Starting from 13th, Ayumu Iwasa moves up late in the race to finish 8th. Gains 4 points to remain 7th in the championship
Circuit de Spa-FrancorchampsThe Feature Race of the FIA Formula 2 Round 11 Belgium took place on Sunday, 28 August. Ayumu Iwasa, who had qualified 13th, started from P13 in the 7th row of the grid.
The weather at Spa-Francorchamps was fine with blue skies, and the race got underway at 10.20am under dry conditions with an ambient temperature of 17°C and track temperature of 22°C.
Iwasa made it through the scramble of cars without any problems at the start of the race and kept his position to finish the opening lap in 13th. He then passed a slow car and one in front to move him up to 11th on Lap 3. Then, he overtook other drivers on Laps 4 and 5 to climb to 9th. While Iwasa opted for medium tyres to start the race, those leading cars on soft tyres began to make pit stops from Lap 7, which instantly promoted the Japanese driver up the field. He was 2nd on Lap 11 and drove for a while, keeping the gap with the leader on the same tyre strategy at around four seconds.
On Lap 16 Iwasa went back to the pit for a tyre change and he was in 12th on Lap 17 when all cars had completed a pit stop. Catching up at an increased pace on fresh soft tyres, Iwasa overtook cars on Laps 17, 18 and 20 to move to 9th with his eyes still on higher positions. On Lap 23, he wove his way through the inside at the entry to Turn 1, passed a car to take 8th place and continued to put pressure on the car in front. Towards the end of the race, the VSC was activated due to a crashed car and Iwasa missed the chance to further improve his position. Although he closed in on the car in front, he had to settle for 8th place at the end of the race.
Iwasa added 4 points with his 8th-place finish and with a total of 94 points in his tally, he remains 7th in the championship ranking.
It was good to finish 8th and score some points in the end, and I'm happy with my strategy and the setup of the car. The strategy of starting on medium tyres allowed us to push at the end of the race. It was the right strategy. We’re able to perfect the setup of the car with regard to the acceleration at the Eau Rouge - an area of improvement from yesterday. This allowed me to successfully overtake on the straight after that. Of course, there are many things to reflect on, and in terms of driving, I probably should’ve been more aggressive, especially on the soft tyres. I had some slight concerns about my brakes and couldn't attack boldly, so I wasn’t fully successful in overtaking. Not only that, but if I’d been able to work out more of the details in general, I think I could’ve passed two or three more cars at the end. The car is still fast, so we’ll work on improving and adjusting detailed issues to make the most of it in the next race.
