Thoughts from Drugovich, Iwasa and Sargeant

FIA Formula 2: Many congratulations to the top three finishers of the FIA Formula 2 Sprint Race here at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. In third place, Logan Sargent for Carlin, in second place, Ayumu Iwasa for DAMS. And taking his second victory of the season and regaining the lead in the point standings, our winner Felipe Drugovich for MP Motorsport. Well done, Felipe. That was about as dominant as a win as we see around here. After a more difficult weekend at Imola last time out, how good does it feel to be back on the top step?

Felipe Drugovich: It feels pretty good. The race was quite smooth for my side, and I could control it how I wanted. I'm really satisfied with that. Obviously, we need to see the weekend as a whole, yesterday hasn't been amazing and we need to focus on tomorrow to make up for that. But for the moment, we're happy with where we are and with the pace we have. And yeah, that's it. I'm really happy about the job that the team has done today.

FIA Formula 2: Great pace in the race, but also a great start. Can you just talk us through your getaway?

Drugovich: I think since the formation lap started when I saw Calan had stalled the car, I could focus a little bit more on the left. So I knew if I had a good start, I would have some more space. I was just focusing on having a good start and once I got it, I just went to the left and there was some space there.

FIA Formula 2: What about the safety car restart, that looked like the only other challenging moment for you?

Drugovich: It was alright. I think I had some snap from the last corner, which didn't help and Ayumu was not so far away into Turn 1. But anyway, once we did Turn 1 it was pretty straightforward and I could control the race again.

FIA Formula 2: It was a very hot race. Talk us through tyre degradation. And what did you learn today that could help you in the Feature Race tomorrow?

Drugovich: I think of course, when you're out in front, the life of the tyres is longer and you can manage it a lot easier. So for me, it was okay to be fair, it was more thermal deg. Then I just had to manage the pace and not go too fast not to slip the tires so much. Apart from that it was actually better than what I expected.

FIA Formula 2: Soft or hard compound at the start tomorrow?

Drugovich: Mediums!

FIA Formula 2: Very good. Well done to you, Felipe. Ayumu coming to you now, many congratulations on your first FIA Formula 2 podium. Again, you made a good start, just talk us through it?

Ayumu Iwasa: Honestly, I was struggling a lot with the start until the last event, especially in Imola I had the two bad starts in Sprint Race and Feature Race. So I was working on starts a lot until this weekend. Then it worked, and I did a quite good start. Actually, it was not perfect, but it was very good. I was struggling with following, especially during the race, so I need to improve on that.

FIA Formula 2: There was a lot of pressure from Logan throughout the race. How confident were you in the pace of your car?

Iwasa: I was managing the tire quite a lot because I already saw big tyre deg in the test, even though it was really cold conditions So yeah, I was expecting big tyre deg. Even though I was managing it quite a lot, the tyre was getting worse and worse, especially temperature-wise. So I think still I can improve from my driving side. I wanted to see the data quick!

FIA Formula 2: And Ayumu what lessons did you learn today that can help you in the Feature Race tomorrow?

Iwasa: Actually, I think I need to work on following and the car setup. Because definitely, it's really difficult to overtake on this track. If I pushed too much with the following it would kill the tyre really quickly. I need to find a good solution for it.

FIA Formula 2: Well done today. Thank you, Logan coming to you. Your first podium in Formula 2 as well. So many congratulations for that, and another man who made a good start, talk us through it?

Logan Sargeant: It feels good to finally get a good start for once. It's something that I've been working on as well and I think today it paid off. Hopefully, I can keep that going, because that just made my race a lot smoother. I think our pace was really good throughout most of the race, as good as anyone. But I think being so close to the car in front sort of started to eat through the tires in the later stages. I think it's really positive and a good start to the weekend.

FIA Formula 2: We saw you get very close to Ayumu on various occasions in the race. Did you feel that P2 was ever really on the cards?

Sargeant: Yeah, absolutely. Especially at the start, I was really quick. I felt quicker than the two in front. So I was quite eager to get into P2 but there's such a fine line between, you know, hurting your tyre too much and what's realistic, I guess you could say.

FIA Formula 2: Now Logan you've been quick all weekend, right from when you first hit the track in Practice. Do you feel you've turned a corner with this car now?

Sargeant: I mean, for sure I'm getting more and more comfortable as the season goes on. To be honest, I think I think we've had a lot better pace than what we showed throughout the first three rounds. I plan on executing as we've done today a lot more often.

FIA Formula 2: Good luck with that. Thank you and well done today.