Ayumu Iwasa, the training driver for Red Bull F1, finished 7th in the FIA-F2 Round 8 Austrian feature race.
FIA F2 Championship Round 8 Austria celebrated its feature race on Sunday, 10th. Ayumu Iwasa started from 4th in the 2nd row according to the order of qualifying. Red Bull Ring, which was hit by rain in the morning, began to spread the blue sky as the start of the F2 feature race approached, but the road surface had many wet parts, and the wet race was declared and it reached 10:05 am of the start. ..
The temperature was 14 degrees Celsius and the road surface temperature was 22 degrees Celsius, and although the road surface was wet in places, there were many dry parts, making it extremely difficult to select tires. The race started with many machines starting with wet tires for the upper ranks and dry tires for the middle team and below.
Ayumu Iwasa, who got off to a good start, moved up to 2nd place by the 1st corner. She then passed her on turn four, but she finished the first lap in 3rd place. On the second lap, a machine that spins and stops will appear and a safety car will be introduced. The race resumed on lap 5, but the road conditions recovered rapidly and the pace of dry tires increased.
Ayumu Iwasa, who struggled with wet tires, allowed the lead in a row on the 6th and 7th laps and went down to 7th. She made a pit stop on lap 8 and changed to dry medium tires to return to the race in 14th place.
A machine that started with dry tires made a pit stop in the middle of the race, and Ayumu Iwasa moved to 9th position on lap 16. After that, he aimed to improve his position, but he couldn’t get out of the race in close quarters, and the race ended in 9th place.
Warnings and penalties occurred frequently for running off the course from the middle of the race, and after warning Ayumu Iwasa, a time penalty of 5 seconds was imposed at the end of the race. Ayumu Iwasa, whose pace did not improve after the middle stage, kept the 9th position and received the checkered flag of 40 laps. Time was added to those who received a penalty after the race, but there were many penalties in the upper ranks, and Ayumu Iwasa’s result scored 6 points in 7th place.
Ayumu Iwasa has a total of 44 points this season and is ranked 13th in the series ranking.
“We started in very difficult conditions and chose wet tires to minimize the risk because we were 4th in the 2nd row. As a result, it was better to start with dry tires. But I think this is a unavoidable part, “commented Ayumu Iwasa.
“The start went well and I was able to raise my position. Wet tires got tough early and I changed the tires, but after changing the tires to dry, the set came off and it became a lot of understeer. It was a wet set that could handle dry tires, but it didn’t work and the race was out of balance. “
“I don’t think today’s results are in very difficult conditions and it’s not anyone’s fault, but in order to get the results, even in such a race, we’re more strategically and mechanically packed. I think I have to do it, so I would like to make use of this as an experience. “
“I’m honestly not convinced about the penalty. There is something unclear about the track limit, and I was running with a margin after receiving the third warning. Still, I’m not sure about the penalty. Next is Paul Ricard, who has experience in F3, so I’d like to switch to it. “
