Louis vows to move forward after F2 disappointment in Azerbaijan

Louis Delétraz has vowed to continue to work hard and improve his FIA Formula Two Championship fortunes after suffering a disappointing weekend at the Baku City Circuit in Azerbaijan.

The reigning Formula V8 3.5 Rookie Champion was unable to find a clear lap during Friday’s qualifying session and was disappointed that he could only place his Racing Engineering car in P18 for Saturday’s Feature Race.

When the 27-lap race got underway, 20-year-old Louis made an uncharacteristic mistake on the 11th lap and was forced into retirement.

“Race one was looking okay and we had some pace and no tyre deg,” he explained. “But I made a mistake. I braked too late, tried to save it and hit the inside kerb. That sent me into the wall. That’s the first time I’ve hit a wall for three years and I will learn from it.”

Sunday’s Sprint Race then failed to yield the result the ADS Securities-supported driver was looking for as a curious lack of pace meant he was unable to climb any higher than P17 at the chequered flag.

“Race two was very strange. We really had no pace at all. We have to analyse it because it’s not like we were missing just a bit. We were missing a lot. I don’t know if something went wrong and we couldn’t use the tyres well – I have no answer for now,” he said. “For sure, it was something not good and nobody is happy with the situation.”

Louis admitted Baku returned the worst results he’s ever had in his career. But he’s determined to channel his disappointment into producing a positive outcome in the European F2 events that are approaching.

He said: “It’s been a bad weekend and now we have to move forward. I’m looking forward to the next races. Three of the first four races this season were the strange ones for me – Bahrain, Monaco and Baku – but now we’re going back to Europe and the tracks I know and where I’ll be in more normal situations. From now on, we have to be strong.

“When you look at past seasons, some rookie drivers had a really bad start to the season but came back much stronger. Now I’m about to go back to territory that I know and that’s very important for me and my season.”

Louis’ maiden FIA Formula Two Championship season will resume at Spielberg in Austria on 7-9 July.

RACE RESULTS