PREMA Racing had a challenging day at Yas Marina Circuit as the team didn't score points in the FIA Formula 2 Championship Sprint Race at the Abu Dhabi GP.
Starting from P6 following a brilliant qualifying session, Sebastian Montoya faced massive wheelspin at the start and dropped back several positions. An off to avoid a crashing car also compromised his day. The Colombian American fought back as much as he could and eventually clinched P13 with good overtakes and pace.
Starting from P13 after yesterday's tough qualifying, Gabriele Minì was able to recover straight away, although he was soon trapped in a train of cars using the DRS. Towards the end of the race, he was passed by a competitor who pushed him off track. Minì's car hit the kerb at an angle, and the front of his car lifted before bouncing back hard to the ground.
After the incident, the Italian was forced to defend but eventually ended up with a top-10 finish in P9, and with good confidence for the Feature Race tomorrow.
#9 - SEBASTIAN MONTOYA
"Difficult race. Obviously, without the start, I think we would have been competitive. The pace was very strong, and I was able to make some great moves. I learned quite a lot in traffic, managing the overtaking and the tyres. I think we have a good pace for tomorrow. There are only a few improvements we have to make, and we'll focus on them. I'm looking forward to the final Feature Race of the year. With where the car is and how we worked on it, we have a good chance of doing something special tomorrow."
#10 - GABRIELE MINÌ
"We got a very, very good start and made up five places straight away. Then I followed the DRS train, which overheated the tyres. I got overtaken and pushed off, and after that, there was probably some damage, just a bit of weird behaviour. It was hard to come back, but even with that, we were quite quick, especially in the last laps where we were laying down green sectors. Even while defending, the pace wasn't too bad. We see what we can do tomorrow and see what we can do."