Interviews by Sergio Álvarez; spiritual guidance by Diego Merino.
Qualifying, FIA F3
Q: “Cograts on this result guys (Hadjar P1, Martins P2, Bearman P3), did you, during any given moment during the session, see a move by any of your rivals that you’d label as erratic driving? Thanks.”
Hadjar: “Yeah, I think I caused a mess, I have to say! On the last run I really wanted a tow but in the end I just wanted one guy to go in front. I think I was with Vidales and he was slowing down quite a lot to let me through and I didn’t want it! He moved out of the way on that first push lap so I ended up alone for two laps so I was left focusing on my tyre preparation and in the end (I) was causing a mess. I don’t think anyone was being dangerous. It’s just the nature of this layout, you know. You want to have a gap with the guy in front, the track is so small and we are 30 cars on track. I think we managed it quite okay.”
Martins: “To honest, from my side, I’ve seen no one from my rivals on track because I was obviously the last car in the pit lane. Even when I was in between of everyone, I was just trying to place myself, I only saw my team-mates so I was trying, you know to stay with them, stay in the same sequence and maybe get a tow from them. But in the end, I didn’t see any dangerous driving, except I got a bit of traffic because of a Charouz but that was a problem for many drivers, (I did not see any dangerous driving) not from my rivals.”
Bearman: “For me, I had no problems. I was right in the middle of the pack, especially in the second run but it was more of a case that nobody wanted to lead, nobody wanted to pass the guys in front, apart from some people at the back who were racing like it’s a world championship so no, in the end it was okay, just a few guys. Nothing major.”
Sprint Race, FIA F3
Q (to all 3 drivers, Crawford P1, Collet P2, Colapinto P3): “How hard was it to switch on the tyres at the beginning of the race?”
Crawford: “Red Bull Ring is quite a short track so it’s quite difficult to put the temp into the tyres. You know, I think the most difficult part was probably the Safety Car restart and the VSC restart to keep the tyre temp up and to make sure you have the fronts in the right window, make sure you cool down the rears a bit. I think that was the main point of the race, those SC restarts.”
Collet: “I think that was where especially Jack and Arthur (Leclerc) could make a difference today because I was struggling quite a lot after SC restarts and even the first few laps of the race. So we need to understand why they can put a little bit more temperature than us into the tyres, but I think it played a big role in the race today. Anyway, let’s see tomorrow how it goes.”
Colapinto: “Yeah, the same for me. I also struggled after the restarts. Of course, I was trying to work quite hard the tyres during the Safety Cars. After the restart we were struggling a lot with the balance and it made it very tricky to follow so losing a bit of grip in those couple of laps and when the tyres got up to temp, we just got some grip back.”
Q: “Today Juan Manuel Correa was doing great until he hit trouble, after such a challenging and difficult period in his life after the events of Spa in 2019, did you think that he’d have the mental strength to make such a strong comeback?”
Collet: “I think on mental strength he is probably the strongest of all of us on the grid. To make a comeback like that and every weekend he is pushing himself and his body to fight so I think all of us, we admire him quite a lot from what he’s doing. I mean, from my side I was quite happy to go from P2 to P1, but it’s a bit of a shame to see him lose a race like that.”
Crawford: “Obviously, you feel bad for him. At the same time, it’s a free position. But I think these types of things happen when you have crashes or engine failures, they’re things that aren’t in your control, I think. It gives you that bigger drive to go out there and perform.”
Colapinto: “Yeah, definitely. I saw Juan already dropping some water on the grid and of course something was wrong there. But yeah, just big respect for him, he was driving really well in the front of the race. He was doing a great job, of course these things happen and they’re not in the control of the drivers. He just has to focus on the next race, I also had some difficult couple of past weekends and now we are back on the podium so it just comes back every weekend and you have more opportunities with each race.”
FIA F2, Feature Race*
I wasn’t waiting around, I knew I had to make moves quick and make it happen and that’s what we did. We’ve been quick all year. We just need to keep it going and obviously I just feel like I’m getting stronger and stronger.”
Logan Sargeant
Q: “Which are the trickiest moments that you can recall from being on slicks on a partly wet and drying track?”
Jehan Daruvala (P2/P12 with penalty): “Yeah, I think it’s similar (to Verschoor). Turn One and Turn Three on lap one was the trickiest bit and after that just keeping my nose clean, trying to come through because the guys on the wets were really struggling and the speed difference was pretty big in some corners. So yeah, just trying to keep my nose clean was the most important and tricky bit.”
Richard Verschoor (P1/DSQ): “I thought it was gonna be the start, but it wasn’t. I actually had a good start compared to the people around me. Then Turn One and exit of Turn Three was a bit tricky so I had some big moments there. Not really anything special.”
Q: “Logan, after Spielberg you might have a realistic shot at the championship, are you going to be taking more risks, like today with the tyres?”
Logan Sargeant (P3/P1): “Yeah, today obviously it was the wrong decision to start the race (on the wrong tyre) but once we got on the right one I took a lot of risk. I wasn’t waiting around, I knew I had to make moves quick and make it happen and that’s what we did. I mean, we’ve been quick all year, we’ve been right at the sharp end in all the Feature Races now. We just need to keep it going and obviously I just feel like I’m getting stronger and stronger.”
* As per F2: Richard Verschoor has been disqualified from the Formula 2 Feature Race after the Trident team were unable to provide the required post-race fuel sample for scrutineering. As per F2: Jehan Daruvala has also received a post-race drive through penalty, which since it could not be served during the race, has been converted to a 20-second penalty in the final classification. As per F2: The two penalties promote Logan Sargeant to the race victory from his P3 finish at the chequered flag.
iberianmph.com 