Water ballet in Formula 2, Doohan a victim: 'You have to be lucky'

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Crashes In Formula 2 At Melbourne
31 March 2023 at 11:54
Last update 31 March 2023 at 12:02
  • GPblog.com

For the first time, Formula 2 and Formula 3 competed in Australia. In F2, Ayumu Iwasa captured pole for the main race, making history, as the Japanese driver qualified ahead of Theo Pourchaire (second) and Victor Martins in the pouring rain. MP Motorsport's Dennis Hauger will start Saturday's sprint race from first place, having finished qualifying tenth, as there is a reverse grid for the sprint race.

The big loser of the day was Jack Doohan. The Australian was by far the fastest in the only free practice session of the weekend, but due to the second red flag in the closing stages of qualifying caused by Martins, he did not manage to improve his time. At the time the session was stopped, Doohan had driven two fastest sectors on his flying lap. Consequently, Doohan then had to get off the power, losing his fastest lap, and he will start all the way back in 15th on Sunday.

A familiar situation

Martins, of all people, took partial advantage of the red flag. "Everyone has been in a situation like Jack," Martins commented while speaking to the media. "You have two more laps, you know you have performance, and then there is the red flag. It's also racing. You have to deal with everyone's mistakes. You must also have luck. You can see it like this: you should have done a lap before. I have been in that situation. I don't put an excuse, I did not deliver before. You can't deal with everyone on track, you can only control yourself."

Qualifying was full of incidents. The F2 drivers had never driven in Melbourne before, let alone in wet conditions. A number of times, drivers were surprised by the slippery road surface, with some damage to be noted here and there. Oliver Bearman, for example, went sideways into the wall, damaging his PREMA considerably in the process.