Guest Column
Boschung’s Guest Column: We were very quick from the get-go in Jeddah
Ralph Boschung notched his first Formula 2 podium in Jeddah, finishing third in the Feature Race. The result puts him within 7.5 points of a top 10 position in the Drivers’ Championship, with one round of the season to go.
The Campos Racing driver takes control of this week’s guest column to pen his thoughts on what went well in Saudi Arabia and what he learned.
ONE GOOD POINT – QUICK FROM THE START
We were very quick from the get-go in the Jeddah, straight out of the box. We didn't touch the car much and I immediately felt comfortable with the circuit and my confidence was quite high, so I think that was very positive.
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ONE BAD POINT – A MISSED OPPORTUNITY
I think one bad point from the weekend is the big issue that we had in Race 1, where we suffered a mechanical problem on the car. Going onto the grid, we could see it in the data, but we just couldn't change it in time, unfortunately.
From there on in, it was kind of survival race, which is a shame because I had a good start and was up to third, so we could argue that I could have potentially had my first podium in the first race.
WHAT I LEARNED – REDUCING THE UNCERTAINTIES
There is quite a lot that I learned, but I would say that there was one big thing. Coming to a new circuit, especially a street circuit like Jeddah, although it is a positive to be very quick out of the box and to feel comfortable out on the circuit, with the right set up and not too many issues, no matter how well it goes, until you see the chequered flag, there are so many things that can happen on a circuit like that.
It is usually the same in Monaco and Baku, but I think Jeddah was just a bit more extreme. I think that it is a good lesson to have learned and something that we can apply next season at Jeddah, because we will be able to predict a little bit more of the uncertainties during the race weekend.
NEXT TIME OUT – YAS MARINA
It will be interesting because it’s a new layout, so it will be new for everyone. I think that it will be a bit less nerve wracking than Jeddah because of the nature of the circuit.
We keep improving with Campos and I am going in with positive thoughts of course, but for me, every new race weekend is back to zero, so I’m just trying to do the best job possible.