Baku Q&A with Gustav Malja: “…it will be great fun!”

19/06/17 Baku Q&A with Gustav Malja: “…it will be great fun!”

The third round of the 2017 FIA F2 Championship will be held this weekend at the Baku City Circuit, Azerbaijan and, although it is the second street circuit in succession for the F2 teams, as Racing Engineering’s driver Gustav Malja explains below it will be a very different challenge. Gustav has shown in the last two race weekends that he is quickly adapting to the new environment at the Spanish team and, as his confidence grows, he is becoming more and more competitive with each outing.

Below Gustav looks back to his success at Monaco and forward to Baku a circuit he raced on last year in the 2016 GP2 Series.

Congratulations on your first podium with Racing Engineering during the last round in Monaco! What does it mean to you to finish in the top 3 at Monaco?

Thanks. It means a lot to me and it was a great feeling to get a podium on such a classic circuit as Monaco. It is something I'm truly thankful for and it is a big boost for me in general, so big thanks to the team as they did a great job.

Not only did you finish your last race on the podium, it was also your fourth consecutive points finish. Do you think this trend will be continued during the next events?

Yes, for sure. As always, the target is to score as many points as possible in every race, and I am sure that we can continue that trend. We will keep our focus and keep working hard for more!

Baku, Azerbaijan is the next venue. Even though it’s another street circuit, the characteristics are completely different. Where do you see the main differences comparing the two circuits?

There are big differences in the characteristics. Baku is a very fast track and with long straights, whilst in Monaco you don't find many straights, there is almost always a bit of steering active in Monaco and the speed is in general quite low whereas in Baku that's not the case, mainly because of the straights, the track width and the fact that there is more high-speed corners. In Sector 2 there is some similarities to Monaco, there is for instance the Castle part which is very tight and very close to the walls when pushing hard!

Where do you see the main challenges for a driver around the Baku City circuit? What are its specialties?

It's really a lot about commitment, going around 330 km/h in a city is very spectacular! There is a lot of heavy braking, going from very high speed to very low speed in some corners, so it is important to be committed and attack under braking. There are other elements which are tested, for instance precision in the tight sections, it will be great fun!

It would be fantastic to see you on the podium again in Azerbaijan. What are your expectations and goals for the upcoming event in Baku?

As always, I want to win, that's why I am competing. We have now had our first podium together also the first for the year and now we want to go for more podiums and for wins. We have had very good race pace, and we are working hard to keep improving on that, and we mainly want to improve on our qualifying performance as that will put us in a better position for Race 1 and for the entire weekend!