F2 - Barcelona - Back on the Podium

Qualifying

Théo and Victor were in 2^nd and 4^th places respectively with 3 minutes remaining after completing all their flying laps. At the very end of the session, several drivers took advantage of an optimal track to push Theo and Victor back to 5^th and 7^th places.

Sprint Race

A team error demoted Theo to 9^th place while Victor started from 4^th on a wet track. Thanks to two excellent starts, they quickly moved into 3^rd and 6^th on the first lap, then up to 2^nd and 4^th halfway through the race.
After a race neutralization and a change of tires on a track that had become almost dry, Théo made two exceptional overtaking manoeuvres to move into 2^nd place with Victor securing 3rd.

Feature Race

Starting on soft tires, Théo got off to a superb start and took 3rd position, with Victor in 7^th on hard tires.
Théo changed tires on lap 10 and was then slowed down by his rivals on hard Pirelli riders. Victor continued his first stint until lap 26 and came out of his pit stop in 5th place ahead of Theo.
Victor overtook Doohan and Iwasa to take 3^rd place while Theo finished the event in 7^th.

Victor Martins:

“To be back on the podium was really good because it’s been a while. I started the weekend on the back foot after not being able to complete a single lap in free practice. It was good to build confidence and it was good for all the guys who work well and deserve better than our last results. In the sprint race, I was taking care of my tires but the safety car came out… I tried to warm my tires up behind the safety car but I was not 100% confident and I almost lost the car. On Sunday, we handled things really well from lights to flag. Choosing the opposite strategy turned out to be decisive. I was the first driver on the grid on the hard tires and I knew if I managed them and keep Vesti at bay I could have a chance to climb up onto the podium. When Clément, my engineer, told me we were fighting for it, it gave me extra motivation. Two podiums in the same weekend was really good before we head into the busy month of July.”

Clément Sudre:

“We didn’t start off on the right foot, but we came back from last place to the top 10 in qualifying. With the downpour in the sprint race, we knew we would have more opportunities to either do well or do poorly. We had driven in the rain in Barcelona during winter testing and Victor was feeling good right away. He changed tires one lap after Théo, but his rubber was cooler and he lost a place as a result. Théo was impressive in these tricky conditions. Their double podium was good for everyone. In the Feature Race and starting from 7^th place, we took the risk of exposing ourselves to an early safety car, but in the end, success was on our side. For Théo, it was a close call, he fell into traffic and that cost him dearly, but he too had the potential to aim for a podium finish. Victor managed every situation well and with one more lap he could possibly have taken 2^nd place. The performance is there, we have to achieve good results in each race, without making any mistakes.”