Mari Boya on lessons from F3 and tackling F2 with Aston Martin support

Mari Boya tackles his first season of FIA Formula 2 this year with PREMA Racing. The Spaniard has enjoyed some highs and endured a few lows along his journey to this point.

All of them have helped him reach this point, and as an Aston Martin Development Driver, Boya has grown plenty from his rookie days in F3. He tells us what he’s learned the most and the areas he’s improved the most.

MILEAGE OVER MILESTONES

“The thing that you gain is experience just by doing races. We are constantly working with really professional people, not always are the same people, so you have to learn how to deal with them effectively.

“But the thing that I learned the most is how to modulate all the emotions I have during a weekend. I remember when I arrived for my first year in F3, the potential was super strong, but I was trying to push. Not 100% more, like 150 and constantly I was going out like I wanted to do a really good job.

“What I learned in F3 is not the way of succeeding, it's better just to secure laps and be in more in control all the time because track time is really limited.

ADAPTING TO F2

“To be honest, I heard a lot of things about the F2 category, but it fits me really well. I'm a guy that really likes to feel things out in the races. I really like to manage tyres and when the races are longer, and you have a pit stop as well for the Feature Race, that means it suits me.

“Qualifying is the thing that I've been working the most, the pace is there, but it's just doing it in the right moment, which I feel now I’ve improved a lot on that recently. So I'm arriving in F2 in a good way, but I know I can still even improve. Let's see how it goes the first few races go.

“From what I've learned in the past, I can adapt because already with longer races, I'm quite happy with that and it feels really good to see.”

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SIGNING WITH ASTON MARTIN

“Together with the help from Aston Martin – I know it was something that was possible but I just needed some results to get that over the line. At that point, once I started with them, I felt more relaxed and everything started to go the way that it should go.

“It’s been really good, for sure. They’ve helped a lot already since I joined them. Since signing, the results have been really good too.

“At the beginning, it was important to have good results and now the situation is really good with them I'm enjoying a lot, I'm starting to listen to different things that really motivate me a lot for the future. I'm super happy and grateful for their help.”

TAKING ON A NEW CHALLENGE

“It feels good. Sometimes one thing that I'm maybe not managing the best is thinking too much about the past.

“It's not difficult to do, but I wasn't able to do it at that time because of different reasons. Now, we have to focus on the present and the future.

“It’s a sport in which it doesn't matter what you did, it's all about the next race. If in the next race you are doing a great job, then everything is fine. But you have to be constantly there in the now. I'm feeling good in this moment, so I will try to use this momentum.”