This weekend’s F2 Azerbaijan GP marks Alex Dunne’s first trip to the Baku Street Circuit. Dunne set a 1:55.720 in Free Practice, kicking off his weekend on the right foot. The Irishman reflected positively on this performance stating the slow build into the session is exactly what he aimed for.
Dunne described his first outing in Baku as “daunting”, considering he has never driven here before. The track conditions for Free Practice were strong, especially following a cleaning of the track. Comparing his times to last year’s F2 Free Practice times, he found himself multiple seconds faster.
“It was pretty good. I think I built into it on the slower side, which is what I wanted to do. It’s a pretty daunting track especially having never driven here before. I just tried to build into it progressively, and then when it was the last lap and time to put it together a little bit more, I did so. I think it was a good session.
“The track conditions were actually pretty good. I asked in the Drivers’ Briefing yesterday if the track was going to be cleaned and they said yes, and I think it definitely helped. I think we were nearly two seconds quicker than what they did in Free Practice last year. From the first push, the track looked relatively clean, so I think they did a good job on that side.”
After only one session behind the wheel in Baku, Dunne already found himself a fan of the track. He stated that “it’s pretty cool“, and added that he “really, really enjoyed it“. The Irishman acknowledged the tight, twisty nature of the circuit, also acknowledging the thrill. With the high-speed aspect and driving close to the wall, Dunne explained the feeling he received.
“It’s pretty cool. I really, really enjoyed it. It’s very high speed but at the same time, it’s very technical. You really have to make sure you hit your marks, you’re smooth and you don’t over push. But at the same time, you really get that high-speed feeling being so close to the walls, so it’s really cool and I really enjoyed it.”
With his first Baku Qualifying up next, Dunne set his sights on pole position. General confidence is an aspect that will prove to be worth a lot in Qualifying, but set up can pose a bigger challenge. He noted the debate between medium and low downforce set ups, and claimed that they will wait to see what other teams choose.
His track walk earlier in the week allowed him to realise the true depths of this track. Notably, he realised that the castle section is far more open than he had expected. Overall, he will be reviewing his Free Practice session, prior to Qualifying to find potential improvements. He will also be attempting to maintain confidence, in order to claim pole position.
“I think general confidence will be worth a lot. It’s a decision between medium downforce and low downforce, so we’ll need to wait and see what others do.
“I don’t feel like it’s a more one area or the other, I think even the castle section felt more open than what I thought it would be on the track walk. It didn’t feel as tight in the car as what I expected it to be, so I think it’s just about having confidence in the car.
“I’ll probably look back over the session to see if I can learn anything from the other drivers and then I’ll debrief with the team as well to see if we can make any steps forward with the car.”
