Louis: ‘I have a positive feeling for 2018’
Louis Delétraz believes he can look forward to a strong FIA Formula 2 Championship campaign this year, despite encountering mixed fortunes at the opening event of the 2018 season in Bahrain this weekend.
The 20-year-old was racing with the Charouz Racing System team for the first time at the 5.41km Sakhir International Circuit and although an early technical issue restricted his progress during Friday’s Free Practice session, the team cured the problem for qualifying later that evening.
With a strong car underneath him, ADS Securities-sponsored Louis was able to show his true F2 pace as he qualified 5th fastest.
Having secured a handy third row starting position for Saturday’s 31-lap Feature Race, Louis was confident he could start the 2018 season positively. However, he soon realised the technical issue that had compromised his performance in Free Practice had returned for the Feature Race.
With the problem causing his car to handle differently and the tyres to wear faster than normal, Louis was unable to push as hard as he wanted. Although his skill and determination took him to P5 with 11 laps remaining, Louis was unable to halt the time loss on his severely worn tyres in the closing stages. He eventually finished P13.
With the Charouz team able to fix Louis’ technical issue ahead of Sunday’s Sprint Race, the Swiss driver was determined to make amends for Saturday’s disappointment and end the first F2 race weekend of 2018 on a high.
He quickly established a strong pace in the Bahrain heat and fought his way up to P6 as the 23-lap race approached mid-distance. But with tyre wear becoming a concern for all the drivers, Charouz adopted an ‘option’ strategy that brought Louis into the pits for a set of soft compound tyres with 12 laps left to run.
It was a brave move and one that looked to be paying off as Louis battled his way back through the field and expertly climbed the leaderboard.
However, he eventually ran out of laps to make any further progress and he had to settle for P9 at the finish – just 0.6sec shy of the P8 position that would have given him a first championship point of the new season.
“With the technical issue that we had in the Feature Race, we knew it would be hard to do something in the Sprint but I think we pushed as hard as we could and everyone in the team did a good job,” Louis explained.
“We decided to pit quite early for the soft tyres and I think it was the right choice; we didn’t have much to lose. In the end, it was very close for some points and we just missed out. But I enjoyed the race and my car felt great.”
Louis’ Sprint Race performance has left him feeling optimistic that he and his Charouz Racing System team can enjoy a strong 2018 season in F1’s main feeder category.
“I definitely have a positive feeling,” he said. “The guys did well to identify the technical issue, understand why we had a problem and solve it quickly.
“I think we did a good job this weekend and that makes me very confident for Baku and the rest of the season. We know we have the speed and can be one of the fastest.”
