FIA F2 in Baku
The Formula 2 championship returned to the streets of Baku for an action-packed weekend of racing. The drivers took on the challenging and technical circuit in Azerbaijan's capital city, facing high speeds and tight turns through the old town.
The free practice on Friday morning started under difficult conditions. The roads of Baku were still very dusty and offered little grip, so maximum concentration was required right from the start. Brad Benavides and Roy Nissany completed 33 laps together and gathered important data and experience for qualifying and both races.
Qualifying started on Friday afternoon and now it was time for our drivers to get the maximum out of themselves and the car. On the approach to the first corner after the 2.2km full-throttle passage, Brad Benavides was irritated by a car in front of him because it let off the throttle. Brad tried to overtake him into the first corner, but unfortunately ended up in the wall because his tyres were not yet at the right temperature. Roy Nissany did his best and drove along the walls of Baku with millimetre precision. Unfortunately, he was unable to set a new lap in the best track conditions at the end of the qualifying session because he crossed the start line 2 seconds too late. So in the end it was 20th place for him.
The sprint race over 21 laps on Saturday was very eventful and heaped with accidents. Our two drivers managed to stay out of them at first and Roy made up 4 positions on the first lap and was already in 16th place. After the safety car restart on lap 6, Roy's advance was unstoppable. 2 laps later he was already in 11th place. Brad Benavides was also on the move and was also in 17th place by lap 12 and was the fastest driver on track at the time. He held the fastest lap time with a lap time of 1:56.171. On lap 14 Roy pushed a little too hard in the tricky turn 15 and ended up in the wall, ending his very strong race up to that point.The resulting safety car returned to the pit lane with 2 laps to go. Brad Benavides is in 16th place and had his hands full avoiding other cars in the first corner, which took too much risk and ended up in the wall. He manoeuvred his car through undamaged and finished the race in 10th place, which is the best result of his season.
The main race on Sunday morning, which is 8 laps longer than the sprint race, saw many spectators in the grandstands admiring the Formula 2 race. Unfortunately, Brad Benavides had to end the main race early after a very good start. After the pit stop he braked too late with cold tyres and had to take the emergency exit in turn 4, where he had to retire from the race. Roy drove a constant race, but then unfortunately got stuck in a DRS train and used his tyres too much in the dirty air of the cars in front of him. So he had no chance to make up positions in the end. He finished the race in P18.
Not the best race weekend in terms of positions, but there are some positives to take away from Baku. Among other things, the pace is promising and we will continue to work on improving.
Before the next Formula 2 race weekend in Imola from 19 to 21 May, there will be test days in Barcelona from 10 to 12 May. Together as a team we will give everything and go well prepared into the next races. See you again on the track.
