2023 Round 8 post-Sprint Race press conference

Thoughts from Crawford, Martins and Novalak

FIA Formula 2: A very warm welcome to the top three finishers for the FIA Formula 2 Sprint Race here at the Red Bull Ring. In third place, Clément Novalak for Trident. In second place Victor Martins for ART Grand Prix, and taking his first win in FIA Formula 2, our winner Jak Crawford for Hitech Pulse-Eight. Jak, very well done to you. Your first win, how tough was it?

Jak Crawford: The conditions were insanely tough, obviously the first couple of laps were wet and I struggled at the beginning of the race on the slick tyres. We knew we had to be on the slicks and it was really tough to manage. Then with the long stint on the tyres, it was tough to manage them through the race as well.

FIA Formula 2: You say that you knew you had to be on the slicks, but not everyone started on the slick tyres. How marginal was that call?

Crawford: It was a very last-minute decision, basically we had to look forwards to the weather forecast to see if the rain was stopping and even if the track had a light cover of water on it we still had to commit to it. We saw last year how the race turned out and I think it was similar to us.

FIA Formula 2: Jak you managed the race brilliantly, what does this win do for your confidence going forward?

Crawford: There was lots of preparation for this event, we did a lot of work back at the factory and it's good to finally come out with a win after all that hard work.

FIA Formula 2: Many congratulations, thank you. Victor coming to you now. Pole position today, on the podium today, talk us through what was a very aggressive race by you. You made up a lot of positions?

Victor Martins: Honestly, it was really hard to make the decision between slick or wet tyres. On the installation lap, I was not confident about staying on the slicks, it was not raining heavily but the track was really slippery and I was sliding a lot. In the end, at the last minute, we decided to go on the slicks, mainly because we saw a lot of cars with them and I saw personally that the rain was stopping. We had to wait at the beginning for the track to dry and obviously, I lost positions at the start. As soon as we got the Safety Car we had time for the track to dry more so I was feeling a bit better in the car and with the balance and the tyres. At some point when I was feeling confident and going forward I was taking opportunities and it was a good race and good management from everyone in the team and myself on the track and now we are focused on tomorrow.

FIA Formula 2: How much confidence does this give you for the race tomorrow?

Martins: It's always good when you have a good Qualifying, but in the end, you need to deliver in the races. It's not been an easy start to the season so taking this podium before starting on pole tomorrow is a good start to the weekend. We need to analyse a few things for tomorrow and stay focused on the job because it will be a long race tomorrow.

FIA Formula 2: Thank you Victor, Clément coming to you now. Far and away your best race of the season, you started 20th, you finished on the podium and you fought really hard for it. Talk us through it.

Clément Novalak: It was a very good result, I was in a very similar situation last year, as Jak mentioned the Feature Race was exactly the same it was a mid-dry/wet condition. Last year we took the wrong decision to go on the wets, so this year I was adamant we needed to be on the slicks and it turned out to be the right one, there were a couple of good moves as well which were nice to do. Just happy to be back on the podium.

FIA Formula 2: Talk us through those closing laps with Isack right on your gearbox.

Novalak: There was a lot of pressure, not easy to deal with but we managed to make it which was good.

FIA Formula 2: Great race by you, well done all.