Alex Dunne secured third place in the Formula 2 Sprint Race at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, but the Rodin Motorsport driver admitted afterwards that his podium came after “an up-and-down race” and a costly error at Turn 1.
Speaking to the media, including Pit Debrief, Dunne reflected on a challenging afternoon in Baku that saw him fight through difficult conditions, safety car restarts and a late-race vibration caused by a flat spot.
“A silly mistake” proves costly
Dunne described the F2 Sprint Race at the Azerbaijan GP, as mentally demanding, but felt he had managed it well until a small error at the braking zone of Turn 1 complicated his afternoon.
“Not really [a good race]. No, I mean, it wasn’t bad,” he explained. “I think generally it was relatively, I wouldn’t say chill because I think with all the safety car restarts and stuff, I had a lot to think about and a lot to focus on.”
“But I think, I mean, I was pushing the whole race, but I think ultimately it just came down to a silly mistake in Turn 1 when I just braked a little bit too hard and snatched the inside front left. And I think that kind of then unravelled a lot of the hard work that I had done, which then made the end of the race very difficult.
“Apart from that, I think it was a fairly well-controlled race. You know, I wasn’t really putting myself in difficult positions and I think we made the right moves at the right time. But just that one mistake was quite costly.”
Fighting through the field
The Irishman impressed with some bold moves, including attempts into Turn 3 — one of the circuit’s trickiest overtaking spots.
“It is very, very difficult,” Dunne said of passing at that part of the track. “You know, I think we’ve had a lot of safety cars, so quite often I think the brakes probably weren’t at their optimal temperature throughout the race because, you know, they cool down through a safety car, and then they heat back up when you start driving.”
“And also we didn’t have the extra formation lap at the beginning of the race today as well, which made it even more difficult, made it even harder for the race start too. But at the same time, you know, everyone’s in the same boat.”
Despite a strong recovery, a heavy vibration from his flat-spotted tyre compromised Dunne’s late-race pace.
“We’ll have to wait and see,” he said when asked about Sunday’s feature race prospects. “I think my pace at the end was massively limited by the fact that with a flat spot, my front left was down to the canvas. And to be honest, I thought my front teeth were going to fall out from the vibrating of the wheel.”
“It was really, really bad. And so I think the pace looks strong. And if you remove that element, the pace is probably even stronger.”
Coping with the conditions
Gusty, changeable conditions caught out many drivers in the Sprint Race. Dunne admitted it was one of the toughest races of his career so far.
“I think I myself tuned into FP3 as well, and I think a lot of the drivers in FP3 and F1 looked like they were massively struggling with the wind in the last corner as well. I think a couple of them, I think Charles [Leclerc] nearly spun one lap, two McLaren guys, Max [Verstappen] as well, I think they were all massively struggling in the last corner, which I felt during the race as well.”
“Some of the drops of rain probably had a part to play in that for the race too, but I think the wind there was very, very difficult. And then you also combine the fact that you can’t really under-push the last corner, because it’s a very important one, because if you have a good exit, it determines whether or not you’re going to be able to attack the car in front or defend from the car behind.
“So there’s a lot of things to manage, and it is very, very difficult. And definitely, I think today, with wind and different conditions involved, it was probably one of the hardest races I’ve done to win.”
Never secure until the flag
When asked by Pit Debrief whether there was a point when he felt confident about securing a podium at the F2 Azerbaijan GP Sprint Race, Dunne admitted he never felt fully safe.
“I mean, I think when I got past Luke and I got into third, I felt pretty comfortable. And then I locked up a win straight in turn one, so I undid that pretty quickly. But no, I think after that, I never really felt like it was secure.”
“I think the fact that my front left was so badly flat-spotted, I was very sure that the guys behind me were going to have more pace, because normally when you have that, the balance becomes very difficult, the car becomes difficult to drive. You can’t really push the braking points, because you’re afraid you’re going to lock up again. And this is a track where pushing the braking points is important.”
“So I think it was one that I had to try and manage well towards the end of the race. I think I tried my best to stay calm after it happened, because it’s easy to make a mistake like that, and then to do it again and again and just completely unravel the race. So I think I did well to stay calm and hold position, and then even gain some back. But there was never really a moment where I got to relax.”
