Round 6 Post Feature Race Press Conference

FIA Formula 2: Hello and welcome to the Press Conference of the top three for the FIA Formula 2 Championship Feature Race here in Barcelona. In third place we have Juan Manuel Correa from DAMS Lucas Oil, in second we have Franco Colapinto from MP Motorsport and taking victory today is Jak Crawford from DAMS Lucas Oil. Jak your second victory in Formula 2 and second podium this season, that one looked like the perfect strategic race today.

Jak Crawford: That was amazing. I was struggling a lot on the Soft Tyre, I made the call on the radio, that I was going to get passed by Franco and we needed to box now. I was surprised Paul Aron and Franco stayed out so long to be honest because I was setting two really fast laps on my hard tyres. I used it all, just to try and get ahead of Paul. Luckily it paid off. In the end we had really good degradation, good management. I was fortunate Paul went off because he was really quick. In the end it was perfect.

FIA Formula 2: How risky were those initial laps on the hard tyre, pushing that hard and knowing it might hurt you later in the race?

Crawford: My engineer said to target 30.6. I think I did a 29.4 or something close, maybe a 29.3 so I was fully going for it. I knew that was my chance to get ahead of Paul. Especially here you have the pylon so I could see the lap time he was doing. I knew it was going to be close on Pit Exit. In the end I knew that we were going to struggle at the end compared to Paul and Franco. But it worked out perfectly.

FIA Formula 2: Qualifying obviously went well on Friday but a double podium for DAMS today bouncing back from what’s been a tough run of results. How good does this feel for the team as well?

Crawford: It is even better to have my teammate on the podium. Everyone in the team is super happy, I already know. Moral is already really high this weekend after qualifying, it’s huge for the team. We have been really quick the last three rounds, it really hasn’t gone our way especially in Qualifying so it is great to finally qualify well, and we can see what the race does.

FIA Formula 2: Well done, Franco second place and your first Feature Race podium of the year, how happy are you with your result?

Franco Colapinto: I am very happy. Of course I would have been more happy with the win. I am happy for the team, they have done a very good job. We didn’t have a lot of pace yesterday. I stayed very late trying to understand why and what to do today and it worked out. I think we did the right thing. We showed that the pace of Qualifying and the pace of the race were still up there. I think Qualifying was the main point that we had to improve, and we did. Race place I was quite confident and today I showed that it is still there. I was one of the quickest on track in terms of race pace so that is very motivating for the next few races. The team has done a very good job, we were so so close to Pole Position on Friday. Yesterday due to one thing or another we weren’t quick but today we showed again that we earnt our place on the podium, and we could have been fighting for the win. I am happy with the result of course. You always want more and even more here because there are so many Argentinian fans, so so many were waiting at the gates for photos and autographs, so I am very grateful for all the support I am getting. To see so many flags in each of the grandstands of Barcelona is very nice. I would have loved to win but it is what it is, second year in a row finishing second in a Feature Race in Barcelona but it will come soon.

FIA Formula 2: As the race was unfolding at the latter stage JM was flying thanks to his late Pitstop. Were you aware of the treat he might pose because you seemed to have the pace to keep him at arms length?

Colapinto: Yeah, Juan was coming really quickly the first few laps but of course I had also been driving the softs at the beginning of the race and I knew that they were not going to last forever. I was still quite calm on that front, but I also just kept looking forward trying to catch Jak as much as I could. But I was just too far away. I cooked my tyres, but I stayed in my position which was the only thing that I could do the last few last.

FIA Formula 2: The pace was good over the weekend but maybe not yesterday, the last two races hadn’t yielded points but with the potential you have shown did it feel like a result like today was coming?

Colapinto: Yeah, I think the test here was really good for us. We have had very good pace in the races. That was a bit strange what we saw yesterday that we were lacking so much pace. Sunday is always a new day and it’s good to have a good Sunday than a good Saturday. Luckily, we could turn around what we were missing and we found a lot of pace in the car again that I knew was there. Happy with that and we just hope to keep this up.

FIA Formula 2: Well done today, JM I could ask you the same question as yesterday, no investigations this time so officially your first podium since returning to Formula 2 full time last year, and in Feature Race, it must feel pretty special.

Juan Manuel Correa: It is, at least I got the picture yesterday. I am going to post later both pictures just because I can. In all seriousness I am very happy. I knew we could do it. We had the pace. Yesterday we had the pace, pretty much every weekend in the races but we managed to do an even better step from yesterday. We stayed late with the team and found even more efficiency in the race package. I think it showed, we were both very strong. We opted to go with the reverse strategy and start on the Hard tyres. Once I got clean air, I pushed quite hard and the pace was there all the time. I am happy for myself but also very happy for the team. A 1-3 podium is very difficult to do in this Championship and I think it is a testament to the work that the team has been doing. We have not had the easiest start to the season so we are here, and the season is still young, so it is looking good.

FIA Formula 2: You provided plenty of entertainment in the closing laps, pulling off some clinical moves and making rapid progress. Did you believe the win was on at that stage or did you know that the tyres might go away from you?

Correa: I knew that it was going to be difficult. I was looking at the gaps on the big screen every lap. I knew I was a bit far. I also knew that the Softs in the beginning of the race did not last, as Franco said and you had to manage them. Actually, I didn’t go full bananas out of the Pit Lane and burn my tyres. I manged them because I had to do 10 laps on them. Of course, my main focus was to make the passes quickly. You don’t want to stay behind too long. Some of them were a bit on the limit I had to risk a bit with the grip I had. I think that was well managed and then at some point I thought maybe I could go for Franco but from one lap to the next the tyres overheated, and I realised it was better to secure my P3 rather than try to get him and run out of tyres. It felt under control until the last lap but we did not have enough for the win. I had a very bad start in the beginning of the race and lost seven seconds. If that did not happen it might have been a different story and I’d be in a different position, but I think we did pretty well.

FIA Formula 2: Well yesterday’s penalty would have been a double podium weekend, but you still scored points yesterday. All four of your points scoring results have come in the last five races, has something clicked for you in the car this year.

Correa: Yeah I think our Qualifying has been the weak point as a team. It didn’t click in Monaco we had a bad Qualifying, but the races were really good. That have been the trend, we have been coming from the back and arriving in good positions. Imola we started at the back row both of us and came into P7 and P8. We knew we had the pace the only difference was this race we were starting in a better position. I said all the time, as soon as we start inside the Top 10, we are going to be fighting for podiums. It is encouraging to see that we still have that race pace. This Championship is very competitive we can not settle down right now and think that we are going to be great and going to be fast. All the teams are working hard. We are going to fly out to La Mans tonight and work with the team to prepare the cars for Austria and Silverstone. We will not stop.

FIA Formula 2: Great stuff, thanks very much all three.