Bruno Michel's Debrief: Who can stop Drugovich?

CEO Bruno Michel looks back at a record-breaking fourth round of the season and picks out his key topics from Barcelona.

Michel discusses Felipe Drugovich's dominant race-winning performances, four maiden podiums, MP Motorsport's points-scoring streak and a nail-biting Feature Race.

DOUBLE DELIGHT FOR DRUGOVICH

What a dominant round this was for Felipe Drugovich. Quickest in Free Practice, the only mistake he made was during Qualifying, where he impeded Théo Pourchaire and only set the tenth best laptime of the session. P10 meant he could have started from reverse pole position in the Sprint Race, but he received a three-place grid drop penalty, meaning he started in fourth position. From there, he got off the line superbly to take the lead going into Turn 1 and never looked back.

On Sunday, from 10th on grid, he made the soft Pirelli compounds last longer than anyone else on same option/prime strategy. His pace and dominance following his mandatory pit stop was really impressive. He claimed victory for the third time this season and became the first driver to win both races in a weekend since the launch of the FIA F2 Championship in 2017! He scored 36 points out of 39 on offer and reclaimed the Championship lead, 26 points ahead of Théo Pourchaire.

READ MORE: Driving ‘smart, precise’ race was key to points in Barcelona heat says Fittipaldi

NEW FACES ON THE PODIUM

Four new drivers have added their names to the list of our 2022 podium finishers, starting with Ayumu Iwasa and Logan Sargeant on Saturday, with second and third places respectively. In the Feature Race, it was Jack Doohan and Frederik Vesti’s turn to snatch some silverware with P2 and P3. All four drivers had been chasing after some strong results since the start of the season, showing great premise, and they were all very delighted to step on their maiden F2 podium. It’s also nice to note that they come from four different driver academies: Red Bull, Williams, Alpine and Mercedes…

MP MOTORSPORT’S STREAK CONTINUES

Thanks to Felipe Drugovich’s amazing season so far, MP Motorsport is the only team to have scored points in every single race. Add Clément Novalak’s mature drive on the alternate prime/option strategy on Sunday, from 12th on the grid to fifth at the flag, the Dutch outfit has claimed enough points to extend their lead in the Teams’ Championship to 23 points over ART Grand Prix.

Carlin, DAMS, Charouz Racing System and Virtuosi Racing also score in both Barcelona races last weekend, an important step forward for the latter two teams that desperately need to start-kick their 2022 season properly. Next up is Monte Carlo, where experience, bravery and cool heads will prevail.

READ MORE: Lawson playing to his strengths with Barcelona Feature Race fightback

WHAT A FEATURE RACE!

Barcelona is a technical track that the teams and the drivers know like the back of their hands, so it’s the little details that make the difference. And sometimes, the racing is more methodical than spectacular, but on Sunday, the drivers brought their A-Game to deliver a very exciting Feature Race. Those on the prime/option strategy – and most notably Clément Novalak and Enzo Fittipaldi – delivered nail-biting closing laps to move up the field and finish in the points. I hope our fans loved it as much as I did!