Round 2 Post Qualifying Press Conference

FIA Formula 2: Welcome everyone to the FIA Formula 2 press conference following today's Qualifying session here at Miami. Joining us, in P3 from Rodin Motorsport is Martinius Stenshorne, and in second from Invicta Racing, Rafael Câmara and taking pole position, driving for ART Grand Prix, it's Kush Maini. Kush, second career pole, does this one feel more satisfying than the first?

Kush Maini: I would say all poles are great. It’s like picking a favourite child, I'm not going to pick a favourite one. But I would say, considering the tough few years we've had, knowing that every time I've jumped in the F1 car, I’ve always been back on it. I've always struggled in Formula 2. The frustration from those two years, to do pole now at a new track with my new team where I feel back to at home, definitely is very satisfying.

FIA Formula 2: Can you just take us through the lap? Because, it looked pretty good out there.

Miani: Yeah, I think, obviously, we go from the medium to the super soft compound, so it's much less durable. So through the lap with the heat we had on track, you definitely had to manage your rears a bit and not ask too much of them, because as soon as you ask too much and you have a micro slide, it just goes downhill. So I think that was the main thing, trying to drive just under the limit, not going past it. But I always love new tracks. I think it's a great challenge for every driver and team. It really shows how you work with your team, because a lot of simulation goes into these races. And obviously not having an onboard or a data of a lap. You're almost a guinea pig on the first laps and you try and figure out the best way

FIA Formula 2: Did you feel like you left anything out on the table out there?

Maini: I think it's too difficult in Formula 2 with these conditions to nail every single sector. I think you're always going to have that occasional slide or whatever, but I think with the conditions, what they were, I'm very happy with the lap we did.

FIA Formula 2: Rafael, I'll come to you. Just a few hundredths away, are you satisfied with that? It did look like a really strong lap from yourself.

Rafael Câmara: Yeah, it felt very good out there. Like Kush said, it was quite hard and for the tyres it was not easy to keep them alive even just one push. But I think then we managed to do a good job after FP, especially. And yeah, we went on the right foot for Quali. Already on the first push it was feeling good and then you knew that would be all about the second push.

FIA Formula 2: In that first sector, it's pretty high speed. How much management do you have to do with the tyre going through there?

Câmara: Yeah, in Quali you still try to do as much as you can without sliding too much. But yeah, sector one was quite strong. Also, I think compared to others, we were the only team with the high downforce. So yeah, I think this is one of the reasons why I was so quick as well in sector one.

FIA Formula 2: Yeah, it's very close margins out there. How do you think it's going be in the race?

Câmara: It's difficult to say, as it's a new track. No one did a long run here or race. So I think we're going to find out tomorrow. But I think we'll need to look out for your tyres. Otherwise, it'll be a big problem.

FIA Formula 2: Thank you. Martinius, coming to you. It's another strong qualifying from yourself. How was the lap?

Martinius Stenshorne: Yeah, it was good. Throughout the whole Quali, we had great pace. Coming from FP, we were a bit behind. But together with the team, we did some good changes. So the car was really good to drive. And yeah, big thanks to them for the qualifying.

FIA Formula 2: Like everyone had mentioned, pretty high temperatures out there. How were the tyres for yourself? Stenshorne: Yeah, it's warm. Of course, like they said, even for one lap, it's not always so easy with a super soft compound and this heat. But I think we did well. I think the degradation will be quite high for the races. So it will be quite interesting.