Interview
Boschung believes ‘Campos deserve a lot more credit than they've gotten’ as he looks to end the season on the podium
With two races of the year to go and his future already secured, Ralph Boschung’s target is to earn Campos Racing the credit they ‘deserve,’ with the Swiss driver set to start Sprint Race 2 from the front row.
Signing on for a second season with the Spanish team, Boschung believes that ending the current campaign on a high would give him the springboard to enjoy an even stronger 2022.
He earned his first Formula 2 podium in Round 7 Feature Race and has the chance to score a second on Saturday evening from P2.
“At the end of the day, we all want to win, but even a podium would be a great result,” said Boschung. “I want to try and take the lead at the start because I know that we usually have good starts.
“If I manage to do that, maybe I will be at the front for a while and can manage the tyres better because I will have no dirty air. Overall, that might give me a better position than if I struggle behind someone. That is the plan, but we'll see.
“I think that Campos deserve a lot more credit than they've gotten at the moment. I want to personally say that they are doing such a great job, it is such a great team. I am really looking forward to ending this season and going into next year with the momentum that we have.”
Finishing Sprint Race 1 in ninth, Boschung dropped back three places from his P6 starting position after a difficult getaway, but he managed to get back on the pace and finish on the front foot.
Although frustrating, the poor start will have also provided the Swiss driver with a lesson in what not to do, as he looks to usurp reverse polesitter Marcus Armstrong off the line and earn what would be a well-earned first F2 win.
“The (first race) today went better than expected,” he continued. “Unfortunately, I lost out at the start, but the pace after that was quite decent in comparison to how much we have struggled in the past with the tyres.
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“My launch was actually quite good, but I got surprised by both PREMAs because they had such a good start. I also went a little bit too early on full throttle and it gave me some wheel spin and I lost some time there, and that was basically it.
“Overall, I think we’ve made a good step forward, so I am heading into the race tonight quite confident, but we are still not there yet with the pace.”
With the race starting under the lights at 6.45pm, Boschung is expecting tyre management to be a more significant factor.
“When it is hot, it actually helps the tyres a bit,” he explained. “Where everybody struggles is with the cooler temperatures. It is graining on the front, and we didn't really suffer from any graining, which is very positive, but I am expecting everyone to have a bigger drop in pace tonight.”