2022 Round 10 post-Feature Race press conference

Thoughts from Pourchaire, Fittipaldi & Iwasa

FIA Formula 2: A very warm welcome to the top three finishers of the FIA Formula 2 Feature Race here at the Hungaroring. In third place, Ayumu Iwasa for DAMS, in second place, Enzo Fittipaldi for Charouz and taking his third win of the 2022 season, our winner Théo Pourchaire, for ART Grand Prix. Théo, very well done that was a clinical race by you and ART. Of all of your wins in FIA Formula Two. How good was that one?

Théo Pourchaire: It was a very good race. I don't know if I can say it was my best race in F2, but it's very good to win this race just before the holidays. It's a perfect way to go on the break. The car was good, we struggled a bit with the balance, actually. I don't think I was the fastest car on track, but I did a very good job at Turn 1 and the team did a good strategy and pitstop as well. Then on the out lap, I think I was good as well, so I maximised everything. In the end, we won that race. It's amazing.

FIA Formula 2: You pitted early on Lap 8, just how difficult was it to keep the tires alive after that?

Pourchaire: Very, very difficult I had a huge oversteer-y car, which was very difficult to control. I think Enzo was faster than me, to be honest. At one point, I picked up again some pace but in the end, I was on the edge of losing the car at every corner. I think I was in dirty air, it's not easy when you're following another car. We did the job and that's the most important part, so big thanks to the team for that.

FIA Formula 2: Just tell us a little bit more about the pressure from Enzo at the end of the race.

Pourchaire: It was a very, very stressful race. When you have a car a bit quicker than you right behind you at around two seconds, I could see him in the mirrors. I was looking at him at the exit of the last corner and the exit of Turn 1 every lap. I was managing that, I'm very happy with that. I didn't make any mistakes. So that's good.

FIA Formula 2: Théo you've closed the gap to Felipe Drugovich, in the championship to 21 points. How do you view that battle now?

Pourchaire: Well, 21 is my number. My favourite number. So that's perfect. A perfect way to go on holiday. We will see at the end of the Championship, I'm not focusing too much on that. I'm so happy to win the race today. Third of the year, it means that I will have a new helmet also in my contract with Bell so that's good. That's good. You know, it's perfect. It's my birthday in August. So, everything is good today.

FIA Formula 2: Fantastic. Well done. Well done today. Enzo let's come to you now what a weekend for you here in Budapest. Third in the Sprint Race yesterday. Second today, just sum it all up for us.

Enzo Fittipaldi: It's been a really strong weekend. Honestly, we just had a really good pace the whole weekend. I think in Qualifying we could have been even higher up. We were 9th in Qualifying and then yesterday in the Sprint Race we had that mistake Turn 2, and I think if I didn't make that I would have won the race. We were fast this weekend in the race pace. Today in the Feature Race, starting ninth, it was really difficult to make the overtakes. I was able to make very good overtakes and keep a really good pace and I was able to extend my soft stint longer than anyone else. The pitstop was amazing, so the team did an amazing job. We came out right in front of Théo but then obviously with cold tyres, he got past me. I was able to hold on to second and the race was really good.

FIA Formula 2: Coming into the race, you knew you had a good car but you were starting P9 what were your expectations before the off?

Fittipaldi: I knew I had four cars ahead of me starting on mediums. I was in ninth, so I knew I had to pass them in the first lap. I was able to overtake all four of them before Turn 2 and came out already just behind Vesti and sixth. Then just managed the tyres and I overtook Vesti. It was difficult. It was really hard. It was one of the hardest races I've ever done. Considering the traffic we had from the cars in the back, we were catching up to them and it was very difficult to manage our tyres behind them and know when to overtake. Some drivers were very aggressive, trying to block the position. You just had to be smart and overtake at the right time. So decision-making was really important in this race.

FIA Formula 2: Well, you were very smart. Well done. Thank you. Ayumu coming to you, you started on pole position, just talk us through the race. How satisfied are you with third place after that?

Ayumu Iwasa: Basically, it was quite a difficult race for me. First, I couldn't decide on a good start. Then I lost the two positions. As we know, this track is close the whole lap. So it's very difficult. I couldn't overtake, but at the beginning of the stint, the car was going good and I had quite good speed. But I think the strategy was not so good, because I had a quite good performance with the softs, maybe we could have gone a bit longer. So this is an improvement for us as a team. Also, my start was not good, and on the out lap I was a bit slower than Théo, so this is also something I need to improve on. Everything was a little bit, just not enough. I think that's why I got this result.

FIA Formula 2: You gave yourself some work to do after that start, just talk us through what happened.

Iwasa: I just didn't feel good enough grip on the tyre. I got some wheel spin after the jump, so I think it was a mistake. Also, the track positioning on Turn 1 and Turn 2 was not so great. Maybe I could have managed that a little bit better. So yeah, I think that is the main improvement.

FIA Formula 2: I can sense you're a little bit frustrated, but well done on the podium.