Showing pure F2 performance is target for Louis in Russia

Louis Delétraz is determined to take a pair of positive results from the penultimate round of the FIA Formula 2 Championship at Sochi, Russia this weekend (27-29 September).

Receiving heavy contact at the beginning of the Monza Feature Race earlier this month ended the Swiss driver’s hopes of challenging for the podium in Italy. That’s made him even keener to make a point-scoring impact at round 11 of 12.

The ADSS-supported driver said: “I really want a clean weekend and the opportunity to show the pure performance that we know we have in the car and the team. We don’t need to think about things too much. The focus is on doing what comes naturally and hoping for a small amount of luck as well.

“It will be important to have a good weekend because there is such a long gap before the final races in Abu Dhabi at the end of November. Momentum is handy in this situation.”

This weekend will be only the second time Louis has visited Russia and raced at the Sochi Autodrom, which presents drivers and teams with a unique competitive challenge.

The semi-permanent street circuit, which weaves its way through the stadia and arenas that were used to host the 2014 Winter Olympics, features a variety of corners and a lengthy, 1029-metre dash along the main straight into Turn One.

“It’s quite a nice track but is very different to what we are used to,” 22-year-old Louis explained. “Some of the corner shapes are unusual and not the same as what we find on other more traditional circuits.

“But that’s part of the unique challenge. Sochi is half in the city and the other half is similar to somewhere like Abu Dhabi. It’s an interesting place and I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do.”

Key to success on the 5.85km circuit will be how tyre degradation is managed, particularly when it comes to using Pirelli’s supersoft compound which will be making an appearance in Russia for the first time since F2 raced in Austria at the end of June.

Louis said: “Tyre deg will be something everyone will be looking at carefully because we have the comeback of supersoft rubber. In theory, Sochi is a low deg track, but the supersofts will probably not last too long in quali and during the Feature Race. That should make things interesting.”

RACE RESULTS