| The opening round of the 2017 FIA F2 Championship, held at Bahrain last month, was a disappointment for the Racing Engineering team with neither of its drivers scoring points. However, this weekend at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya it is a whole new race and the team have been working hard back at their Sanlúcar de Barrameda base to ensure that they are back at the front of the grid where they belong. The pre-season test at the Barcelona circuit has given the team a lot of information which will be of great assistance in setting up the cars to optimise their performance on this challenging circuit.
Below driver Gustav Malja, looks forward to this weekend at a circuit he enjoys competing on.
After the opening round in Bahrain, the FIA Formula 2 Championship starts its European rounds in Barcelona, which is also where the first pre-season test was held in March. Are you looking forward to racing in Spain?
Yes, I am really looking forward to the Barcelona race weekend. It was a very disappointing weekend in Bahrain and now both I and the team have been working on our strengths and weaknesses, both separately and together as a team to improve. I have a very good feeling going into the weekend.
Is the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya a track you like? If so, why and what makes it special for you?
Yes, it sure is. I enjoy the track because it is a technical circuit yet it requires courage in some corners, for instance T3 and T9. I had a good first qualifying of the year last year with P6 in my first full season of GP2 which was a good start. This time around I feel even stronger on the track and as a driver overall after having gathered a lot of experience in GP2/F2 so I am ready to have a great weekend. It is also in general a fantastic location, with Barcelona being very close to the track and for me Spain is a great country, I really enjoy spending time in Spain in general. It will be great to get to the track.
The Circuit de Barcelona–Catalunya is a combination of fast corners and a very technical third sector, furthermore, overtaking is difficult. How would you characterize the track and which ones are the most important corners?
Yes, indeed, there is a nice mix of both fast and technical corners, and it is quite difficult to overtake, so a good qualifying is important as always. The first sector is 3 corners, where the minimum speed is very high, the second sector is more medium-speed corners with T9 being the fastest corner. Finally, then comes the last sector being the technical section with many low-speed corners. So overall the characteristics of the track is a mix of low, medium and high-speed corners. We gathered a lot of data in the pre-season test so we have a clear idea of where we were fast and were we could find more speed both in me and in the car.
Pre-season testing in Barcelona has been quite positive, so what are your expectations for the race weekend? Yes, overall they are positive. My expectations for the weekend are taking it step by step, score as many points as possible and hopefully getting on to the podium! |
