2022 Round 4 post-Feature Race press conference

Thoughts from Drugovich, Doohan and Vesti

FIA Formula 2: Many congratulations to the top three finishers of the FIA Formula to feature race here at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in third place. Frederick Vesti for ART Grand Prix in second, Jack Doohan for Virtuosi Racing and winning his third race of the season and his second of this weekend. The winner, Felipe Drugovich, for MP Motorsport. Many congratulations, Felipe, that was a very strong race by you to go from 10th on the grid to winning, would you call this your best win in Formula 2?

Felipe Drugovich: Yeah, I think so. Coming from P10 to P1 is not something I would have imagined. So yeah, that was an amazing weekend and an amazing race.

FIA Formula 2: What were your expectations coming into the race to the race today?

Drugovich: Top five, I think was realistic. If in any way I got a podium I'd be extremely happy, and to get a win is just something even more than that.

FIA Formula 2: You're obviously a bit of a tyre whisperer able to make those soft tyres last so much longer than anybody else. How tricky was it to achieve that?

Drugovich: I think we tried to prepare quite a lot during the test here. We knew that the hards were lasting a little bit more than the softs, but not much. So we tried to focus a little bit on the soft and try to make them last even longer. I think we got it right. The car was very good for the softs, to make them last a lot. I could still drive well on the hards but then I had probably a minimum of five laps less on the tyres which is really good thing for the end of the race. So yeah, really, really happy.

FIA Formula 2: Deservedly so, well done Felipe. Jack coming to you. Great job by you. No doubt disappointed not to win. But this is still your best result in Formula 2 so far. You got all the key moments, right? Just how would you sum up your race?

Jack Doohan: I'm obviously happy to get P2, I think it's a bit later than I would have wanted to be on the podium this year, but still happy to get points on the board. Decent start, nothing mega but held on for the lead. So that was important, better than my starts previously. Then kind of just managing the tyres in the first stint. In the end, I should have gone a lot longer on the soft. I didn't really know when they were going to drop off. So that's just experience on my side. But our pace was still very strong on them, so I should have gone longer. The pit stop was all okay, and then on the prime, I was just kind of managing the gap to Fred trying not to push too hard. If he wasn't catching me and I could save them then that was ideal. All of a sudden, I saw Felipe in the mirrors and I was hoping that he was pushing hard. So if he was to come by, I wasn't going to fight. There were still like 12 laps to go, so hopefully, I could come back at him but we just didn't have an answer for MP today. We still had pretty strong pace towards the end of the race. I think me and Felipe were quite a lot quicker than the rest. Obviously, they were slightly faster today, but hopefully, we can fight back in Monaco. But I'm just very thankful to the team for everything they've done for me to be able to progress in my race pace. We're one step closer to having a complete package.

FIA Formula 2: You say you've progressed with the race pace, just how much confidence does today give you going forward?

Doohan: It gives me quite a bit of confidence as obviously, these are difficult conditions here in Barcelona. However, we still weren't the fastest and MP are doing a better job for the moment, Felipe, definitely is. So I'm sure I've got a decent car underneath me that's capable of doing it so I just have to find that sweet spot.

FIA Formula 2: Well done to you. Thank you, Jack. Fred, coming to you, your first podium in Formula 2 as well, many congratulations. How good does this feel? And do you think you've made a breakthrough with the car now?

Frederik Vesti: Yeah, it definitely feels really good. Obviously, it's my first podium in Formula 2, so that means really a lot. But just the whole progression throughout the year so far, quite a messy Bahrain, quite a bad Jeddah, and then starting to improve in Imola, and then we made this really big jump here in Barcelona. I just think it shows the potential that ART and myself have and we just need to keep our head down and understand even more what we can do better, from this weekend.

FIA Formula 2: You made a really good start beating Juri Vips into Turn 1 can you just talk us through the getaway?

Vesti: Yeah, I had a really good start. I think ART and myself have a good way to do it. It's very consistent. I had a good grip on the option tire, and I just followed Jack in the slipstream. That was quite good.

FIA Formula 2: Now Jack thinks in hindsight, he could have gone a little bit longer on the softs. What do you feel?

Vesti: Clearly now after the race, I think it's pretty clear. I will say it was my first time fighting in the top of a Formula 2 Feature Race. So I really just tried to follow what the team had planned. But looking back, there are definitely some things we need to look at and see what we can improve. Because the pace was still strong when we boxed, similar to Jack.

FIA Formula 2: Many congratulations to you Fred.