Ahead of the 2025 Monte Carlo F2 Round, AIX Racing’s Joshua Dürksen emphasised the importance of delivering a strong weekend in Monaco, particularly after a challenging start to the season’s first triple-header. During a Wednesday media event, Dürksen addressed the press, including Pit Debrief, and identified Qualifying as a key area that required immediate improvement. Although he failed to score points in either Jeddah or Imola, he maintained that his race pace remained competitive.
“We had a great start to the season in Australia, but then from Bahrain onwards, it has been always a bit more difficult. Imola, for sure, was also not the race weekend we wanted,” he said. “A good race weekend in Monaco will help a lot just to get back into rhythm, and also, I think it will be a big boost for the team.”
He further remarked, “But, we just have to fix Qualifying because I think the race pace was always there. Bahrain, we were quite okay. Jeddah, we were quite quick on the race pace. Imola, again quite quick, very competitive.”
Moreover, Dürksen expressed hope that a change in fortune might support his campaign. “We just have to get Qualifying right, and also, hopefully, the bad luck is over now and we can have some more luck on our side for Monaco.”
Dürksen puzzled by early-season pace shortfall
Reflecting on the first three rounds of the 2025 F2 season, Dürksen admitted he remained unsure why he had not been able to replicate the potential he displayed at the end of 2024 and the start of this year.
“It’s a quite difficult question to answer because I don’t know myself yet where this pace is lacking at,” he confessed. “In Australia, we started really well, for sure, with a win. We were quite confident that we could keep going like this during the whole season.”
He acknowledged that Bahrain had presented a known challenge, particularly with tyre degradation. “Still, I think we managed to make a big improvement from testing to the race weekend because on testing we were really nowhere, nowhere at all. So, we improved a lot during the weekend. I even managed to keep the podium on track. Of course, the disqualification didn’t help but I could fight, I could keep the pace kind of with the guys.”
Jeddah, meanwhile, proved frustrating. “Jeddah was bad luck with the Qualifying with the red flag, but then again, the race pace was getting better,” he explained. He added that fighting through the field inevitably distorted delta times when compared to front-runners. “Of course, when you’re on clean air in the front, you can manage to race, you can drive more constantly.”
Qualifying struggles undermining race results
Although unable to pinpoint the exact source of his pace deficit, Dürksen clearly linked his poor Qualifying performances in Jeddah and Imola to his lacklustre results. Starting from the back forced him to push harder, leading to increased tyre wear and a higher risk of incidents.
“But yeah, due to the bad position from Qualifying, I have to fight, I have to overtake the guys, I have to push a bit more the tyres, risk a bit more,” he noted. “And then, of course, maybe I get stuck behind the cars and I need to overtake again and all of this stuff, you know. Also in Imola, my pace actually was really good. It’s just the starting position that’s not helping my results.”
A focus on Qualifying the priority
He remained adamant that sorting Qualifying would unlock stronger race performances.
“So I think we mainly have to focus on Qualifying to get this sorted because I think it’s also statistics. If you have a good Qualifying, the race itself goes a lot easier, goes a lot smoother, and then automatically, you have a better result.”
Regulation changes add complexity
In addition to his starting position woes, Dürksen suggested that regulation changes introduced for the 2025 car had also impacted performance. Although he did not elaborate on the specific changes, he believed they had prevented the team from fully optimising the setup.
“So I think part of this issue is in Qualifying. I think we have to fix this but then, of course, there have been some small regulation changes on the car for this year. I think this is also affecting us, and then we’re still not finding now the sweet spot of the car.”
He continued, “So it’s a bit of a small reset, let’s say. And we just have to keep working on the car, and of course, I have to keep working on getting fixed my Qualifying.”
Thursday and Friday offer most enjoyment
Despite Monaco’s reputation for producing processional races due to limited overtaking opportunities, Dürksen remains enthusiastic about the challenge. He particularly enjoys the intensity of Thursday Practice and Friday Qualifying.
“I think Thursday and Friday are the most fun days because it’s where we do Quali laps, performance laps, where you have to give everything of you, where you try to not leave any margin,” he said.
He did admit that the weekend’s excitement tends to taper off due to the track layout.
“Saturday [and] Sunday, it’s still fun to drive, I’m not going to lie. I mean, that’s why I’m a racing driver, because I love driving. But for sure, it’s not as exciting as in Qualifying because we know that the overtaking opportunities are not really big here.”
Grinning, he concluded: “Don’t get me wrong, I still love driving, but for sure, the most fun days are Thursday and Friday for me. Except if I’m on the first row for the Feature Race. Then the Sunday will be really fun.”
Split Qualifying format necessary for Monaco
Dürksen’s quest for a strong result in Monaco faces another complication—F2’s unique split-group Qualifying format for the Principality’s narrow streets. Drivers in even-numbered cars form Group A, while those in odd-numbered cars comprise Group B. Nevertheless, he welcomed the format.
“Yeah, I think we need this Quali format for Monaco, because if you put all the 22 cars on track, there will be a real chaos. I mean, then it will be undrivable. We’ll be just exactly as the traffic in Monaco at 5 pm, so you won’t be able to move.”
He also stressed the importance of precise communication between driver and engineer.
“Because Monaco is really tight and you cannot really see on your mirrors, because all the corners are around with walls, so you can’t really see if a car is approaching close or not. So, this will be really important to have a good communication with the engineer, and just to be able to put yourself in a good position, and just be able to have a clean lap, and of course, to not disturb all the other drivers.”
Finding the limit without overstepping
When it comes to Monaco performance, Dürksen believes success hinges on precision and bravery in equal measure.
“I think it will just be [to get] on pace as quickly as possible,” he explained. “I mean, we try to go step-by-step because, of course, you don’t have any margin for error here.”
He believes the ideal driver will combine speed and control. “The guy that is able to be the quickest on the limit and then just fine-tune his driving will be, at the end, be in the front row. You have to find this balance of pushing the limits and getting into the limit, but of course, without doing any mistakes. I think if you can find this balance, I think this will be key for performance here in Monaco.”
Focus over glamour
While Monaco’s glamour has long captivated fans and media alike, Dürksen remains laser-focused. He stated that the workload of a triple-header left him with little time or energy to indulge in off-track distractions.
“What I do is basically the same things I do on every other track,” he said. “I just try to focus on myself, just on the feeling of the car, just trying to hit my references, you know, just drive how I feel is the biggest.”
He added, “To be honest, off the racetrack, I mean, at the end, we have so much work to do. We’re quite tired. The only thing I want is then to go to bed and sleep. So, I don’t have any energy to go party in between the race weekend.”
AIX Investment’s influence behind the scenes
Finally, Dürksen praised the transformation brought about by AIX Investments since its takeover of the team in 2024. He credited the ownership change with injecting professionalism and improving operational standards.
“It has been a quick year, but I think what’s changed the most is just the way of working behind the scenes, you know. It was like a new beginning for the team, a new boost, new people, new tools, let’s say, which of course just made the work, I think, quite a lot more professional and serious.”
“And just the whole thing is just getting more serious and more professional. I think this is what helped as well, just to keep improving, you know. I think this fresh start for the team did really make a big difference.”
Tough start to the Monaco weekend
Despite his optimism, Dürksen endured a difficult start to his Monaco campaign, finishing only 20th in Thursday’s Practice session. His best time of 1:24.084 left him over 2.3 seconds off Victor Martins’ benchmark of 1:21.715.
With a pivotal Qualifying session ahead, Dürksen will aim to reset and turn the tide on what has so far been a testing start to the 2025 F2 season.
