Below Ines Koschutnig, Racing Engineering’s Chief Executive Officer, explains the team’s strategy for this weekend and for the upcoming series of three races in four weeks.

The last round at the Baku street circuit was not really what the team was looking for, and the break between Baku and the next round in Austria is short. Was it enough time to fully analyse the Baku weekend?

Our engineers are doing a great job, they put a lot of effort into their work and they are quick at analysing what happened throughout each session of a race weekend. There were a lot of incidents hampering our Baku round and this resulted in us having to walk away without scoring a single point, which obviously is very upsetting. Mistakes are always possible; the important point is to not make them again and our drivers are currently in Spain busy debriefing what happened in Baku with our engineers. The focus, however, has to be on Austria and the challenging Red Bull Ring as we have an intense month ahead of us with the next three rounds.

With regards to Austria and the Red Bull Ring, what makes this venue special for the team and drivers?

Racing at the Red Bull Ring is special for teams as well as drivers. From a driving point of view, even though it is a short track, similar to Monaco and Budapest, it allows for overtaking chances and this is what makes races in Austria exciting. We will surely see overtaking in corners 1 and 2 and even other zones where passing is possible, they might be riskier, but this is what racing is all about. The track layout in Austria is interesting and the elevation changes add yet another challenge and as it’s such a short track, the drivers have to keep their concentration level high throughout the entire session. Another factor to always keep in mind in Austria is the weather, the Red Bull Ring is situated in an area where the weather can change quite quickly and rain has to always be factored in.

You are Austrian yourself, so do you consider this as a kind of home race?

Racing in Jerez later this year in October is definitely our home race. We are all very excited about racing so close to the team’s headquarters and having a second race event in Spain this season. From a personal point of view Austria is certainly a special round for me, but mainly because I enjoy seeing the crowd so excited and involved in the show. You see most of the track from the stands and every year a fantastic program to entertain the fans is prepared.

This month will be an intense time with 3 race weekend events. How does Racing Engineering team prepare for Austria, Silverstone and Hungary?

For a Formula 2 team, where we are limited to 12 operational staff, a month like this is obviously challenging. Our engineers, mechanics and truckies are working flat out for the entire month. This also requires a well-functioning back office in Spain, supporting the technical crew wherever possible. Most preparation has already been done and it’s only the engineers’ work with the drivers, which takes place back in Spain between Silverstone and Hungary. The cars will leave Austria and Silverstone already prepared for the next event, ready to go racing. Our mechanics are not only very experienced, but also used to these kind of time restraints and, so far, this season we have had no technical issues hampering our performance in any race event, something we will never get tired of appreciating when speaking about their work.

Racing Engineering is focusing on the Red Bull Ring, what are your expectations for Austria?