, just full send it and hope for the best.

FIA Formula 2: Well, it worked out today, although tomorrow you'll have a better starting position, so the same sort of strategy for you?

León: The whole season is going to be like this, full send. I think we have a great car, that's the most important thing, it's going to be a longer race, so obviously be smart when we have the chance to overtake, if not we just manage the tyres.

FIA Formula 2: And what's it like physically now, driving this car with the longer races as well?

León: Yeah, obviously it's a bit more physical, especially because you do a pit stop, so when you go out of the box you have a lot of grip again, so obviously it's a bit tough, but it was okay today.

FIA Formula 2: Thank you, Alex, yesterday, you were very happy with your Qualifying. I think you were fairly happy as well with how the back end of this race turned out.

Alexander Dunne: Yeah, I mean, it wasn't too bad. I definitely didn't think, I mean, I knew the pace was good, but I definitely didn't think starting P8 I would be sitting here in the same position as I was yesterday after Qualifying. So, no, I mean to be honest, I think until the last Safety Car restart, not a whole lot was happening for me, all of the places I gained were from other people having contact and coming together. I mean, finishing third is good, but I don't really think we necessarily had the pace to finish third. I think a lot of it was just using my experience from last year and trying to be a bit more careful and a bit smarter at the beginning of the race, and then getting stuck in when it all unfolds at the end. I think Mini, for example, coming from the back row of the grid, was really, really quick. I mean, I think my experience is probably what got me P3 today and not necessarily pace, so we have a little bit of work to do.

FIA Formula 2: At the end of the race, there is the opportunity to get a podium. You have to be a little bit clever with a fight in front of you and with your teammate having a looming penalty, how do you approach that?

Dunne: Yeah, I think I knew when I was behind Martinius, the team told me he had a five-second penalty, so at that point I kind of backed off a little bit and started saving the tyres, because I think there was no point in trying to go crazy to get past him and just losing more time for both of us. I knew that as long as I was within five seconds I was going to get that place anyway, so I kind of tried to play it smart and most of the time when he made a move on the car in front I kind of just went with him and picked up the pieces. I think it's nice that we're both there, I think overall the pace wasn't bad but can be better, so I think there's some stuff we need to work on.

FIA Formula 2: Having these points in the bag in the first race when you may not have expected them, does it change your approach for tomorrow?

Dunne: Not necessarily, I mean I think going into the first race of the season I was probably a bit more on the safer side than what I was last year, I think the first half of the race I kind of just played it calm and waited for it to all unfold and then when it was time to properly get stuck in that's when I did, and I think tomorrow starting P3 we're at the sharp end of the field, so it'll be a bit easier to manage things, we just need to get a good start, get our head down and then we'll see how it plays out.

FIA Formula 2: Thank You all.