The Formula 2 Baku Sprint Race proved to be strong for Dino Beganovic and Hitech TGR. Taking his maiden win in Formula 2, Beganovic reflected on his Sprint Race, in a Press Conference attended by Pit Debrief.
The Swede discussed the effects of the wind and rain during the Sprint Race, also touching on how he managed each Safety Car restart.
Maiden Formula 2 victory
From the start of the weekend on Friday, Beganovic knew his car had strong pace. This meant performance would come down to his execution. The Swede noted that following lap one, he had the race “very much under control”.
He created a strong gap to the cars behind, allowing him to manage his pace and tyres effectively. With multiple Safety Cars being called, the next challenge was managing the restarts. Between his own performance and communication with his engineer, and his teammates performance, the Sprint Race was strong for Hitech.
“Yeah, I think we knew we had good pace from yesterday, and today was all about executing it well. I think it was all very much under control at all time after lap one. And then we just settled in our pace, tried to manage the tyres a bit, and be ready for a safety car, because you never know here in Baku. And then I think all the restarts were spot on as well. So yeah, it was a very good race from inside the car, also good communication with my engineer. And also great to have Luke doing the one-two for the team, and also Alex in P3. But a one-two for the team is always very good.”
Redemption from a tough season
After quite a difficult season, this win means a lot for Beganovic, he stated that it feels “very nice”. While the beginning and middle portions of the season were largely tough, Beganovic acknowledged his bounce back in Monza. Since then, the pace has been strong. While he is happy with this win, he know has his sights set on a Feature Race win.
“It’s very nice. I mean, it’s been a more difficult season than expected, especially the first and mid part of the season. Then in Monza we saw a big improvement, and after that it’s been very strong with the pace. So then it’s about execution, that we did well today. Not very good yesterday, but we responded well today. So it feels very good, and I’ve looked forward to this for a long time. And I mean, the next thing is obviously a feature race win, which is the main one to win.”
Beganovic’s confidence ahead of the Feature Race remains high. He noted that the team has a strong understanding of the car and its performance in the Sprint Race. This will allow them to target improvements for the Feature Race.
“I think we had a good reading of what the car was going to do today from yesterday. And again, we can learn from what could have been better today for tomorrow. So I’m confident we can be in the fight for tomorrow as well. And we normally make a good reading for Sunday. So I’m confident that the team and us will do a good job for that.”
Confidence created by winning
While he remained realistic that races will always have uncertainty, Beganovic also noted the confidence he has. Hitech’s pace was well exhibited in Monza, with Browning securing his maiden F2 win, and Beganovic taking P6 in both races.
Despite this, he acknowledged that this does not mean the hard work stops. Improvements are constantly being made on smaller issues. Many things have proven to be out of his control, and rather than focussing on them, he aims to simply do the best he possibly can.
“I mean, you never know what you can expect, but I’m confident with the pace we had in Monza and Luke’s win in Monza. Coming here with great pace, we can be confident for the last two rounds. But again, we should not stop working for that. We still need to be working on small things to improve.
“So the things that have been out of our control, it’s not worth focussing on so much. Just try to make the best job you can for me and the team. And obviously, that’s the only thing you can control. So I think today was very good executed. The season has been difficult, but again, we can only control what’s next. So that’s what we are focussing on.”
Wind adding further challenge at Baku
While Baku is already a challenging circuit, the conditions during the Sprint Race furthered those challenges. One of the key challenges was the wind. The wind was continuously changing, making it tricky to predict, and rain began to sprinkle, making the white lines slippery.
Beganovic stated that if you take wet races out of the equation, this was one of the tougher races he has seen to date. With the wind changing so much, it became difficult to predict which corners would be benefitted, and which ones would do the opposite.
“Yeah, like both Luke and Alex said, it was one of the tougher races, apart from looking at wet races. It was changing all the time, the wind. References are changing all the time. And also with the little spots of rain that we were getting, taking careful on braking on the white lines as well. So it’s not easy. Like they said, it’s one of the tougher races I’ve done.
“But, you know, just focussing on every single move and making sure that you don’t arrive faster than the lap before into some corners was important. So, yeah, then the wind is not very consistent. Like you said, it’s very gusty. And with the buildings, it’s changing very much. So some corners where you expect it to help you, it’s actually not doing it. And other corners, it’s the opposite. So, like I said, very difficult. One of the tougher races.”
The rain and existing challenges of Baku
While the conditions made the Sprint Race tougher, Baku is already well known for the challenges it brings. Tyre management, brake management, and Safety Car restart management were all still factors affecting Beganovic’s driver. Despite the strong result, he believed there to be further improvements to be made for the Feature Race.
“Like I said, it was one of the tougher races for the conditions, but also it’s a particular track for, like you said, managing tyres, managing the brakes, restarts and so on. And as a rookie coming here, it’s not super easy trying to see what they have done during the years before. But in the end, it was, I think, well executed. There are some things that can be changed for tomorrow and improved for tomorrow. But in the end of the day, I think we did it well and, let’s say, studied and prepared ourselves well before the weekend.”
While it was difficult to tell just how much rain was falling, or how much conditions were affected, it was clear that the white lines became slippery. The wind and rain picked up from Friday and made conditions trickier, but despite a challenging race from inside the car, Beganovic executed it well.
“We were getting some spots on the visor, and it was a bit difficult to tell how much it was raining and if it was affecting the driving. But it was a bit tricky in the last sector to understand when it was drying, and with the white lines as well, because they’re quite slippery. So just taking a bit more care there, and it was fine, but it was very tricky conditions out there today. I think everybody can speak for that, because with the wind picking up very much today compared to yesterday, and also the spots of rain, it was a challenging race from inside the car. But yeah, like I said, well executed.”
Perfecting Safety Car restarts
With multiple Safety Car periods during the Sprint Race, Beganovic was forced to master his restarts. While there are many ways to control the restart, the Swede left his restarts right until the last minute. When asked how he decided how to control the restart, his response was by looking into statistics and using the element of surprise.
“[Inaudible] Because you have the very long straight, and the proper last corner is T16. And to make a surprise move there, and giving the guy behind you a tow is very optimistic. So in the end, it’s statistics, what has worked before, and obviously discussing with the team, and also getting some advice from the guys in the F1 paddock, and from Ferrari. It’s a mix of surprise effect and also statistics, what has worked and what would work in simulation as well. And I think it was well executed today.“
Focus as a key factor
Beganovic was asked how he made such a tricky track look so simple. He acknowledged that he was not pushing too much from the mid point in the race. Beganovic remained solely focused on what was coming next—the next corner, the next braking point.
Overall, he noted that the race was simply about managing his tyres, and the gap to the cars behind. He knew that should another Safety Car be needed, he would need his tyres to be as healthy as possible. While he knew this was a strong race for him, his does not believe it qualifies as one of his best performances.
“We did a good job, yes. But it was not like we were pushing massively from mid-race. When you know you have such a big gap, you just try to focus on what’s next, not what to say in the press conference or how to celebrate afterwards, but the next corner, even though sometimes you can get it in the head and trying to get those things out of your head and just focus on what’s next, the next corner, the next breaking point.
“And I think, in general, during the race, it was just about management and managing the gap behind and managing to, let’s say, not take too much out of the tyres in case there’s another safety car. Because if that was to happen, obviously, I would have a much more difficult time. So, just making sure we were all under control. Yes, it was a very good race, but I don’t know if it’s on the upper side of my performances. But, again, it was a combination of the team doing a very good job, giving us a good car today and, obviously, the execution done.”
Edging closer in the Teams’ Championship
Following the Sprint Race, Hitech TGR are a mere 17 points behind Teams’ Championship leaders, Invicta Racing. Beganovic noted that the entire team is working incredibly hard behind the scenes. While they of course want to win, they are not focused on the Teams’ Championship.
The Swede also noted that while the year has been tough for him, his teammate Browning has been strong. At the end of the day, the focus is on scoring points, and hopefully winning races, in order to change their performance for the following races. The goal is to be in contention for the Championship, although he acknowledged this to be a whole year effort.
“[Working] Hard behind the scenes. I think everybody’s working hard, but again, we all want to win. Me and Luke, the team wants to win. So it’s a lot of hard work put into that. But again, we don’t really focus on the Team Championship. This year has been difficult for me. Luke has done a good job on his side and he’s fighting for the Driver Championship. So I think in the end, it’s about scoring points every weekend and taking what you can do and not doing any silly mistakes in Quali and in the race. So we don’t have many wins in total.
“Hopefully we can change that for the end of the year and from months on. But again, it’s about scoring points. It’s a championship. It’s not a one-off race. So that’s, I think, the main thing you can be focussing on and what our aim has been during the whole year. And it’s the big picture, which is winning the championship and being contention for the championship.”
