After starting from 7th Ayumu Iwasa suffers a problem on the opening lap.He makes a pit stop and is lapped but completes the race
Silverstone CircuitIn the free practice on Friday 7 July, Ayumu Iwasa, a Honda Formula Dream Project (HFDP) driver recorded the fastest time. In qualifying, a small mistake cost him pole position, but he was 3rd fastest and started the event in good form.
With one of the top cars having been penalised, Iwasa moved up on the grid’s starting position by one place to 7th in Row 4 in the Sprint Race, where a reverse grid is applied.
The Sprint Race on Saturday 8 July began under wet conditions due to rainfall just before the race. At 1:15pm when the formation lap got underway, the ambient temperature was 19°C and track temperature was 22°C. With the track surface fully wet, the formation lap was led by the Safety Car. After a three-lap formation lap, the race got going in a rolling start. As the battle for position took place amidst heavy water splashes, Iwasa's car slowed down and he lost a lot of positions. A contact accident occurred just in front of a slowing Iwasa, causing a car to stop and the Safety Car to lead the way. Iwasa pitted during the slow run, and he had the front wing removed and the brake area repaired. He was lapped during the Safety Car deployment and rejoined the race at the back of the pack.
Iwasa, who was lapped in 21st place, concentrated on collecting driving data while checking his pace by occasionally opening up a gap to the car in front and then speeding up. He picked up the pace towards the end of the race and set the fastest lap. He completed the race 21st.
After a rolling start, the pedal hit bottom under braking at the chicane and I lost brake power completely. I tried pumping the brake pedal several times, but it remained spongy, and I had to go back to the pit. The brakes were fixed after bleeding the air out of them in the pit. In other words, this is a simple mistake. The air hadn’t been released. The team are likely to take action to relocate or replace the mechanics, as they consider it important that the race was lost due to a simple mistake. It's frustrating and disappointing because I had a good pace because the car and my driving were in good form.
After discussing with the mechanics, we decided not to overtake to avoid the risk of contact and penalties once back in the race. The forecast for the Feature Race is dry, so I don't know if the data will be helpful, but I continued running for the future. It also ensured that we had sufficient pace, and I tried and achieved the fastest lap as well. That's why it's frustrating that we lost the race due to a simple mistake, but we’ll prepare well for the Feature Race.
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