Qualifying:
For the fifth time this season, and following his performance in Baku, Victor qualified in the top 3 at Losail.Luke continued his progression in Formula 2 with the ART team, improving between free practice and qualifying, ultimately securing 14th position.
Sprint Race:
Victor had a remarkable start, moving into 3rd place by turn one. Two-thirds into the race, he held the same position, staying less than six seconds behind the leader. However, a sudden drop in tire performance saw him finish the sprint race just outside the points.Luke lost several positions at the start, ending the first lap in 16th. From there, he managed his hard tires effectively to climb up to 11th place by the finish.
Feature Race:
Victor lost a position at the start but regained it during his pit stop on lap 8. While running in 3rd place, he was overtaken by several drivers who had started on hard tires and capitalized on a well-timed safety car. A minor collision with a rival bent his suspension, forcing him to retire on lap 18 of the scheduled 32.Unlike Victor, Luke started on hard tires and took advantage of a late pit stop strategy to climb into 4th place. Unfortunately, a safety car neutralization ruined his efforts, dropping him back to 16th after his mandatory pit stop.
Victor Martins:
“We made solid progress with the car between free practice and qualifying, and once again, we came very close to securing our first pole position of the season. After a strong start in the sprint race, I focused on managing my tires, and our pace was quite good, but we hadn’t fully anticipated the degradation of the medium tires. The neutralizations worked against us in Race 2, but that’s all part of the game. Huge thanks to the team for the excellent pit stop that helped me regain 3rd place! Once I was back in the pack, the challenges of overtaking at Losail made the battles intense, and I fell victim to that. However, the outcome was already decided by then.”
Sébastien Philippe:
“It was our first time at Lusail, and it was important for us to gather valuable data on this new circuit. The pace was there, but several factors prevented us from converting it into strong results!”
Copyright: Dutch Photo Agency
