Prema Get Double Top 5 Finish
Prema had a double top-five finish in the Feature Race at Spa-Francorchamps.
Prema continued the positive streak of results with a podium in first race of the weekend.
Mick Schumacher had a great start to climb up to third in the opening stages, then nursed his soft tyres until he could pit. Despite a slight problem with a tyre during the pit stop, the German continued his fast and consistent pace to reclaim third after everyone had pitted, taking his fifth podium of the season.
Schumacher said: “I am really happy with P3 and my fifth podium of the season. Coming from P7 on the grid, I had a great start and overtook three cars in the first lap and another one only a few laps later. From then onwards it was all about tyre management, and I think we were really consistent today, especially with the medium compound after the pit stop. Therefore, we got a very satisfying result as well as a decent starting position for tomorrow.”
Robert Shwartzman, who started fourth, was on the same strategy as his teammate. The Russian had a small lock-up into turn one that cost him a couple of places but fought back while still managing his tyres. After a similar problem to his teammate at the pit stop, he continued to push as hard as he could, eventually finishing in fifth and scoring some great points for his championship fight including for the fastest lap.
Robert Shwartzman said: “It has been a quite messy race one. The start wasn’t the best, the launch itself was good, but then I suddenly had wheelspin, and I made a mistake in turn one, which cost me three places. I tried to get back in the position I was with pretty close fighting, but then the VSC came in, and I also lost the DRS. We got into the pits for the medium tyres, but our pitstop was pretty slow, and we lost a bit of time which would have helped us in the race. When I went out on the mediums, the car balance was just so good, and we had great grip. I decided to push to see where the limit was and to recover the time lost in the pits. I did the fastest lap with the extra two points. We finished P5, valuable points, and now we will keep working for race two.”
Shwartzman will once again start fourth as Prema hope to make it back up onto the podium for the Sprint Race in Belgium.
Image Credits: (C) Formula Motorsport Limited
