Round 11 Post-Qualifying Press Conference

FIA FORMULA 2: Welcome everyone to today's FIA Formula 2 Press Conference following Qualifying here in Madrid. Joining us in P3 from Invicta Racing, Rafael Câmara. In second place from Rodin Motorsport, Alexander Dunne; and from DAMS Lucas Oil, taking his third pole position in Formula 2, Dino Beganovic. Congratulations, Dino. How does that one feel?

DINO BEGANOVIC: It feels amazing to do it here in Madrid and to be the first one to do it here. Obviously, we did not get many laps in Free Practice, so that put a lot of emphasis on being well prepared for Qualifying through all the simulator work we did at the factory. I think we did a very good job. The car was really good today and DAMS did a great job to come back very strongly after a disappointing weekend last week in Monza. It feels very good.

FIA FORMULA 2: With the Free Practice running that you did have, how challenging was it to get the car properly set up for qualifying?

BEGANOVIC: I think the main thing is having trust between the engineer and the driver at that point, because the engineers cannot read much from the data and the drivers are still learning. You cannot learn much from an engineering perspective. My engineer and I dug into it a little and, in the end, we just tried to make me as comfortable as possible going into Qualifying. I think we did the right thing.

FIA FORMULA 2: This was the first Formula 2 Qualifying session here in Madrid. What did you make of the circuit?

BEGANOVIC: It is a crazy track. It brings the heart rate up very quickly, especially on a qualifying lap. It will also be very tough on the tyres in the races and physically hard on the drivers. I think we have some exciting races ahead, but tomorrow we will have to focus on gathering data for Sunday.

FIA FORMULA 2: Congratulations on pole position, Dino. Alex, congratulations on P2. Can you take us through your session?

ALEXANDER DUNNE: I think it was pretty good. It was a messy session because we had so many red flags, but one good thing for us was that we were at the front of the pit lane. We were first out, or one of the first out, each time, which is definitely useful in a qualifying session like this. I have qualified second and third many times, so pole would have been nice. But, considering how difficult the session was, I am pretty happy to have put together a clean lap and finished in the top three.

FIA FORMULA 2: Was it easy to get the tyre into the operating window, or did it take some coaxing to bring it in?

DUNNE: Today it was quite easy because of the red flags. We never really went out on a brand-new set and had the chance to build them up before pushing. We were always on fresh or used tyres, so they had already been through a heat cycle and were ready when we started to push. I did not even do a warm-up lap before my final lap and the tyre was already ready. If we had all gone out on new tyres after the final red flag, I imagine we would have struggled more, but because we had completed so many laps in between, it was not too bad.

FIA FORMULA 2: What are your initial thoughts on the track?

DUNNE: It is pretty cool. I had a few scary moments at the beginning of Free Practice, but it was much calmer and more relaxed in qualifying. It is definitely one of the more physical tracks. Of all the tracks I have driven so far in Formula 2, this will probably be the most physically demanding, and the Feature Race is a long one as well. I will need to make sure I am well prepared for that.

FIA FORMULA 2: Well done on P2, Alex. Rafa, congratulations, it looked like quite a final lap from you. What was it like in the car?

RAFAEL CÂMARA: It was not an easy Qualifying session. It was tricky to get the laps in, with a lot of red flags and crashes. I think there was one mistake on my side and, without that, the lap could have put us in a more comfortable position. I did not risk too much on the last lap, but overall I am happy with what we did today. In the end, it was a good lap that put us in P3. From here, we focus on the races.

FIA FORMULA 2: As I asked Dino, was it a challenge to get the car into a good setup window, or did you find it quite straightforward?

CÂMARA: It was not easy in Free Practice because we did not get many laps. It was difficult to get a read on what we needed to do for Qualifying, so you had to trust your engineer and the team to move in the right direction. Overall, it was a good Qualifying session without much data from Free Practice. That was the same for everyone, but on a new track it is not what you want. You want to have a good read and go into Qualifying knowing more about what is going to happen. It all came down to the final lap, which was very important because otherwise we would have been outside the top 10. We can be happy with what we did today.

FIA FORMULA 2: What are your initial thoughts on the track? Did you enjoy qualifying here?

CÂMARA: It is not an easy track, and it is quite easy to make a mistake, especially on a new circuit where there is not much grip or rubber. From a drivers' point of view, it is very nice. You need to be committed and confident on the lap. If you think too much about the mistakes you could make, you can end up making one. It was an intense qualifying session on a nice track.