Despite qualifying second at the third round of the FIA Formula 2 Championship, Ayumu Iwasa feels he “Should have managed more.”
The young rookie driver expertly navigated  a hectic day of racing, with sessions affected by red flags and delays, rapidly changing weather conditions, and darkness as the session ran late.
Although he achieved such a strong result, speaking during the post-Qualifying press conference, the Japanese driver still felt there was room for improvement:
“It was quite a nice session, and I was quite good in the conditions, but I had a small driving mistake during my best lap and had a bit of overheating on the rear tyres, so I should have managed a little bit more.”
The Red Bull Junior was eager not to get carried away after his success:
“Honestly I don’t want to focus too much on the result [on Sunday]. As a rookie I should get good experience from the race. I will keep pushing and will try to improve from Bahrain.”
His Qualifying result was impressive in any circumstances, but was made all the more special given his lack of experience, as he had “never driven in Imola before”, so had to “prepare a lot in the simulator before this weekend.”
The DAMS driver will line up in ninth place for Saturday’s Sprint Race, but has an opportunity to gain a strong result when he starts the Feature Race from the front row of the grid.
As a rookie, Iwasa has already shown great promise and demonstrated his talent, but a strong performance on Sunday could catapult the young driver into title contention in what is looking to be a very open Championship fight.
Image Credit: Formula Motorsport Limited
