Ayumu Iwasa expressed surprise with his performance and points results following a tricky adjustment to the FIA Formula 2 Championship.

The DAMS rookie has delighted pretty much everybody since he stormed through the field multiple times during both the Sprint and Feature races in Bahrain. Today’s podium in Barcelona is another impressive string added to Iwasa’s bow.

“In Bahrain race weekend, I was surprised a little bit about my performance, because the test was quite bad, and I was struggling with the speed. The basic speed was really bad.

“We were struggling with the car set up and and driving as well.”

The Bahrain qualifying session saw him spinning on cold tyres on a cold track, but he was more than happy with his results:

“In qualifying I made a bad mistake. The car was really good in the race. I did my job.”

Despite this, he finished the Sprint Race in P8. Higher than any other driver in their maiden race.

The second race weekend in Jeddah also saw the Red Bull junior bag points, in both races:

“From Jeddah I had quite good confidence with the car, and I could improve my driving as well, so it’s a really good balance between the car and the team and my driving side.” 

In today’s Barcelona Sprint Race he turned his P5 reverse-grid qualifying spot, into a second place trophy, after making a great start, and successfully fending off an eager Logan Sargeant throughout the 26 lap race.

Looking to the rest of the season, Iwasa is confident:

“I think I could improve a lot.” 

Are you as impressed as we are?

Image Credit: Dutch Photo Agency