Louis cannot unlock early F2 promise at Jerez
Rookie Louis Delétraz endured a frustrating pair of FIA Formula Two Championship races at Jerez in Spain this weekend as he was unable to convert his strong early pace into point-scoring results.
The Swiss driver arrived at the penultimate event of the season with high hopes that he could replicate the form he displayed when he scored P7 and P4 finishes at Monza last month.
Posting the ninth fastest time during Friday’s Free Practice ensured the Rapax driver got off to a confident start on the twisty 4.43km Jerez circuit.
Qualifying proved to be a slightly tougher affair as Louis inadvertently picked up some paint from one of the circuit kerbs on his car’s front-left tyre. That compromised his grip through sector 1 on his second flying lap and he wasn’t to progress at the same rate his rivals did.
“It was a big shame that we were so unlucky with the paint on my final flying lap,” Louis said. “I improved my other sectors but the time I lost at the start of the lap was the difference between P5 and P12 on the grid.”
Despite the disappointment of having to start Saturday’s 39-lap Feature Race from 12th place, the 20-year-old was still optimistic he could climb into the point-scoring positions.
Sadly, contact with Jordan King on the second lap meant Louis’ car sustained significant front wing damage. Rather than come into the pits and deviate from his race strategy, he elected to stay out and limit the damage until his scheduled pit stop on lap six.
Unfortunately, the lack of front end grip that came with his damaged wing hampered Louis’ pace and by the time he came into the pits to swap to medium compound ‘prime’ tyres and replace the front wing assembly, the damage was done.
He tried to give his fortunes a late boost by stopping again to switch to a new set of soft tyres – a move that allowed him to underline his race pace potential as he set the third fastest lap of the day – but his fate was already sealed and he could only finish in P17.
“It was an unfortunate racing incident with Jordan and he apologised afterwards. The whole left side of my front wing was broken off and the other side was bent. It certainly wasn’t optimal and affected my pace,” Louis explained. “It was a race where luck wasn’t on my side.”
With limited opportunities to overtake at Jerez and starting from P17 on the grid, Sunday’s 28-lap Sprint Race was always going to be tough encounter for Louis.
Although he fought hard to secure a place within the all-important point-scoring positions, it proved a step too far and Louis eventually completed the race distance in P12 as track temperatures rose well about 40 Degrees Celsius in southern Spain.
It was a disappointing end to the penultimate race weekend of the 2017 F2 season. But the ADS Securities-sponsored driver said this weekend’s events were a clear illustration of how fine the margins are between success and disappointment in the F2 category.
“This weekend showed that you can’t afford to make any mistakes in qualifying,” he explained. “We definitely have the pace to run close to the front but we need to become more familiar with putting myself and the car together during one lap. We did it in Monza and we stayed at the front of both races. Unfortunately, we couldn’t manage it here.
Louis and his Rapax team now have a six-week wait until the final F2 event of the season. The last two races of 2017 will take place at Yas Marina, UAE on 24-26 November.
