In the Feature Race of the FIA Formula 2 Championship at the Red Bull-owned facility, Trident Motorsport scored a stunning win with Dutch driver Richard Verschoor, the second win of his season. It was the result of an efficient strategy and perfect driving by the strong Dutch racer.
There are cleverness, vision, heart, and skills behind the second win of the season for 21-year-old Dutch driver Richard Verschoor, who defeated the competition on the traditional Styrian circuit that hosted the eighth round of the season. The Trident Motorsport driver, despite the still wet track due to the rain that had fallen a few minutes earlier, and the team's technical staff, made the decision to start with slick tires and surprise the competitor. The strategy had risks, but was well sorted and put into practice.
Considering what happened in the Sprint Race, which featured little overtaking, the only way to have a real chance for Verschoor to move up from P8 on the grid was to strike with strategy, and that's exactly what happened. After losing a few positions on a wet track in the very early stages, as the lines dried out, he became relentless, taking the lead and showing dominant form, even against rivals who used the same strategy. The eventual winner made no mistakes and firmly believed in a result that would bring him back in the fight for the championship.
Verschoor had started the season with a convincing win in the Sakhir Sprint Race, but today's triumph in Spielberg's Feature Race provides the team with unique emotions because the difficulty of the feat, and because the strategy choice was a key element. On the other hand, Calan Williams started from the 16th position on the grid and confirmed the same result at the end of the Feature Race. Now the FIA Formula 2 Championship takes a week-long break: the next round of the season will be on the fourth weekend of July at Le Castellet.
Giacomo Ricci, Team Manager, Feature Race quote
"We are extremely delighted with today's win, the second this year, because it contains so many qualities that are part of Trident Motorsport's DNA: ambition, strategy, perfect race vision. The points we got relaunched Verschoor and the team in their respective rankings. Yesterday's race showed how difficult it was to overtake on this track. Starting from P8 on the grid, we knew it would take a different strategy from our rivals to make the difference. We did our job well and were rewarded with this result, which gives us a lot of energy. A big thank you goes to the team, the engineers, and our driver, who was perfect. Williams' race was tidy, but for the Australian driver the points zone was too far away given the starting position and we could not adopt the same strategy with both cars."
Richard Verschoor, Driver Trident Motorsport, Feature Race winner
"It was a dominant performance, I am very pleased to be back to victory. We chose slicks a minute before the start: we consulted and realized it was the right choice. I thank the team because they provided me with a fantastic racecar. It was really special to win on this track, in front of so many Dutch fans. After the first few races, we had a downturn in our performance, but now we are great again. I'm overjoyed!"
