The Formula 2 Italian GP weekend came with great success for AIX Racing’s Joshua Duerksen. With a podium in both the Sprint and Feature Race, he takes home a strong points haul. This result comes with a wide welcome after what has been a rollercoaster season for the Paraguayan driver.
In a post Feature Race Press Conference attended by Pit Debrief, Duerksen reflected on his weekend as a whole. He found humour and truth within this self-reflection.
A weekend of success in Monza
For the first time in six rounds, Duerksen found himself in points paying positions. Not only once, but twice. Two podiums for the Paraguayan have shown an amazing turn around from recent races. After securing P3 in the Sprint Race, Duerksen further improved to take a P2 in the Feature Race.
Monza alone has allowed Duerksen to accumulate 24 points, sitting him P12 in the Championship Standings, with 47 points overall. With just three rounds to go, he will be pushing hard to climb the standings as much as possible.
When it was suggested that his weekend in Monza must have been enjoyable, Duerksen stated: “I love Monza. Also, in the past, in F4, I also could enjoy many podiums here. I think I just really love Monza, I love Italy, I love also the food here and just the people and just the track. It’s really fun on the racing because, as I said yesterday, Monza always delivers great action. You always have chances to overtake, and I think this is just the most fun part for us as a driver.”
Saturday’s Sprint Race saw Duerksen getting a less than desirable start. Despite this, he climbed his way up to P4, and was promoted to P3 due to penalties for Beganovic ahead. Duerksen said: “Luckily, we got a good race start this time.”
Duerksen nailed Sunday’s race start and avoided incident on multiple occasions. While he could see chaos unfold in his mirrors, he did what he had to do in order to continue racing. Monza is notorious for its difficult braking zones, and the chaos that tends to ensue.
He continued on to say: “Yesterday wasn’t that great. This time, we quite nailed it. Yeah, I think I saved myself twice from big crashes. I just saw it on the mirror, big front lockups and just a lot of smoke, so I knew something is not going right behind me. So I just opened up, let the guys go through and just survive the corner.
“It was quite tough, but this is also very easy to make in Monza because the hard braking zones, the late braking, and just having the car on the limit on the braking makes it very easy to make this kind of front lockups and then just go straight. Yeah, it was quite tough, but luckily my perispherical vision is working well, so I think this helped me to keep the podium.”
Duerksen battled Marti right until the chequered flag, in order to keep his P2. He found himself fighting towards the rear of Browning ahead, in hopes of forcing Marti out of DRS. While recounting the story of his race, he also shared a funny mishap with his engineer.
“Yeah, it was quite tough. I was trying to stay on Browning’s DRS just to go away with him, try to create a gap of more than one second and just go. Sadly, I couldn’t tell him that on the radio because it would be nice. But as soon as I lost the DRS, of course, I was losing time. I was losing time on the straights, so the guys behind me were catching up. I was trying to manage the tyres as good as possible.
“My engineer was telling me, I think, he told me like three laps to go. And I was like, OK, I think I can manage this, and he told me like, sorry, correction, five laps to go. Then I was like, OK, this will be tight, you know. And yeah, Pepe was coming quick, but I was just focused on my job, just trying to extract everything as what I could from the tyres just to survive until the last minute. We had a great fight. It was also quite close. And yeah, just really happy that in Monza we have 30 laps and not 31. So I’m happy with that.”
Incidents around Monza
With a track like Monza demanding more from the brakes, Duerksen explained this is a perfect opportunity to find more time. Risk taking and fighting for the future is a huge part of every race for racing drivers.
In order to impress future teams, they need to take risks in order to reap the rewards, and prove their talent. With risk comes reward, but on an unfortunate day, risk can create mistakes. This is a concept that Duerksen broke down post-race.
“Yeah, as I said, again, before, Monza has a track which is really demanding on the brakes. You gain a lot of time there. And to overtake, you only have to brake late. And of course, if you overtake on the inside, there’s less grip, maybe a bit more bumpy. So, it’s very easy to front lock the tyres and make a mistake, especially with these cars. They are very difficult to drive. And as Luke said, we’re all fighting for high positions and for our future.
“So, of course, we as drivers, we will take risks. And part of taking this risk is, of course, having also the risk of making some mistakes. So, it’s fully normal in the sport. I mean, that’s at the end. That’s the goal, you know, to explore the limits, to find the limit and, of course, perform. And mistakes are part of the game.”
When asked about whether incidents all around him make him more nervous, Duerksen said:“I wouldn’t say more nervous, but for sure you feel more adrenaline, because you know that in Monza you have a lot more opportunities to overtake.”
He continued on to explain the difference in approach between a track like Monza, and a track like Monaco or Hungary. “Let’s say Monaco or Hungary, you know that it will be really difficult to overtake. So the approach is different, but at the end the job is still the same. Explore the limit of the car and just squeeze everything that you have from the car and go as fast as possible. But for sure, the priorities change a little bit on tracks like Monza.”
Racing after sustaining damage
With incident almost promised in Monza, many cars were running with damage in the Feature Race. Duerksen was asked to explain how much impact damage has on the car’s performance. He wasn’t aware he had damage, asking: “Did I have damage?”
When informed he was believed to have lost a front wing end plate, he stated: “I didn’t really know, but it would be nice to know on the race.”
Continuing on to answer the question originally asked, Duerksen joked about damage offering a reduction in drag. He said: “So, if I had damage, OK, but I didn’t feel it. So, probably it wasn’t anything bad, for example. I think, Pepe, your front endplate was gone. I think I saw it on the end lap. Maybe. I’m not sure. But… Isn’t it? Actually, maybe even less drag. So, maybe at a top speed, yeah? Next, you can try that again.”
He continued on seriously to confirm that if there was damage, he was unaware and unaffected.
“So, I guess, if I had some damage, this was nothing that was affecting my performance. So, all fine for my side.”
A level of trust and confidence to race cleanly
The podium trio were questioned on the trust and confidence within themselves needed to race cleanly. Duerksen immediately joked: “Do you trust me, Pepe?”
Turning back to a serious response, Duerksen claims that the preparation is always the same for each track. Confidence comes naturally once considering that he is driving an F2 car, and clearly proved he had the talent to do so. Every driver hosts a unique driving style, forcing others to adapt how they race against them.
While they aim to prepare well for each race, making Monza no different. Monza is a track with great overtaking opportunities, allowing drivers to showcase their style, in turn allowing others to learn how to adapt to these styles.
“No, I think the preparation we do is always the same approach. So, in terms of confidence, I think everyone that’s driving an F2, I think we know that we have the talent and the capacity to be racing in the front. So, in this aspect, the confidence is always the same.
“The preparation, we try always to prepare as good as possible for every race. And yeah, I think it’s no different to any other races. And as Pepe said, with every driver you have to fight a bit differently because every driver has a bit of a different fighting style. If you can call it like this. And especially in Monza is where you can discover this, because this is the place where you can overtake. But yeah, the preparation and the confidence is always the same for every track.”
Consistent Qualifying, but not consistent points
While Duerksen started the season strong, the six rounds prior to Monza saw him lose momentum. Bringing home only 12 points since Jeddah, Duerksen has Qualified rather consistently, although hasn’t been able to score points consistently.
The Summer break proved a crucial opportunity to reflect and investigated the issues faced. This led to AIX Racing and Duerksen finding a stronger driving style, aiming now for consistent points. Monza in 2024 was strong for Duerksen, much like Baku 2024. A strong performance in Monza has increased Duerksen’s hopes of a strong weekend in Baku.
“Well, luckily, we had the summer break, so we had time to think about everything that happened, just think what were the main issues and what we have to improve. I think us as a team, we found something that’s actually working better with my driving style and with my approach. And I hope this is the start of consistent points and consistent podiums, if God allows.
“As I said, we were just working hard every time just to find the sweet spot for us. I think we’re slowly catching it. Anyway, last year in Monza, we were strong here, so we knew that the car was in a good window.
“In Baku, we were strong as well, so for sure we’re going with the same confidence to see if we can get the same results. And as I said, just by working hard, I think we’re just finding the little details that we’re missing at the beginning of the season. I also have a lot of track knowledge in Monza, which I think also helps for car development and to know what I need to be quick.”
