Enzo Fittipaldi was on the podium for the third time this year in a complicated race for leader Felipe Drugovich. Caio Collet dropped out in F3, while Gabriel Bortoleto finished third in FRECA. Check out the statements of the Brazilian drivers after the weekend
Brazilian Enzo Fittipaldi survived a turbulent race in Formula 2 and achieved his third podium of the season in Austria. Starting from 12th position, the Charouz driver had the right strategy to start the race with dry tires and had a good pace on the track to cross the finish line of race 2 in the fourth position.
The result was even better after two punishments were handed out after the end of the race. Dutchman Richard Verschoor, who had won the race, was disqualified for lack of fuel. Then India's Jehan Daruvala was also penalized after his team, Prema, tried to dry his place on the starting grid. Thus, American Logan Sargeant inherited the win and Fittipaldi was promoted to second place, matching his best result of the 2022 season.
"Yesterday, I said we had pace, and indeed we did. It was a busy race, full of penalties because of track limits, but I managed to dodge these turbulences and finish second in a race where I started 12th. This great result puts us in a competitive position in the championship. I can't wait for Paul Ricard," said Enzo after the race.
The second place boosted the Brazilian in the Formula 2 standings. Fittipaldi gained four positions and is now fifth, with 75 points. His compatriot, Felipe Drugovich, remains in the lead with 154 points, even after a difficult race 2 in Austria, in which he finished only 11th.
"Incredibly difficult race today! Besides making mistakes in strategy, we were extremely slow. I will do everything in my power to get back to winning as soon as possible! Thanks to the Brazilian fans," Felipe lamented in his social networks.
Drugovich has a 39-point advantage over Sargeant, who took the second position with the victory. Formula 2 returns in two weeks, on July 22-23, for the French round at Paul Ricard circuit.
Collet abandons race in wet track in Formula 3
Caio Collet came from a second place in the F3 sprint race in Austria, but couldn't repeat the good performance in the main race this Sunday (10th). Starting from the 12th position, the Brazilian gained three positions on the wet track in Spielberg, but a touch in the final laps with Jonny Edgar forced Collet to abandon the race.
"It was a little bit difficult this Sunday. We had a very strong pace, definitely among the fastest on the track. I had already gained three positions and I think that in the restart I was a little too aggressive and made a mistake. I didn't anticipate the situation very well and ended up making a mistake, which was a little bit costly because we could have gained a few more positions in the final laps with the pace we had", explained the MP Motorsport pilot.
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"Overall, it was a weekend of ups and downs, because qualifying wasn't ideal, Saturday was good with second place, and today we couldn't finish as we wanted. But today, especially in this race, we were able to show a strong pace and this is positive for us to come back even better in Budapest, with the goal of reducing the number of mistakes during the weekend and get as many points as possible," concluded Caio.
Collet is currently in eighth place in Formula 3. The leader is the Frenchman Victor Martins, who has only one point ahead of his compatriot Isack Hadjar, who won the main race. The category returns on July 29-30 for the Hungarian round.
Bortoleto goes to the podium in Hungary in FRECA
In the European Regional Formula by Alpine, FRECA, Brazilian Gabriel Bortoleto had a good race and finished in third place in Hungary. The race was won by Hadrien David, who took advantage of the pole-position and gave no chance to his rivals.
"Coming out of the weekend with a P3! Thanks to my team, my engineer, and my mechanic for all the work! Keep working to have more results like this and wins. Thanks to everyone rooting for me!", Bortoleto celebrated on his social networks.
The result puts the Brazilian in seventh place in the championship, with 92 points earned. Dudu Barrichello is still having difficulties at FRECA, as he once again failed to score any points in the 2022 season so far.
"We finished the weekend in Hungary and it was a difficult weekend for us. On Thursday we had problems with the car, it felt crooked. On Friday our best day here, with a seventh time in free practice. For the quali the car was bending and the measurements were different than imagined. The quali's were not good, a lot of balance difficulties. In the first race a gearbox breakdown took us out of the race, and in the second race we managed to gain four positions", said Barrichello after the race.
Another difficult weekend and a lot of learning around here, but I liked a lot to drive in Hungaroring and I believe I drove well. Now we have to think about Spa in the next round", concluded Dudu.
The FRECA returns now in late July, between July 29th and 30th, for the Belgium round, at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit.