Round 13 Post Sprint Race Press Conference

FIA Formula 2: Hello and welcome back to Qatar where it’s time for the post-Sprint Race press conference with our top three finishers. In third place, we have Rafael Villagomez for Van Amersfoort Racing. In second, Joshua Duerksen for AIX Racing and your winner tonight, Richard Verschoor of MP Motorsport. Richard, congratulations, that was an impressive performance. Talk us through that race as you had to manage two Safety Car restarts?

Richard Verschoor: Yeah, it was a nice race. The start was not so nice, I lost the lead. From there on I think the pace was really strong. I was definitely not very happy with the safety cars. I think I kept my head cool and did two different kinds of restarts. They both worked quite well so happy.

FIA Formula 2: That first restart looked very early, why did you make that decision and did you switch it for the second restart?

Verschoor: I think the second one I went even earlier. I just tried to have a good restart. The second one was really strong so I will keep that in mind in case we are leading tomorrow but I don’t think so. I am happy with the whole race and also with the restarts, they were good.

FIA Formula 2: That was your eighth win in F2, equalling the wins record with Felipe Drugovich, what does that mean to you?

Verschoor: Not much because I have been here longer. I don’t even like those kind of stats. On the other hand, you can say what you want but I am proud of it. I am really proud to have been at this level of motorsport. This year we are showing what we are capable of that was my reason to do another year of Formula 2, being surrounded by big talents. I am just proud also of the team as I think most of the wins come from this year.

FIA Formula 2: With that win today you move up to P3 in the Drivers' Championship, heading into the Feature Race tomorrow, what is your game plan?

Verschoor: If I tell you now, it wouldn’t be a good idea. In the end you can do whatever strategy you want but you need the pace to have a good strategy. I think it is looking good for us. Tomorrow is of course completely different in terms of temperature. I think we will see some big changes in terms of pace. But the game plan I will keep to myself for now.

FIA Formula 2: Well congratulations, Joshua, congratulations, another podium for you. You led briefly in the early laps but it’s P2 in the end. A good drive regardless, how pleased are you?

Joshua Duerksen: Despite wanting the P1 I think I am so happy with the P2. I think we maximised the performance we had. Richard was a bit too quick for me today, he did a very good job, also with the restarts. I think I also did a good job to stay quite close with him. Really happy, I think there was not a lot more to extract, and we maximised what we could.

FIA Formula 2: That was your fourth podium in the last five races, you seem to be in great form at the moment?

Duerksen: Now that kind of stat I like. It’s really nice, its true though I didn’t think about that. I think our cars are just somehow suited to these tracks in the last rounds of the year. It was the same tendency last year so we were quite confident that we would be able to be in the points for sure, podiums as well. That’s a really nice stat and I hope it can continue like this for tomorrow and next week.

FIA Formula 2: That stat being nice, does it also put a little bit of salt in the wound of not being consistent throughout the year?

Duerksen: For sure the key is consistency, which we were lacking a bit at the middle of the season. That was never the plan, we always wanted to be consistently in the points. We had some struggles, we had some issues that we had to figure out. We had to look for the solution and just try stuff. By trying stuff this means you can make an error, you can make a big hit. It is part of the game but for sure that is something that we still want to work on. I think it is going better now that I am four times consistently in the podium in the last five races. I just hope it continues like this.

FIA Formula 2: Looking ahead to tomorrow and based on your pace today, what do you think is possible?

Duerksen: Let’s see, anything is possible. Especially with the Safety Cars, this will really make the race very interesting. I am confident that for sure we will finish in the points. A podium from P9 is going to be a bit difficult. I am quite sure the other guys will be very fast but I never disregard that option as I know in F2 anything can happen. For sure we will look to give our best again tomorrow.

FIA Formula 2: Well done today, Rafael, thanks for waiting and congratulations, another podium for you as well in 2025. You had to get your elbows out at the end, talk us through that overtake for third.

Rafael Villagomez: Yeah it was quite tricky. After the second restart we were a little bit closer than on the first one. It was annoying that he went kind of early as expected at a track like this. I was also expecting something a little bit more early. I did a good job on the restart and then of course I saw a chance and I just had to go for it. I haven’t seen anything about any review of the overtake so I can’t comment much on that.

FIA Formula 2: Overall, it looked like a tricky race to manage with you having to attack and defend but also staying in the hunt for the positions in front, how difficult was today’s race?

Villagomez: I wish I had a race like Richard, it was pretty clean. For us it was a tricky start. The pace in the initial laps was strong, I think we started to suffer a little bit with the deg, in the middle of the race it was about managing. Sebastian Montoya was also pretty quick. I had to make sure I defended from him but also I wanted to make it to the podium. Starting from P3 that was the aim.

FIA Formula 2: Van Amersfoort seem to go well around here, what do you think is possible tomorrow as well?

Villagomez: Last year John Bennett did a really good job, the first time he jumped in the car. He went into the points. We had definitely had the pace since Free Practice and Qualifying. Then today I don’t think we were really far off. Of course we can always do better, myself and the team. We just need to look at the data, learn from it today. Of course it is completely different conditions than today. We will see, I am sure we can do a good job.

FIA Formula 2: Well congratulations, Thanks all.