Starting from 16th Ayumu Iwasa finishes on the podium in 2nd. He narrowly misses the top spot after closing in on the leader on the final lap
Red Bull RingThe Feature Race of the FIA Formula 2 Round 8 Austria took place on Sunday 2 July. As per the qualifying order, Ayumu Iwasa started from P16 in Row 8 of the grid.
At 9.55am for the start of the F2 Feature Race, it was clear and sunny at the Red Bull Ring with an ambient temperature of 17°C and a track temperature of 25°C. With no threat of rain, tyre strategy was expected to be the key. Many of the top qualifiers started on super soft tyres, while the middle group, including Iwasa, opted for soft tyres planning to make their pit stops in the second half of the race.
After a good start, Iwasa moved up to 14th by the first corner. He then overtook three more cars and finished the opening lap in 11th. On Lap 6, two of the leading cars went off the track and Iwasa moved up to 9th. As such he succeeded in improving to a point-scoring position in the early stages of the race. On Lap 9, as drivers who had started on super softs began to change their tyres, Iwasa who stayed on climbed the field and by Lap 11 he was running in 3rd. He closed the gap to the front while managing his tyres.
On Lap 28, Iwasa pitted for a tyre change. Almost at the same time as Iwasa returned to the track, a car stopped on the track and the Virtual Safety Car (VSC) was activated. Iwasa returned to the race in 9th position and when the Safety Car was later brought on, some of the top drivers changed tyres for the second time and Iwasa moved up to 6th.
The race resumed on Lap 33 and Iwasa, on fresh super soft tyres, started to catch up at a high pace. On Laps 33 and 34, he overtook a car to move up to 4th and now a podium position was in sight. A car then stopped on the track and the VSC was activated for two laps. On Lap 36, when the VSC was lifted, Iwasa picked up the pace again and marked the fastest lap on Lap 37. On Laps 38 and 39, he passed the top cars, which had lost pace, and moved up to 2nd, closing in on the leader. In the final lap he tried to take the lead but was just 0.4 seconds short taking the chequered flag in 2nd.
With 19 points for his 2nd place and fastest lap, Iwasa now has 101 points in the series ranking. Although he is still in 3rd place, he is now just four points behind 2nd place.
We were quite lucky (with VSC and SC etc), but 2nd place was a good result. The strategy worked well, taking advantage of the positive points from the Sprint Race and the performance we had. Before the tyre change, I stayed away from the car in front of me because of its dirty air, but I was able to preserve my tyres without losing time. That was good. We will check the video now, but I think we had a good chance to take the lead on the final lap. I think Turn 6 was the key point and I’ll review it in detail.It was a good start to the four events in July. This race made me realise once again that I have to attack. It means that if you don't challenge yourself, both in driving and the settings of the car, you won't get good results. The series ranking is the accumulation of all these efforts, so I will keep my all-out attack mode.
