FIA F4 CEZ 2024 | Red Bull Ring | Round 2
The Central European F4 Championship continued in picturesque Styria. The field almost doubled for the second round, full of competitive teams and drivers.
Changeable weather conditions
Due to the characteristics of the Spielberg circuit and the changeable circumstances in May, the weather was almost unpredictable for the whole weekend. Friday's free practice sessions therefore took place in dry and rainy conditions. On the positive side, Jonathan and the team were able to cover more kilometres on wet track, which could provide valuable experience for the season as a whole.
Tune in for Qualy
Friday's dry track experience was really needed for Saturday's qualifying, as the rain clouds seemed to have disappeared by the start of qualifying. We knew that our starting position in the first race would be decisive for the weekend as a whole, as where you start the race in the 24-strong field is a big factor in term of points.
"We had to qualify on a new tyre compound, which was an interesting challenge, and on Friday the wasn’t able to do too many qualifying simulations on slicks because of the rain."
The team still managed to put in a good performance, finishing 12th in a competitively close field.
"It was an exciting qualifying session, there was a lot of traffic, which was an added unknown factor compared to the previous weekend. I made a mistake on my fast lap, I slipped and lost a big ammount of time which I'm not happy about. However, it seems that we can be competitive and we can prepare for the first race with good motivation."
A lively first race
From 12th place, we managed to improve our position right at the start. Jonathan's pace was impressive for most of the race, but the safety car was forced to pull onto the track twice, giving us even less time to break ahead of the field. In the end, the 9th place we secured meant we could start Race 2 from the 9th grid position.
Chaotical Sunday
We were greeted by bright sunshine on the morning of the final day, so it was clear that the rain tyres would not be needed for the rest of the weekend. We prepared for race 2 with a different tactic to the others, as we planned to complete the race on used tyres. Nevertheless, Jonathan managed to position himself well during the give-and-take after the start and was able to move up to 7th place by the time the safety car was sent in. After the restart, we had a series of fierce battles, a lot of back and forth overtaking and a tough fight in the second half of the race, where we were slightly behind due to our different strategy. The chequered flag finally waved in 11th place for Jonathan, who was upbeat despite the loss of position:
"The result doesn't necessarily reflect what we could have got out of this race, but I'm still very confident because we had the pace to match the first half of the field, even though many of them have already used up their new tyres. Looking forward to race 3!"
The final race started with high expectations for the whole team, because as Jonathan said, there was an improvement in pace compared to the first half of the weekend, and we had the tyre advantage. Unfortunately, all hopes were soon dashed as Jonathan was pushed off the track by one of his rivals after the start on the middle sector, and while driving on the gravel, the two front wheels came together, damaging our left front suspension. Fortunately Jonathan managed to keep the car under control and we escaped without any major damage, but we had to abandon the last race in Austria.
Looking ahead
We knew that this weekend would be much more challenging in every aspect, but everyone in the team did an impressive job. In 3 weeks we will be visiting Slovakia, where we will have a test opportunity before the weekend to prepare for the races.
See you at the Slovakia Ring from 7 to 9 June!
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