Round 2 Post Sprint Race Press Conference

FIA Formula 2: Welcome everyone to the FIA Formula 2 press conference following today's thrilling Sprint Race here at Miami. Joining us, P3 from Rodin, it's Alexander Dunne in second, racing with TRIDENT, it's Laurens van Hoepen, and making history here on Saturday, becoming the first ever winner here in Miami in Formula 2, racing for Campos, it's Nikola Tsolov. Congratulations Nikola, second win of the season, it was an incredible battle between yourself and Laurens. Take us through that last lap fight between the two of you.

Nikola Tsolov: Yeah, it was obviously quite intense the whole race. I was trying to create a gap and maybe take him out of my DRS, but it was just really difficult. I think DRS was really powerful today. And then as soon as I got overtaken on the last lap, I almost believed it was impossible to take him back. But then obviously I stayed close to the tight section and then coming into the last corner, the last braking, it was all to play for. Broke late on my line and I think I stayed patient and never really, both of us were quite respectful, never really took too big risks and stayed on line. So it was really exciting, intense, probably the funniest race I've ever done. And yeah, I'm looking forward to another good battle tomorrow, starting from a little further back.

FIA Formula 2: You said it was one of the more stressful races that you've ever done. Was it the most high pressured race you've ever been in?

Tsolov: No, because I believe there is races that you need to win a hundred percent. And today I think was just about collecting points. Obviously it was just a Sprint Race, but I would say it was really fun and I enjoyed it. Probably one of the most enjoyable feelings, especially after the race when it's all done. But yeah, it was really difficult in terms of heat, for sure.

FIA Formula 2: Not a lot of practise for yourself this weekend to start things off. Did the car set up like, did you feel the car was handling as you expected or could it be better?

Tsolov: Yeah, obviously it could always be better. We did big changes from yesterday to today just because the only running we did was Qualifying and we weren't really happy with the car. We went in completely the opposite direction, I would say today. So I hope tomorrow we can find a balance between the two setups and find even more pace going into tomorrow.

FIA Formula 2: Laurens let's come to you. From watching outside of the car, it was a very thrilling battle. Can you take us through it from your side?

Laurens van Hoepen: Yeah, I mean, it was a super nice battle. Nikola and I, like you said, we know each other well and we kept it very respectful between the two of us. Although the racing was hard, but fair, which was nice, especially going into that last corner, like it's all coming down to that breaking zone. And then it was on the limit, but good. In the end to come away with P2 is still a good result. Just a shame not to win, especially after leading the last lap.

FIA Formula 2: Was this a race where you really had to time out when you made a pass because of the DRS here?

Van Hoepen: Yeah, I noticed quite soon that the DRS was very powerful and I tried to use that to my advantage as much as possible. So yeah, I tried to manage the tyres, stay in the DRS, try to keep everything a bit cooler and then go for the move in the end. It also helped that when I looked in my mirror, we had like a bit of a gap. I was like, OK we can use this now and just fight to the end. And that worked quite well. Maybe I should have played it a bit differently now looking at the result. It was just very fun to play like that.

FIA Formula 2: I believe it was around maybe lap 21. I think you got a message from your team and they were a little concerned about Dunne catching you, were you thinking about that at all?

Van Hoepen: You know you definitely saw a pink car coming close in the mirror. So yeah, I knew I had to go for the move at some point, some point soon. So then after I tried to straight away go for a move, but it was a bit too optimistic, I would say. But in the end, you're just focussing on the car ahead. I mean, the main target was to win. So we're just looking forward and not too much worrying about the back.

FIA Formula 2: Thank you very much for that, Alex. Coming to you started P7, finished P3. I mean, really great drive from yourself. How happy are you with that finish?

Alex Dunne: Yeah, happy enough, I guess. No, I mean, it was good. It's pretty much a carbon copy of what I did in Melbourne, pretty much the exact same race. So overall, I'm happy. The pace was really strong. And I think particularly the last kind of like five to six laps. When I started pushing more and more, the pace was really good. So overall, I'm happy.

FIA Formula 2: How did you manage to do that? I mean, it was a very, very strong drive from yourself.

Dunne: I don't know. If I told you, then they would know. It wouldn't be very useful.

FIA Formula 2: How challenging was the tyre management out there today? I mean, early on in the race, did you really have to do quite a bit of management to have some leftover towards the end?

Dunne: Tyre deg was definitely lower than I expected. I think with how hot it was, I expected it to be quite a bit higher. I was managing quite a bit behind everyone at the beginning of the race, but I think nothing more than you normally would. I think at the beginning, it was a bit of a DRS train. So I knew getting past was going to be quite difficult. So I kind of just sat there and let it all unfold in front of me. And then when I had the opportunity to pass and I started pushing a bit more, but I wasn't saving like crazy at the beginning.

FIA Formula 2: Thank you for that, Alex. Well done all.