Hi everyone…
Let’s get the negatives out of the way first. My second F2 season has had its fair share of things going wrong already, in both France and at Silverstone. In Magny-Cours we converted podium and race winning pace into a couple of top 10 finishes, not what I was after.
Plenty of things went wrong, largely outside of my control, but overall my qualifying performances still need to be better. My last pole position was in 2009. I would like to the see the F2 car more edgy and harder to drive but it is what it is and it’s what I have to work with. I’m still well in the running for the championship.
Silverstone went well with two second place finishes. It was a solid start to the season, until the race stewards threw me out of the second race for gaining no advantage at all from running the exit kerbs and run-off on the exit of Stowe.
In hindsight they were technically correct, I did leave the track too often with all four wheels, but I think giving drivers pushing their cars to the limits in this way such heavy penalties is plain stupid. It’s blindly enforcing the absolute letter of the written rules without giving any room for common sense.
We’re there driving to compete to the limits and put on a show for the audience. Nobody wants races ruined and interfered with because somebody decides you're not allowed to drive 2ft further to the left on a particular bit of track. With increasingly car friendly run-off areas I think this will become more and more common too.
Overall though, we’ve shown championship potential so far in my second year of F2, which is no surprise. To capitalise on this I’m going to have to start nailing my quali laps again – I know how to do it as I’ve done it before; I just need to do it again. Last time I was at Spa was in 2008, where I took pole by eight 10ths of a second in an F3 car on my first ever visit there.
Time to have a repeat performance!
Will