Interviews by Sergio Álvarez; photos by Diego Merino.

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So Formula 2 is back in action at the hybrid Silverstone, I say hybrid because the 80s version, I reckon, was the purest in the sense of drivers facing a bigger challenge, no tweeting as well.

How do you sell someone a dummy or even THE dummy at follow-me-home dull corners? But anyway, some good bits still remain.

And Oscar Piastri did good, P1 no less. My champion-elect got greedy with the loud pedal and got the job done. Our top 10, by the way, looked quite familiar – the usual 2021 subjects and one Roy Nissany in P8, doing his best to support Russell’s P8 effort on F1’s first ever sprint race grid! Team-mates foreva, mate.

1. Piastri, PREMA Racing

2. Zhou, UNI-Virtuosi

3. Verschoor, MP Motorsport

4. Ticktum, Carlin Racing

5. Pourchaire, ART Grand Prix

6. Drugovich, UNI-Virtuosi

7. Shwartzman, PREMA Racing

8. Nissany, DAMS

9. Vips Hitech, Grand Prix

10. Lundgaard, ART Grand Prix

Let’s find out what he and other top 3 qualifiers had to say.

Q: Gents, could you describe your feelings in the car regarding the infamous Silverstone tailwind? Gives you wind?

Piastri: “With the tailwind, basically, we have less grip in general because we have a bit less downforce in the high-speed corners. So it was nice that it was quite constant, like it wasn’t very gusty. That was fine. I think Baku was much more gusty and then changing direction in amongst buildings and stuff. It’s not too bad in this car, the wind doesn’t seem to affect it too much. When I did the F1 test here I could definitely tell when the wind picked up a little bit so it’s nowhere near as bad as that. But it still makes a difference, when you have the tailwind, generally, you just have to take it a bit easier because you don’t quite have the same grip.”

Well said, mate.

And Guanyu, you got sort of caught up in the Red Flag situation, was a major red flag for you? Did you think your lap time would be deleted?

Zhou: “Yeah, to be honest, I saw a car spun in front of me, at Turn 15, and there was a smoke coming through there. Then actually I had my lap, because of last lap, affected by that in Turn 15 but then I saw the Red Flag (FIA’s Red Flag is a homage to the Chinese national flag, in case you ever wondered – no, just pulling your leg there) so all the way to the finish line I was checking my dash, also checking out the light panels. The moment I crossed the line I knew I was safe but actually we were just 1 or 2 seconds after it got red. I got a little bit lucky in that side to be able to at least get a lap in on my second set (of tyres) as my first flying lap was getting blocked by other drivers ahead. I was paying attention with the Red Flag so I knew I crossed the line just before that, I was thinking definitely I was safe.”

Looking forward to the BIG ONE at Silverstone! On Sunday, which, by coincidence or by design, we expect to live tweet and hopefully entertain thee. Thanks for reading.