FIA Formula 2 driver, Frederik Vesti, had an outstanding weekend in Monza, finishing in P2 on the podium in both the Sprint and Feature Races.

Benefitting from a reverse-grid Pole on Saturday, the Feature Race result felt like a bigger achievement to the ART driver after Qualifying and starting in 10th place on the grid.

Talking immediately after the Feature Race podium celebrations to the media, Vesti described in detail his weekend:

“I think yesterday we finished P2 and today we finished P2, but the difference was we started on Pole yesterday and today we started P10, so I think we did a good job.”

The Sprint Race saw Vesti get away cleanly as Logan Sargeant in P2, became bogged down on the start. Jüri Vips slotted into the Carlin driver’s spot, and by Lap 4 the Estonian took the race lead after out-braking Vesti into Turn 4. The Hitech driver didn’t look back and enjoyed his first race win since Baku 2021. Vesti hung on, chasing Vips all the way to the chequered flag.

During Sunday’s Feature Race, Vesti just missed the Lap 1 carnage that brought his teammate, Théo Pourchaire’s race, and Championship hopes to an end. Surviving two Safety Cars and a Red Flag incident Vesti secured his second podium of the weekend, closely behind race winner, Jehan Daruvala.

“Yesterday I lost the position to Jüri at the start of the race, but today we were clearly more aggressive. We had a good start and made some progress early in the race and that just makes a difference.

“We had good pace but not quite enough to reach Jehan. I think we went from P10 to P2, which is obviously a great result in itself. 

“Strategy was good, but also the car was really strong. I made three or four good overtakes, which meant I was in the position. I had three track limits at the end with five laps to go, so it also meant I had to come down a bit on my driving and maybe settling on a second place, which is what I did. It was the safe choice, it would be a shame to lose a podium just for track limits, so yeah, I think we can be happy with this weekend.”

Tyre choice, as usual, was critical to a successful strategy and result:

“We started on the Option, we did a couple of corners then had a Safety Car. Five, six, seven laps of Safety Car, into a couple of laps racing, into a Red Flag and then we did the race and that was a clean race after that. But yeah, stop-start chaos, overtakes, defending everywhere, but it’s F2 in Monza and it’s obviously a cool thing.“

Vesti sits in eighth place with 117 points in the Drivers’ Championship, with one final round to go at Yas Island. Currently sharing joint first place with MP Motorsport, the ART team will be hoping for maximum results in Abu Dhabi, to secure their first Teams’ Championship victory in the modern era of Formula 2 racing.

Image Credit: Formula Motorsport Limited