Louis wants positive F2 conclusion on “home” track
Switzerland’s Louis Delétraz is hoping his previous experience at the Yas Marina Circuit will help him end his rookie FIA Formula 2 Championship season on a high this weekend (24-26 November).
The spectacular 5.55km venue in Abu Dhabi will be the first track in 2017 that Louis has previously raced on in a current F2 car and, in a series where experience counts for so much, the ADS Securities-sponsored driver is optimistic he can use his 2016 knowledge to put on a positive performance.
“Abu Dhabi is the track where I made my GP2 debut last year and coming to a track where I have previous experience makes me feel really good and motivated. I want to use that feeling to do well,” the 20-year-old said. “I didn’t have any F2 racing experience on the other tracks we’ve been to this season so going back to Abu Dhabi will be nice and it’s definitely a track I like a lot.”
Given how important qualifying is to a driver’s success during an F2 weekend, Louis’ first objective in Abu Dhabi will be to qualify his Team Rapax machine strongly on Friday and then use his grid position as a springboard for Feature and Sprint race success on Saturday and Sunday.
But he’s aware that his experiences at the track in 2016 won’t make for a like-for-like comparison with the conditions he expects to encounter this weekend.
“Normally the tyre degradation isn’t such a big problem in Abu Dhabi because the track surface is very smooth. But we’ll be using the soft and super-soft Pirelli tyres this weekend whereas last year we had the medium compound tyres as well,” he explained. “That will make a difference and we’ll have to see in Free Practice what that means for performance and tyre wear.”
In the six-week gap since the last F2 races at Jerez in Spain, Louis has been training hard and staying race-ready by driving a KZ2 gearbox kart in France.
But he is definitely ready to climb back into his F2 car’s cockpit and with Abu Dhabi being home to his principal sponsor, ADS Securities, he feels there’s no better place for him to bring his 2017 rookie season to a positive conclusion.
“It will feel like I am racing at home because ADS has been supporting me for a long time and there will be a number of people from the company at the track,” Louis said. “All the components are perfect for me: we’re back in an amazing country, racing on a fantastic track and I’ll be surrounded by passionate people.
“My focus is on pulling everything together and representing them as best I can in their home country.”
