Louis Delétraz qualifies 12th for Racing Engineering today at the Red Bull Ring

07/07/17 Louis Delétraz qualifies 12th for Racing Engineering today at the Red Bull Ring.

Yet again this season it was another beautiful day that greeted the teams at the Red Bull Ring, Austria, for the morning Practice session of the fifth round of the 2017 FIA Formula Two Championship with air and track temperatures of 28° and 45° respectively. Pirelli are supplying their P Zero Yellow soft and P Zero Red supersoft compounds to the teams this weekend as the smooth circuit does not put too much strain on the tyres as there are no really fast corners here. Both Louis Delétraz and Gustav Malja have raced here before so they were familiar with the layout of the track.

The Racing Engineering cars were quickly on the track for the forty-five-minute session and, like the other cars, they were using the medium compound Pirelli tyres. Louis was the first driver to set a fast time as he went quickest with a lap of 1:15.825 which he then improved to 1:15.362. Gustav was also lowering his lap times and he was just a little slower on 1:16.043 and he too immediately went faster on a 1:15.480 to lie right behind his teammate.

After twenty-five minutes both cars returned to the pits for some set-up changes and Louis was quickly back on track after five minutes with Gustav following him after ten minutes to test the alterations. Louis returned to the pits with ten minutes still to run and once again Gustav joined him with five minutes of the session left as the track temperature dropped to 39° as the skies began to cloud over. Louis was back on track with just four minutes remaining and Gustav was right behind him but with a car stopped on track resulting in yellow flags and the Stewards taking the opportunity to have a Virtual Safety Car practice neither of the Racing Engineering drivers could improve on their earlier times.

The weather was still hot for the afternoon thirty-minute Qualifying although it was now cloudy with air and track temperatures of 31° and 42° respectively and all the cars were now fitted with the Pirelli P Zero Red supersoft compounds as the drivers battled for their grid positions. With a chance of rain all the cars were immediately on track to ensure they set a quick time early on and Louis set a 1:15.269 for second fastest on his first flying lap but the times were dropping quickly and on his next lap he improved to 1:14.845. Gustav was a little slower on 1:15.642 which he then reduced to 1:15.558 and with ten minutes of the session completed both Racing Engineering cars returned to the pits for a new set of supersoft Pirellis.

There was eight minutes still to go when Louis and Gustav returned to the track and three personal best sectors saw Louis improve to 1:14.377 to move up to 7th while Gustav also improved to 1:15.121, however a car spinning off into the gravel in the dying minutes causing yellow flags prevented either Louis or Gustav from improving their times.

At the end of the session Louis finished in 12^th place and Gustav 20^th so, for Louis, it will be a good chance to score points in tomorrow’s Feature Race and secure a good grid position for Sunday’s Race. Starting at the back of the grid will make it difficult for Gustav but with the whole field separated by just 1.7 seconds it is still possible to fight for a good result.

©FIA F2 Championship

©FIA F2 Championship

Team Comments:

Sebastien Viger, Technical Director: “After the difficulty of racing at two unknown street circuits during the last events, Louis came back to known territory for the upcoming European races. There are some positives to take from this as it excluded one factor, so the work and pace he showed was more efficient, but it still leaves potential to be unlocked. In Gustav's case, he hasn't found his footing this weekend so far and a very deep analysis needs to be done before tomorrow's race.”

Louis Delétraz: “Free practice was a bit difficult. We struggled with the balance of the car, but worked on it between sessions to make sure we improved it. We did a good step to move a bit forward, but I think there is more to come, if we work well. It's positive and we worked in the good way. I’m looking forward to the races and aim to score points.”

Gustav Malja: “This was a very disappointing session for all of us and the starting position for tomorrow’s race is definitely not where we belong. We will look into what has happened, but the main point right now is to focus on the two races, where we will fight back.”