Rafael Câmara rocketed to pole position during Qualifying for the F2 Monaco GP. Despite the chaos on the Monte Carlo streets and even damage to his suspension, Câmara took his maiden pole position.
While it is only the fourth round of the F2 Championship, Câmara has been massively impressive thus far. The Formula 3 Champion has consistently been on the podium, except in Montreal, and is currently second in the Drivers’ Standings.
Câmara about Monaco: “it’s a track where you need to have the confidence”
The Formula 2 Monaco GP Qualifying had Câmara as the first to set a representative lap in Group A. However, the Brazilian hit the barrier at the final corner and damaged the suspension on his car. After impressive work by the Invicta team, Câmara was able to head out again for a final lap near the end of the session. Setting a lap time of 1:20.923 saw him storm to pole position around the challenging Monaco track.
In a press conference attended by Pit Debrief, the Invicta driver shared his thoughts after the hectic Qualifying:
“Yeah, it was a very good feeling. Not the way we wanted, for sure, because this time I think it was a bit too much for everyone, but yeah. Very happy, very grateful for the team, all the job they did repairing the car and giving me the opportunity to go back on track again and try the last push. Very thankful for what they did again, as in Montreal, not a good thing in Quali, because after you lose a bit of confidence. Also, you put yourself in a position where basically or you do a good lap where basically you’re going to crash again, especially in Monaco.
“In Montreal, a bit safer, but here yeah. It’s a track also that you need to have the confidence to do a lap. So yeah, just when everything in the last push, and I think probably I was going to crash. I was expecting to be on a good lap, and I did. It was a very good one, so very happy with that. Still a lot of job to do. The big points is on the race, so we keep focus to work and be ready for the race.”
A “stupid mistake” and trying to focus on a good lap
When asked what went through his mind when he had to return to the pit lane and whether he was hoping for a red flag, Câmara reflected:
“I was trying to keep it calm. I was with some hope that I was going to get at least another push, but I was not very happy. Also with my engineer, we spoke quite a lot of building up to the session, and taking the first lap to just understand how is the car, how is the grip on the track, and I did a bit, in a way, a stupid mistake. But yeah, just trying to be cool and make sure that I was getting everything on the last lap. I’ve been lucky as well with the red flag, that we were able to do one prep and having the tyres ready for the last push. In the end, I think we managed to be quite focused and calm for the last push, and were able to do a good lap.”
Asked about how confident he was that he could put it on pole when going out for the final push, the Invicta driver said:
“Not expecting really to be on pole. Obviously, just trying to do the best that I could at the moment and try to maximise every corner. Yeah, not really thinking about where we’re going to be, but just try to maximise in the moment. Also with the car, I was not feeling perfect. I mean, it was just not feeling great, but I was just trying to focus on what I needed to do. Yeah, try to put everything in place that we saw in FP as well. Looking at all the on-boards from the past years and making sure that everything was going to be there. So, trying to be a clean lap. In the end, it was good enough.”
Understanding the carbon brakes
When asked why the cars are so tricky under braking and if it is something they work on outside the weekend, Câmara said:
“I think with the carbon brakes when you’re out of temperature and it’s a bit more tricky or you cannot do a proper warm-up on them and maybe you need to start the lap anyway, and then you need to guess a bit into what way you’re going to have, which brake will work, and then with that sometimes you can have a lock-up or a mistake.
“I think when they are in the window, it feels pretty good and you’re just making sure that you’re straight and putting yourself in a place that you avoid front locking. It feels quite okay at the moment. It’s true that in the beginning you feel a bit more tricky coming from F3, but once I think you understand it and you can put them quite in place all the time.”
The F3 Champion seemed to quickly adapt to the F2 car and understand how to maximise his performance. Câmara has only had a few races in the Championship and is improving and learning more with each race weekend.
Câmara felt nervous ahead of final push lap at F2 Monaco GP Qualifying
Racing drivers grow up dreaming of racing on the streets of Monte Carlo. With so many iconic races and legendary drivers having raced there, the narrow streets are easily recognisable. While Câmara has taken on the track in F3, this marks his first pole around the Principality. Speaking about the feeling of being on pole for F2 at the Monaco GP, Câmara said:
“It was a great feeling. Probably don’t want to experience that again because it was too stressful during the quali. Also the last lap was feeling quite nervous because you don’t really know what to expect and you just need to go guessing a bit the grip. But, very happy, the team did a very good job, again like I said before, repairing the car.
“Also I think from FP, we had a good learn what we needed to do with the car setup and being very comfortable. Even on the first lap, I felt that the car was good just that I did a mistake in the first lap, but I felt like we could have been fighting for the pole position. I just wanted to get at least a good lap, we could be up there, and taking good points for the championship. This time was a bit too much adrenaline to the session.”
As Monaco is a race where Qualifying position can be immensely important, he starts on a good note.
Câmara keeping cool after the red flag at F2 Monaco GP Qualifying
When asked what went through his mind after the incident and if he changed his approach towards the final stint, Câmara reflected:
“Pretty much was just keeping cool for everyone. Also, the conversation with the engineer, we’re making sure that we were pretty, like as usual, just speaking through the run plan. Obviously, at one point, we were not sure that we were going to restart. We didn’t know if it was going to be red flag or no. So it was a bit tricky to know exactly what we were going to do.
“Once it was the red flag, we were just speaking to what was going to be the procedure and the warm up. What we were going to do and make sure everything was very clear for me to just focus on the driving, focus on the last lap and put in a good lap in the end. Then on my side, I was just trying to keep it cool. I knew that it was not going to be easy, especially in Monaco. It’s a track that’s already from FP to quali is a big improvement on track. So the reference has changed a bit. Then just trying to maximise the last lap and be up there at the front.”
A unique Qualifying format at the F2 Monaco GP
Asked about how difficult it is to be in Group A and have to watch the second group knowing they are unable to change their individual results, the driver responded:
“To be honest, it’s quite nice in a way. It’s always enjoyable to watch qualifying in Monaco, especially to see how close to the wall we go in and how close to crash. The car will be very on the limits and being able to do a good lap, so it’s quite enjoyable to watch. Obviously, I was hoping to stay on pole, but in the end it happened. I don’t think you need to worry much. What you can do is just at the time, at the moment, what you can control and after that you just wait for what is going to happen. Just wait and enjoy a bit of quali.”
The F2 Monaco GP takes on a different format from the other race weekends. With Free Practice on Thursday rather than Friday, it has a unique format. It forces drivers to adjust quickly, as the first laps on Friday are run during the Qualifying session. Speaking about the format, Câmara said:
“I think Monaco is a very particular track. You always want to put yourself to experience kind of everything in FP and just try to know exactly what you need to do for quali because you don’t have much laps. So yeah, I think it’s a bit more tricky FP, because you don’t want to crash. You want to get a lot of laps, but at the same time, you want to put yourself in a place that you know what to do for quali.”
Known competitors and final push for Câmara at the F2 Monaco GP Qualifying
Câmara and Alex Dunne were then asked by Pit Debrief if they expected to race against each other in F2 after competing against each other in Italian F4 in 2022. They were also asked about the most impressive thing they have noticed about each other since then.
“I think, since even from karting we were racing together so it’s nice to see that we are here in Formula 2 and also in a good level as well. So, I think this is pretty cool. It shows that we’re growing together. Also last year, Alex was doing a very good job and knew it, that already during the second year it was going to be a tough one to beat. I think it would be an interesting championship. There’s a lot of good drivers that will be fighting for the win, but yeah it’s been nice after so many years we’re back together and also in a very good level.”
Lastly, Câmara was asked how difficult it was to build momentum and gain confidence, given the session’s frantic interruptions.
“This time, I was not really able to build that confidence through the run. Then for me, the red flag was a good thing, that I was able to come back and do the last to push. This time, I didn’t need any laps, just to push in a way. I was just trying to put everything in place in the last lap. Even if I didn’t really have the confidence, I was just trying to put in place that I saw it before we spoke with the engineers, with the team, and putting everything in place for the last push.”
