Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd
Alex Dunne did not feel he was in a winning position in Formula 2’s feature race at Imola until “probably after the pitstop”, despite a radio message to the contrary.
The Rodin Motorsport driver said on lap two that he believed he and Campos Racing’s Arvid Lindblad would end up fighting for victory, but instead ended up being unopposed up front as Lindblad finished fourth.
Afterwards, Dunne clarified why he had predicted a Lindblad battle when not yet feeling well placed to win.
“What I said on the radio was probably a little bit getting ahead of myself, I would say at the time,” he explained.
“I can’t remember if Luke [Browning] was behind me or if he was a couple of places behind me, but my judgment at that time was kind of from the cars around me and then also what I experienced yesterday [in the sprint race]. It looked like Arvid’s pace in the sprint was very strong as well.
“After the pitstop is when it came alive, but I did have a feeling that it was going to get better through the race. Yesterday in the sprint until around lap 15, I felt like I was struggling and everyone in front of me was driving away. And then towards the end of the race, we flipped the switch and then the pace was really, really strong. That’s just the philosophy we have at the minute, and that’s the way I drive. I prefer to relax a little bit at the beginning and then push it on as we go through the race.”
Dunne said it “was definitely one of the trickiest races” and “at the beginning I didn’t really feel like I quite had the pace”, but was aware that “when you’re in that position, it’s very difficult to get a read on other people’s pace because they can seem very quick at the time and then fall off the cliff later on in the race”.
The supersoft compound tyres were swapped for the softs by Dunne at the end of lap six of 35, as the pit-window opened.
“I definitely think on the [soft] we were stronger than on the [supersoft]. That’s why I had to pit with everyone else. I think if we went one lap longer, it would have been a different race, because I was really starting to struggle on the options.
“The pitstop is what won us the race. Jumping two people in the pits, without me having to force the issue on track and take away from the tyre is a massive thing. So that’s pretty much what put me in the position to win today.”
He did still make overtakes on track, and credited “making the right decisions at the right time” to pounce on rivals.
“It was a good combination of staying patient and managing everything, but then also taking the opportunities when they came.”
Reporting by Alejandro Alonso Lopez and Ida Wood