After his victory last week at Spa, Roman Staněk climbed up that podium once again, P2 on this occasion, after a difficult Feature race at the F2 Hungarian GP. The Czech driver was strong all weekend, even putting his Invicta up in pole position in Qualifying. Unfortunately, an undercut from his teammate, Leonardo Fornaroli, caused him to miss out on back-to-back wins.
The past two races had Roman Staněk improving significantly from the rest of his season. With 77 points under his belt, he is currently eighth in the standings. Nevertheless, most of his points were acquired during the F2 Belgian and Hungarian GP, 48 to be precise. This newfound confidence in the car gave way to the Czech driver, who will get four more races to prove his abilities.
Losing out on the victory
The win seemed to be in Staněk’s cards at the beginning. However, during the post-race media session attended by Pit Debrief, the Czech driver highlighted the simple answer — Fornaroli was “just better“. The undercut from his teammate helped him get ahead and put in a good gap. Yet, Roman Staněk gave his overview from the cockpit of his F2 Hungarian GP Feature struggles:
“Well, I don’t know. I have to look back to it, what really happened there. I think Leo [Fornaroli] just made a simple overcut. But also, at the same time, when he was in front of me, I tried to catch him. I was close for a couple of laps, but then he was just better today, I guess. And he just escaped me, and I couldn’t keep up with him.”
Additionally, the Czech driver admitted to having an issue with the balance of his Invicta Racing car. That would explain why he could not push as hard as he wished. Nonetheless, Staněk leaves the F2 Hungarian GP with something to be proud of, his first pole position in the series.
“Also, because I was struggling with my car balance a little bit, I didn’t want to ruin the tyres. But, yeah, in the end, I think second place, one and two for the team is still very good. And, yeah, overall, very happy about the weekend, especially about my pole position, first one in F2. I have the winner here, which was very quick, so I can look into it very easily.”
Returning to F2 in September
The gap between this race and the next in Monza is a month long. Moreover, maintaining the momentum is crucial for drivers, especially those fighting at the front of the Championship. Therefore, the Czech driver shared some of the activities he will take part in during this big pause in order to stay sharp.
“Yeah, as Leo said, I think recovery is as important as training. Of course, some time off and trying to stay in shape. And, you know, at home, I’m driving quite a lot of simulators, so I will just keep doing what I did until now, and it should be fine.”
Roman Staněk had a big change in terms of performance during the last four rounds. He now has to maintain the confidence from the F2 Hungarian GP and harness it in order to gain more valuable points.
