PREMA Racing rebounded to a points finish in today's FIA Formula 2 Feature Race at Imola.
After taking a stellar second place in qualifying on Friday, Sebastian Montoya stalled at the start of the formation lap and was forced to start from the pit lane. Still, the Colombian put up an amazing pace on both tyre compounds. After dropping his set of options for prime tyres, he took advantage of a mid-race safety car to make more gains and claim the 8th place at the end.
Unfortunately, the same safety-car situation ended up heavily affecting drivers on the prime-option strategy, including teammate Gabriele Minì.
The Italian started from P13 but fell out of the strategy window, finding himself with the competitors who had already pitted right behind his shoulders.
In the only possible effort to fight for points, the team called Minì for an early pit stop. However, the supersoft tyre soon started to degrade, and he had to pit again, ending up in P18.
#9 SEBASTIAN MONTOYA
"As frustrated as I am now, I'm really happy with the weekend. After getting a front-row start in qualifying, you don't want to start from the pit lane. Still, the team did an amazing job from the beginning in the sim throughout FP and Qualifying, helping me with what I needed. I also improved a lot from my side, so I can't really complain. Obviously, when we are working as hard as we are, and making the steps we are doing as quickly as we are, it's frustrating when you get the opportunities and cannot maximize them. There is obviously something we need to work on, and we'll keep working."
#10 GABRIELE MINÌ
"We tried to go on the opposite strategy compared to our main rivals, starting on primes and finishing on options. I got a really good jump at the start and the pace on primes felt really strong, and I was just trying to follow the train, even though we were much faster than the drivers ahead. Unfortunately, we got a safety car at the worst possible moment. We tried to box and go for an 18-lap stint on options, and we knew it was going to be almost impossible. In the end, it was, even though the options lasted a lot more than expected. We eventually had to pit again after dropping out of the points. It's a shame, but the situation was not ideal, and that was the only thing we could try. We will now try to reset for Monte Carlo and have a positive weekend there."