Invicta Racing was unlucky in the FIA Formula 2 Melbourne Feature Race at Albert Park.
The team opted to split its strategy for the 33-lap Feature Race, with Gabriel Bortoleto starting from ninth on the Super Soft tyre and Kush Maini from fourth on the Medium tyre.
On the harder compound, Kush did well to keep in the mix early on while Gabriel lost a position at the start. The Medium tyre quickly came to Kush and he was able to pick of positions methodically to work his way up into second place.
Gabriel’s race sadly was over very early, however, as he pitted with an issue after just six laps.
The Virtual Safety Car was called on lap seven, and when racing resumed Kush took the lead ahead of MP Motorsport’s Dennis Hauger before the majority of the runners on the Super Soft tyre opted to pit.
Hauger crashed on his out-lap, which brought out the VSC for the second time. Several drivers were able to pit just before it was active and they benefitted massively, while those starting on the Medium tyre lost out significantly as it became a full Safety Car.
Kush had a sizeable gap of around 10 seconds at that point to the next car. On the restart, he was able to open up a gap of around seven seconds in just a handful of laps to Campos Racing’s Isack Hadjar, who was the leader of those who benefitted from the second VSC.
Hoping for another Safety Car, Kush stayed out until the final few laps to switch to the Super Soft tyre. It didn’t come, and he crossed the line in 13th. After the race, Franco Colapinto was excluded on a technical basis, elevating Kush to 12th.
FIA Formula 2 has a lengthy gap before the Emilia Romagna round at Imola on 17-19 May.
FEATURE RACE RESULTS:
- Kush Maini: P12
- Gabriel Bortoleto: DNF
KUSH MAINI:
It was a tough race today. We were leading but the Safety Car ended our whole race. It would have been a different story if it didn’t come. We will take the positives; we were fast today and the team and I deserved more. It just fuels our motivation for Imola.
GABRIEL BORTOLETO:
Today’s race ended quite early again. It was a hydraulic issue which ended it but we are yet to fully identify the problem. We move on. We have the test at Barcelona before the next race at Imola and we will be back stronger.
ANDY ROCHE, TEAM PRINCIPAL:
We started with the cars on different strategies, hoping to capitalise on a potential Safety Car situation. Unfortunately Gabriel’s car had a high pressure hydraulic pump failure which put him out of the race quite early. Kush was on the alternative strategy and up until Hauger’s crash and was looking quite good. He could have won the race at that point but unfortunately the timing of the Safety Car meant that we lost out.
