What looked like being a pointless weekend for Spanish team Campos Racing was rescued by Jack Aitken’s heroic defensive drive in the FIA Formula 2 sprint race to hold on to the final championship point.
A poorly timed yellow flag and a feature race stop/go penalty piled the misery on Campos but they will be happy to come away from the opening round with a point on the board.
Aitken was unfortunate not to be higher on the grid after showing good pace but the yellow flag stopped his push on his last flying lap.
Reflecting on the weekend, he said: “Overall it was a frustrating weekend for us because we had the pace to compete up the front but we were really unlucky with penalty in Race 1. It was my mistake but it is really harsh. It is just one of those things happening sometimes. Today was a lot of better.
“We managed to finish in the points and showed good pace. We will continue working in the next few days in order to get ready for next weekend.”
Rookie Guilherme Samaia had a big learning experience at the Red Bull Ring as he jumped up to F2 from Euroformula Open and as a result, never troubled the points scorers.
He said: “It was a weekend of many lessons learnt. There are always things you aren’t always able to assimilate or predict in such a short track time. I am glad to finish all sessions completing free practice, qualifying session and both races.
“Of course, I made mistakes but I also managed to do my work properly. That is why I am looking forward to next two races. I will continue learning and there is still a lot of room for improvement.”
