Converting a career-best qualifying result into his maiden F2 podium, ART Grand Prix’s Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak secured a well-deserved P2 finish in Sunday’s Feature Race at Spa-Francorchamps, capping off a well-executed weekend for the Thai driver and his team.
Despite missing out on pole position by just 0.039s to Invicta Racing’s Rafael Câmara, the eighth round of the season marked another step forward for Inthraphuvasak as he continued on his recent run of strong performances.
Speaking in the post-Feature Race press conference attended by Pit Debrief, Inthraphuvasak reflected on his race, saying: “Yeah, it feels really good. It’s been a long time since I’ve had champagne, so yeah, really good. But overall, a good week for myself and the team. I think we have been on it since Red Bull Ring now, and being more consistent over the last few races.”
“I’m really happy that we can put it together in the Feature Race today, even though it was a messy race overall with the red flags and stuff, but happy to be standing on the podium.”
As one of eleven rookies on the grid, he acknowledged that a win is possible. However, while he keeps his approach to each round unchanged, the ART driver feels encouraged by the progress they have made.
“For sure. The goal is to get a win for sure, but I think the approach every weekend continues to stay the same.”, he explained. “I think that it’s a good sign that we’re starting to be fighting at the front with the championship contenders now. So yeah, I’m pretty happy with how the team and I are working, and we’ll continue to push forward.”
Contrasting pace across both stints
“Yeah, I had a good start off the line. I think I got into the lead and then really struggled with the pace on the first stint.”, he reflected when asked how he managed to keep his race clean.
The Thai driver admitted he was uncertain about their chances after the pit stop and red flag restart, but was encouraged to find strong pace. With drivers—like Alex Dunne who was running in P2 ahead—carrying penalties during the race, he shifted his focus to managing his race and maintaining a clean run to secure a podium finish instead.
“So I was not so optimistic about how we were going to go after the pit stop and after the red flag. But afterwards we found ourselves having really good pace and having a good fight with Niko [Tsolov].”
“So I didn’t have to do so much with the guys in front because they had a penalty. So I just tried to manage my race from then.”, he said.
Inthraphuvasak: Red flag provided a chance to reset
“I think it was a very messy race. Didn’t expect the red flag, definitely. Yeah, I mean, for myself on the first stint, we had a good start, but then I dropped back a lot. So I was just trying to control myself after the pit stop. Because we were not in the best position.”, Inthraphuvasak explained when asked how the red flag affected the top three’s focus and approach.
Trident’s Laurens van Hoepen brought out the red flag after crashing at Turn 8, leaving the race to continue under a time countdown.
Having started on the supersoft tyres and switching to the mediums several laps before the stoppage, Inthraphuvasak explained that the red flag provided him with an opportunity to reset and regroup ahead of the restart.
“But then when we had the red flag, I think I got the chance to talk to the team and kind of cool down in that moment to kind of reset for after the red flag. And I think it went very well.”
An all-rookie podium with Câmara and Tsolov
Joining him on the podium was Câmara and Nikola Tsolov, completing an all-rookie top three. When asked by Pit Debrief about the significance of rookies showing their competitiveness against more experienced drivers, Inthraphuvasak said: “Yeah, for myself, obviously I haven’t been as consistent as these two [Câmara and Tsolov] have in front, but I think the last few weekends for myself have turned around quite a bit.”
“I think we’re starting to show the potential we have now, and hopefully for the rest of the season I can fight in front with these guys. Like you said, it’s great to see that all the rookies from last year are fighting at the very front.”
Tyre degradation “a big factor” in how the race unfolded
“Yeah, the temperatures were very different to yesterday. I think it was very cold this morning, so during the warm-up laps it was quite hard to bring the temp into the tyres.”, the 20 year-old explained when asked about how challenging it was to generate and maintain tyre temperatures.
With Pirelli opting to bring the supersoft compound this year compared to the soft tyre used last year, Inthraphuvasak noted that tyre degradation was always expected to be a key factor in shaping the race.
“And then after the red flag we also got just an outlap before the start of the race. So yeah, I just tried to manage the tyres as best as I could. The deg today was also definitely a big factor, especially on the supersofts.”
“We all expected it to deg a lot. But yeah, it was really, really struggling on the first stint. So yeah, just trying to manage it as best as I could. I think we did a pretty good job.”
Inthraphuvasak on sharing the podium with a good friend
Having been teammates in Formula 3 last year and sharing the podium together at the finale in Monza, Inthraphuvasak got to celebrate his maiden F2 podium alongside his close friend Tsolov.
When asked by Pit Debrief what the moment meant to them after working so closely together as teammates last year, he said: “Yeah, I mean, Niko has been on the podium since the start of the season, but this is my first one. So, yeah, it’s great to share the podium with him as well.”
“We have a good relationship off track. So, yeah, it’s always nice. He’s been really consistent this season and it’s really good to see.”
Leaving the 2026 F2 Spa-Francorchamps round, Inthraphuvasak returns to the top ten in the Drivers’ Standings, sitting in 10th with 46 points. With the ninth round of the season taking place this weekend, the ART driver will be hoping to carry this momentum into Hungary and continue his strong run of form ahead of the summer break.
