Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd
Formula 2’s reigning champion team ART Grand Prix is having a roller-coaster season with the new Dallara F2 2024 car, but that is not worrying their driver Zak O’Sullivan.
The Williams junior did not delve into ART GP’s struggles when he spoke to media prior to the most recent round, but when asked by Formula Scout he assured no stone is being left unturned in the team’s fight to consistently, rather than unpredictably, be at the front.
“We didn’t really hit the ground running as we’d hoped, as we’d expected,” he said. “The season hasn’t lived up to any of our expectations and we’re still trying to work it out. It’s a new car and clearly some teams have got on top of it quite quickly. Unfortunately, we’re not one of those.
“Every race we’re working hard and we’re not sitting back. There hasn’t been one short debrief this year. We’re always searching to find answers. None of us want to be in this situation, so we’re working hard as a team to try and find our feet a bit more. And there have been strong moments. There have been glimpses of promise where everything has come together and it looks quite good. But there’s also been as many – or more – very, very bad points. So we’re still working on it, and I think we’ll get there at some point.”
O’Sullivan’s feature race victory in Monaco and Victor Martins’ Barcelona sprint race win are ART GP’s only podiums so far in 2024 and together they have scored 73 points from 16 races. At this point in 2023 the team had 217 points.
The current situation has been a surprise to everyone in the team, O’Sullivan admits, but that should not impact their approach to racing.
“It’s not just me who didn’t match the expectation just for me. I think it’s the whole team,” he reckoned. “They won the championship relatively convincingly last year, so it’s not a position we all thought we would be in.
“In terms of mindset, it doesn’t change too much. Both Victor and I are kind of united over a common goal and that’s to improve everyone, to improve the team and get there because we both want to win. And I’ve had seasons like this in the past in similar situations, like first year in Formula 3, where you may not be fighting for wins every weekend, but it doesn’t change the way you approach everything. You take every session as it comes, and you focus on the best you can do. And what I’ve learned — at least in F3 and F2 — is normally if you execute everything perfectly, you will always have a good result.
“I think focusing on your own objectives, especially on the race weekend, is important. But then outside of the race weekend, in between races, of course we are looking to make bigger improvements. But once we’re at the track, it’s more focus on execution, so that’s the one thing we can control.”