2021 Round 3 post-Sprint Race 2 press conference

Thoughts from Vips, Beckmann and Daruvala

FIA Formula 2: Congratulations to the top three finishers of the FIA Formula 2 Sprint Race 2 here in Baku. Finishing third Jehan Daruvala for Carlin, second David Beckmann for Charouz Racing System and taking his first win in Formula 2 our winner, Jüri Vips for Hitech Grand Prix. Jüri, you've done it, you're a Formula 2 race winner for the first time. Describe how it felt on the top step of the podium?

Jüri Vips: Very good, I feel it's a bit of redemption from Bahrain because we were going to win the second race there and the gearbox failed. So, it was kind of a relief crossing the line with everything having gone well, and another positive is that we have another opportunity to do the same tomorrow. So very happy.

FIA Formula 2: Very happy sure, you've won race number 100 in Formula 2 history for a landmark moment for you and for the series.

Vips: Oh wow, that's cool! I didn't know that actually.

FIA Formula 2: It was much cooler temperatures this afternoon than in Sprint Race 1 this morning. How did that effect the car?

Vips: Quite a lot. We had to change a few things on the set up, and on the warmup because it does change things. The Pirelli tyres and the carbon brakes are very sensitive, you have to get them in the right window. With the temperature change, you have to change other things too so it was a bit of a challenge. I definitely didn't nail it this morning, it was a pretty poor race from my side, but we learnt quite a lot and expected the temperature drop so we pretty much nailed today.

FIA Formula 2: And tell us about the overtakes as well, you were so convincing on all of the moves?

Vips: I just tried to stay out of trouble because it did seem like we had a bit of a pace advantage. There were a few times where I thought I was going to end up in the barrier because there were some pretty close moments on the restarts but in the end, we still managed to avoid crashing and winning the race.

FIA Formula 2: As you said a moment ago, you have another chance tomorrow to do it all over again. How much confidence does this result give you ahead of the Feature Race?

Vips: For sure, a lot. It definitely helps me, especially if I get into the lead tomorrow because it's a completely different way of driving when you are driving in the pack compared to when you are driving out front. I missed the fastest lap by one tenth of a second, but I saw on the sector times that I was losing 1.2 seconds in the last sector where the braking points are different. Now that I know how to lead, if I get into the lead tomorrow, I think it will be good.

FIA Formula 2: Coming to you now David, great job from P2 on the grid but in the end, you couldn't quite keep Jüri behind?

David Beckmann: He was a bit quick I have to say, but I was lacking a bit of pace. I am still happy that I could at least maintain second, but otherwise I think it was a very learn-ful race, especially as a rookie, and very happy. We made a good step with the car compared to this morning and it was in general a very nice race and also very exciting with the safety car restarts there's always some work to do.

FIA Formula 2: Talk us through the safety car restarts, you were at the front, and you nailed both of them but how difficult was it?

Beckmann: It was quite hard actually to keep the brakes on because the safety car is not fast enough to warm up the carbon brakes like Jüri already said. As well, the front tyres are quite hard to get them to temperature, then you immediately have the hard braking zone, so you have to be careful with that. I think also many drivers locked up at the restart because it's just very difficult to warm up these tyres and it's easy to lock up, but I think I did quite well and the restarts were quite good.

FIA Formula 2: How tough was it to keep Jehan behind you?

Beckmann: It was quite tough because the tow is quite big here. So, I pushed extremely hard to keep at least a bit of the tow from Jüri. I tried to get the DRS, but I was never close enough, I think sometimes like two tenths off but in end I could not get it. Then I just tried to make the last sector perfect to get Jehan out of DRS, I think it happened once, but he wasn't there. It was really tough for me in the first and second sector to keep him behind, but in the end, it was good, and I'm happy with that.

FIA Formula 2: Jehan coming to you, that was a race full of pressure and you came through in P3, talk us through it?

Jehan Daruvala: I think it was an eventful race, I had a really good start and was very aggressive on the first lap and even on the safety car restarts. That's where I made up my positions. I didn't quite have the pace of Jüri, I think I struggled but I managed to switch the tyres on after all the stoppages. Once I got into the rhythm it felt alright. But as David said earlier, because of the headwind Jüri couldn't pull away and David was also getting a tow, so the DRS was less effective than I thought it would be with the headwind. I think Jüri was basically pushing the wind for everyone. I tried my best, honestly, I know that if I lost DRS, I would be under pressure, so I pushed the whole way. Definitely there is stuff for me to improve, hopefully I can look at the data because Dan came from the back into the points. I think if I work tonight, I can be back on the podium tomorrow.

FIA Formula 2: You said a moment ago, you lacked a bit of pace in Sprint Race 1 clearly, you've made some improvements already, where did they come from and how much better was the car this afternoon?

Daruvala: I think the car was even good in Race 1, but I lacked confidence with the stoppages. As David mentioned with the F2 cars it’s hard to warm the brakes up after the restarts so I think it's a confidence thing more than anything. Once I get into the rhythm, I feel alright. There's still a couple of corners where if I improve, I'll have more chances over overtaking in the race. Like I said, I'll work hard tonight and if improve on those bits I can be back up here tomorrow.

FIA Formula 2: Jehan finally from me, how satisfying was is to bounce back after quite a difficult Monaco weekend for you?

Daruvala: It was a difficult weekend in Monaco, obviously I didn't score any points. Sometimes you need to put a weekend like that behind you, but if you do that you don't learn so I still did everything I could after Monaco to understand where I could improve because we were coming to another street track. All in all, I've scored good points in these first two races so I'd like to do the same tomorrow.

FIA Formula 2: Well done to all three of you.