Dennis Hauger og de andre juniorførerne til Red Bull er klare for to nye Formel 2-løp i Saudi Arabia denne helgen. Les mer i denne pressemeldingen på engelsk.
The intensity of the opening F2 round in Sakhir continues in Jeddah. Red Bull Juniors Liam Lawson and Jüri Vips lie second and third in the title chase with Lawson just a point off the lead and looking for the top step of the podium at the Corniche circuit.
Vips shares his aspirations along with Jehan Daruvala, Ayumu Iwasa and Dennis Hauger.
Lawson just needs one more step
“I like the track a lot, very very fast, exciting to drive, especially through Qualifying if everything is hooked up,” enthuses the 20-year-old New Zealander who scored a 3rd and a 2nd last weekend after Qualifying P6. “When you put a good lap together there it’s a very nice feeling.”
“To improve for this weekend? I think overall Quali performance in general, from Bahrain at least. We missed out a little bit last weekend so that is the target, to improve that. It would be good.”
Vips making changes for a favourite
“In Bahrain I was never worried about the pace, but Saudi I am not so sure,” explains the 21-year-old Estonian. “Last year in the races we were fine but in Qualifying we were clearly lacking pace.”
“We are going to change the car a fair bit to last year and see what comes of it. I think that we should be strong but let’s see.”
“It’s a track that I love but I will enjoy it a lot more if we can get some good results,” he concluded with a broad grin. “I really enjoy doing a Quali lap around there but unfortunately we were struggling a bit last year.”
Daruvala keen on the speed and working on details
“Obviously from last year Jeddah is the fastest street track we’ve ever driven on,” explains the 23-year-old Indian. “Honestly I had a lot of fun here last year, in Qualifying and also in the races. It has a lot of places that you can overtake, a lot of fast corners as well.”
“There are a lot of risks that you can take in Qualifying to find time and also in the races you can overtake so it’s really good for the drivers overall. It’s a track I really enjoy.”
“From last weekend there are a few bits to improve but I think we have the overall pace and package. It’s just about cleaning it up a bit more and putting things together.”
“I’ll be working a bit on my race starts so that we can be fighting at the front”
Iwasa ready to improve for speed
“Jeddah seems quite difficult for me because honestly my driving style is not great for high speed,” admits the 20-year-old Japanese. “For High speed corners I have to improve a lot and Jeddah has a lot of high speed.”
“I can improve and I think that this weekend will be a really good opportunity to do that, to improve my driving. Also there will be less overtaking than Bahrain.”
“I should be good in Quali and at least get top 10, better top 6. I can improve a lot my one lap performance, both FP and Quali. That is my improvement to make. In Jeddah there are a lot of walls and some straights, I am excited.”
Hauger aiming to move up the grid
“It will be my first time on the street circuit so looking forward to see how everything is,” says the 19-year-old Norwegian. “It’s a really high speed track with several combinations. Looking forward to get the laps in and keep the improvement going.”
“I think overall last weekend was a bit messy. But there were several positive things to take from that event and I just have to keep focusing on the improvement points.”
“Keep the focus into this weekend. I think we can do a good job if we just have a clean weekend and keep the development for me going.”
Jeddah weekend schedule – all times AST Arabia Standard Tim (CET +2)
Friday 25th March
14:25 – Practice (45 minutes)
18:25 – Qualifying (30 minutes)
Saturday 26th March
15:30 – Sprint 1 (20 Laps or 45 Mins +1 lap)
Sunday 27th March
16:55 – Feature Race (28 Laps or 60 Mins +1 lap)