Round 7 Post-Feature Race Press Conference

FIA Formula 2: Good morning and welcome back to Spielberg where we’re joined by the top three finishers in today's FIA Formula 2 Feature Race. In third place we have Leonardo Fornaroli for Invicta Racing. Second is Alex Dunne for Rodin Motorsport. And your race winner is Richard Verschoor for MP motorsport. Richard, win number three for you this season. Did that one go almost perfectly to the pre-race plan?

Richard Verschoor: Yeah, I guess so. Had a very good start and from there on, I think on both compounds, we had a very good pace. Alex definitely didn't make my life easy today, even though the gap maybe seemed big as it was two seconds, but we were both are going flat out, and any mistake would give him motivation to push even more. So I tried to hang on, even though the rears were degrading quite a bit for me. So yeah, it was a good race. Really happy.

FIA Formula 2: How much control did you have to keep everything under in the second half of that race? Because you were asking about the gap at quite an early stage.

Verschoor: Yeah, I was just trying to push as little as I could but not losing time. And therefore, I needed a bit of help from the team, even though I can see a bit from behind, but the more specific they could tell me, the better. So yeah, happy that they helped me.

FIA Formula 2: Well, with this win, you're back in the Championship lead as well, taking it away from Alex, who's alongside you. Just how much are you enjoying this battle the way it's forming?

Verschoor: Well, enjoying is a big word but of course, after the race it’s enjoyable. But every time when I’m there, Alex is there, so I need to make sure that I do the same when he’s there, I need to be there. But yeah, it looks like the orange cars are quite quick this year.

FIA Formula 2: Very much so, well done today on the win. Alex, for you, from seventh to second. Are you pleased with that recovery this morning?

Alexander Dunne: I'd be happier if he wasn't sat in the middle! No, I think you can be happy with that. I think I knew, to be honest, I thought coming into the race, I knew the pace was all right from the Sprint Race, but I definitely didn't think it was going to be finishing second. So I think we pitted the right time, and the strategy was good. I think I made some good moves as well to put myself in that position. So no, overall I was very, very happy. And I think overall the pace was strong, you know, I think myself and Richard were clearly the quickest. I think we were pretty far ahead of everyone else. So I think the fact that we're first and second in the Championship, and with pace like that, and fighting like that against each other, I think it's pretty cool to see. So for me, it was a good race.

FIA Formula 2: There were a few close calls. We had your apology on radio for turn one. But then, as you said, a number of battles as well. Was that enjoyable, or was it quite stressful trying to keep it clean?

Dunne: No, it was good fun. To be honest. I actually really enjoyed the race. I never really felt like I was under a whole lot of pressure, or like I was in a difficult place. You know, of course, it was a difficult race, but I think, you know, I had a battle with Pepe for a few laps, and that was good fun. And then I had a fight with Victor, and then I was trying to catch Richard. So, yeah, it was a fun race, to be honest. I enjoyed it. And, you know, I apologised to Amaury for what happened in Turn 1 with a small contact, I just locked up. But no it was good fun. I enjoyed it.

FIA Formula 2: Well, the Championship lead might have gone, but it's only six points between the two of you right now. You've also had the FP1 Practice that you did with McLaren at the weekend. So how do you reflect on the last few days?

Dunne: It's been a cool weekend, and to be honest, qualifying after FP1 was super difficult. You know, I think jumping back into the F2 car was actually way harder than what I expected. And I think especially if you look at the pace I had in FP, then when I went back to quali, I thought it was going to be all right. And in the end, I think seventh was the best I could have done to be honest, because in terms of feeling with a car, I was just massively struggling after driving in FP1. But no, I think then to kind of turn it around and come away with P2 in the Feature Race was really nice, and obviously FP1 went pretty well. So yeah, I'm happy.

FIA Formula 2: Well done this weekend, congratulations on the podium today. Leo, another podium for you as well, your fourth this season, and you had to fight for it late on. So how do you reflect on that race?

Leonardo Fornaroli: I’m quite happy with our performance. Looking at my Prime stint, I lacked some pace compared to Richard and Alex, so there’s definitely some things to improve. But I’m happy about my first stint - the good start - remained in the lead and I always had a nice gap to P2. Then I decided to play the long game a bit more, but now looking back, I think it was better to pit one lap earlier, but it’s okay to still be P3. It was a nice fight with Pepe and Victor and experience in the bag.

FIA Formula 2: Well, speaking of that pit stop timing, I wanted to ask you about that. Was that a decision you just made in the car during the race, or was that always the plan from the start?

Fornaroli: No, that’s something that changes a lot depending on what’s happening. They told me that there was some mess in the pitlane, so I wanted to avoid what happened in Imola, because we all pitted at the same time, I got stuck for a long time and lost like three positions. So I was feeling good. I said ‘Okay, I’m going to go one lap longer,’ but in the end, it was not the right decision, but I’m happy I took it. I wanted to go, I felt good and it was not the best decision. As I said, experience.

FIA Formula 2: Certainly experience and another podium in the books for you, back up to fourth in the Drivers’ Championship as well. Does this feel like a good response from the disappointment of Barcelona?

Fornaroli: Yes, of course, I knew I needed to score as many points as possible. Of course, yesterday was very unlucky with the last lap. I really wanted the win, but still, we scored two points on Friday, 15 today. So it's okay, and we have Silverstone already next week.

FIA Formula 2: Well done today.