Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd
Campos Racing got off to a great start to the 2023 Formula 2 season in Bahrain, as Ralph Boschung won the sprint race then finished second in the feature race.
Formula Scout spoke to team principal Adrian Campos Jr about the keys to the squad’s best weekend in the series since the 2019 Baku round when Jack Aitken won the feature race and was third in the sprint race.
“We have been working in the same way that we did in the last years. I think that now probably Ralph is better than he was last year,” Campos said.
“We have a good rookie next to him that is really, really quick. That is the main difference. Technically, we have to be honest that we’re doing the same [as before].”
Formula 3 graduate Kush Maini scored twice on his first weekend in F2, finishing seventh and fourth place in the two races.
Campos argues that Boschung’s F2 career has been extremely particular. Thus, his current statistics – one victory and five other podiums from 97 championship races – are not representative of his talent.
“We have to understand the situation of Ralph and where was he coming from. Because everyone is saying that he is the driver with more years in this championship and all this, and at the end, if we look back to 2021, it was the first year of the second time that he raced with us. It was his first ever season that he did complete in F2.
“He was always struggling in terms of budget and always never finishing the season. So that was his first ever season, let’s say, from the beginning until the end. Then following year, he couldn’t finish from half of the year. He lost six [rounds] if I’m not wrong. And then we are again trying to do another full season, which will be his second full season.”
In 2022, Boschung withdrew from the weekends in Barcelona, Monaco and Silverstone before handing his car over to Roberto Merhi for the rounds at the Red Bull Ring, Paul Ricard and the Hungaroring as he recovered from a neck injury.
Should he do every race in 2023, Boschung will have clocked 123 starts, of which 89 would have happened with Campos across 2017 and then the 2020 to ’23 seasons. He has already publicly said he intends this year to be his last in F2.
“I have to say that since the first time that he came to us back in 2017 until now, the evolution has been a lot,” Campos Jr stated.
“His main issue was that he was always focusing in financial things and being worried if he could race the following race or not. And now, finally, he’s fine and he can only focus on how to drive better, how to perform better and focusing in his health and in his physical shape.
“This is the difference that we really felt on him. He’s now focusing on what he needs to be focused and he’s delivering. So that’s the best thing.”