Round 5 Post Sprint Race Press Conference

FIA Formula 2: Welcome to today's FIA Formula 2 press conference for the Sprint Race here in Barcelona, Catalunya. Joining us today in third place Nikola Tsolov for Campos Racing, in second place Gabriele Minì with MP Motorsport and the winner of the Sprint Race today, Kush Maini for ART Grand Prix. Kush, congratulations, your first win of the season and first with your team. You flew off the line at the start. Talk us through your race.

Kush Miani: Yeah, obviously very happy. I think that was the plan. We've had good starts all year and I really think the team deserved this one. We've been quick all year really. Monaco was a bit unfortunate, and we made up for it in the races a bit, but they really deserve this and they've been putting a lot of work. I mean, me and the team have had a few tough seasons and I'm glad this race is really going to boost our confidence to keep pushing and the pace was great. Normally ART, if anything, struggled in the race pace, but I think we proved today that the car was great all race and I'm really excited to see what we can do this year.

FIA Formula 2: The gap closed at one stage, but it turns out you were in full control throughout the race. Was there any point you were worried that maybe you might have gone too early in terms of tyre management?

Maini: Honestly, I wanted to break the DRS for sure, but also, I wanted to just drive my own race. I know from the testing here we had really good pace and I wanted to just redo that. I think Nikola was quite quick in the middle and then he hit a bit of the deg in the front and even I started struggling there. So, I think I struggled a few laps before him and then he struggled as well. So honestly, I mean, in a race nothing's ever guaranteed, especially in F2, so it's always in the back of your mind. But I knew that when I was struggling, I knew that they would struggle as well at some point. It's not going to just be me. So in that sense, it was a very good race.

FIA Formula 2: You mentioned earlier how much this meant to you and to ART. We heard the radio and the cool-down lap and the emotion that came through it. Tomorrow will be another race and you'll be starting from further back on the grid. What can you hope for from there?

Maini: Yeah, obviously quali wasn't ideal, getting the Red Flag, not being able to do the second lap. But I think in this track, as you've seen, if you have good pace both strategies work. And with good pace, I think you can salvage a very good result. We're definitely confident and looking forward to it.

FIA Formula 2: Well massive congratulations for today and good luck for tomorrow. Gabriele, moving on to you. P2 and yet another podium this season. You had to battle through the pack and I'm sure you're pretty pleased with P2 today.

Gabriele Minì: Yeah, it was a very good race. Another podium, so it's five in the last six races, which is very positive. Today was, I think it was really what we needed. Got a good start, some really nice overtakes around the outside of Villagómez and then Herta. Then with strong pace, we managed to overtake León. We had a good tyre degradation, so it was better than the others. At first, I tried to catch Nikola. I figured it was a bit too early, so I backed out a bit and then I pushed towards the end to catch him again and that worked very well. At the end, Colton was coming very quick, but we still managed to hold on to P2.

FIA Formula 2: It’s still very early in the season, but you fighting with Nikola right here, it was a battle for the lead of the Championship at the same time. Was that in your mind when you were fighting that?

Minì: I mean, you know that at the moment, we are the front of the Championship for sure. But as I said so many times, I really don't care, in a way I'm not looking at that. For me, it's two points gained if I wouldn’t have overtaken him, it’s two points lost if not. So that's the only thing that was going through my mind. In the end, I feel like P2 was the maximum we could have achieved. As I said many times, the goal is always to try and achieve the maximum possible. So, I didn't see him as, ‘Okay, he's P2 in the Championship and you’d overtake him to keep the lead’, because I don’t think there is any point to look at that so early on to the season.

FIA Formula 2: Speaking of maximising, what can you do in a race? What's the goal for tomorrow in the Feature?

Minì: Well, I think that starting from P3, trying to improve a bit from today, the goal is of course to try and win. But once again, we will see how the race evolves, especially in those tracks with high degradation. It's most likely to see what the maximum is during the race. You have to always see the situation around you, how everything is going, and how everyone else is doing. So, the only thing that we can do for sure, and the goal is to maximise once again the work through the afternoon and night and then be ready for tomorrow.

FIA Formula 2: Thank you, Gabriele. Great job today. Nikola, thank you for waiting. It's P3 in the end. It was an up and down race for you, but important points scored today. Talk us through your race because you made a great start and then there was a whole story behind that.

Nikola Tsolov: Obviously my start was quite good and then just a strong pace in Lap 1. I think I had the fronts ready, so that benefited me quite a bit. Then to be fair, what I wanted to do was save my tyres as much as possible for the end of the race, but we hit a cliff. I think the balance was a bit out of place than what I hadexpected. We saw in Free Practice we were struggling with this tyre compound, the Hard ones. So I knew it was going to be difficult. We tried to do as best as we can to learn for tomorrow. For me, that was the key today, and then we can build on to that at the end of the day. It's my first proper point of the season if we don't count the wins. So, I'm glad to just keep the consistency up.

FIA Formula 2: You were able to move back to P3 on the final lap, like you said, and add more points for the title fight. What's the target for tomorrow and what will you be taking from today that will help you for a strong result for tomorrow? Tsolov: I'll be taking the feedback that I have from the tyre and the car and then trying to maximise it tomorrow as much as we can. I think on the Soft tyre, we should be quite strong. We already showed it in quali. Obviously, the race pace is quite different, but the car handles much better, I would say. Then we will try to work on the compound and maximise that stint, because in the end, it's a longer one.

FIA Formula 2: Thank you very much. Good job today.