Round 8 Post-Qualifying Press Conference

FIA Formula 2: Welcome everyone to today's FIA Formula 2 Press Conference following today's Qualifying here at Spa. Joining us P3 from Rodin Motorsport, it's Alexander Dunne. In second place from ART Grand Prix, it's Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak. And from Invicta Racing, capturing his fourth F2 pole, it's Rafael Câmara. Rafa, congratulations, fourth pole of the season. How does that one feel?

Rafael Câmara: Yeah, it feels good. Intense qualifying. At the beginning, we didn't really know if it was going to be wet or dry. But  it made our life a bit easier when it stopped raining. After that it was just about managing, to do the basics well when preparing your own things. And also, on the second run, just finding a bit to tune the setup. So making sure you have a good balance and then a clean lap after. It was a bit of a mess also with the Red Flag. I think some drivers did a full lap basically. So yeah, that was a bit tricky to come back and then cool down and go back again.

FIA Formula 2: Was it challenging to reset after that Red Flag?

Câmara: Yeah, I mean you go into T1 without DRS and then after T5 without DRS again. So you need to maybe be a bit more committed in Sector 2. You know that you need to gain time there. It's a bit strange not going fully committed, and after you get a Red Flag, you need to go again. So for sure it was not easy, but we managed well, and I was able to get a good lap after.

FIA Formula 2: Looking forward to Sunday, what's it going to take to come away with the victory?

Câmara: Yeah, it'll be very nice. Last time it was not the case. I didn’t get the best start. So hopefully this one we get a clean one and we can go ahead with a clean race. I’m looking forward to the races. Hopefully tomorrow also we can have a good race and yeah, a good weekend.

FIA Formula 2: Congratulations on the pole position, Tasanapol coming to you. Congratulations on the front row start. You were just three-hundredths off pole. Can you take me through your lap?

Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak: Yeah, thank you very much. It was a good lap overall. I had a really good tow from the car in front, but then got caught up a bit in the last sector with him being a bit too close. So I think we lost time in the last sector, which prevented us from getting pole. But yeah, happy to manage a good session after a crazy session basically.

FIA Formula 2: It looked like you guys had that wet/dry factor happening. Was there a lot of track evolution for yourself towards the end of quali?

Inthraphuvasak: Not so much. I think we expected it to be more wet from the beginning of the session, but going out of the box straight away, it was pretty dry already. And already the first set was fully dry basically. So yeah, was not too much of a change, but having two red flags in between makes things a lot harder obviously. And I think with the Supersofts this year, having a lot of deg through the lap as well played a big factor too.

FIA Formula 2: Looking ahead to Sunday, starting P2, what do you think is possible?

Inthraphuvasak: Yeah, I mean, this track is known for having good overtaking opportunities. I think I've had a tough season so far, nothing really going our way last week. And Silverstone also having a bit of a tricky Feature Race. So I'm looking forward to building my way tomorrow and trying to learn as much as possible for Sunday and hopefully bring back a good result.

FIA Formula 2: Thank you for that. Congratulations on the P2 front row start for Sunday. Alex, coming to you. Again, qualifying in the top five, it's an impressive run that you've been on. I know it's not pole, but are you satisfied with how it went?

Alexander Dunne: No, not really. No, I think ultimately the Red Flag is what stopped us from being on pole today. I think my lap when the Red Flag came out was around two-tenths quicker. I was two-tenths up on what I did on my best lap. And then on the last one, because I had already basically completed a full push lap, I had taken quite a lot out of the tyres. So in theory, it was my second run on that same set. So, overall the grip was lacking quite a bit on the last final lap, which of course didn't help. But yeah, I think in the end still to be P3 is not the end of the world. It looked like the team took a pretty big step from Free Practice to quali.

FIA Formula 2: Do you think pole was in the car today?

Dunne: Yeah, I think so. I mean, I was P2 in Practice, but I got my lap deleted. So I think in general, the pace and FP was still strong. I was P1 after run one, and I think there was a strong chance of being pole if I got to complete the lap under the Red Flag, but that's how it goes. It's a bunch of ifs. Still to be in the top three, we haven't qualified outside the top four, and hopefully that'll continue for the whole year. But I think still we need to find a little bit more, I would say, to be consistently fighting for pole a bit easier, let's say.

FIA Formula 2: Looking forward to Sunday, if the track stays dry, what do you perceive the tyre deg to be like?

Dunne: We'll have to wait and see. I think personally, I'm not sure if changing to Supersoft was the right choice. I think the pit window opens on lap six, and I imagine the majority of the grid will be in on lap six, because I expect the deg on Supersoft to be really high.

FIA Formula 2: Thank you.