The first race of the 2023 Formula 2 season saw a maiden victory for series veteran Ralph Boschung of Campos Racing. In what was his 96^th race start in F2, the Swiss driver controlled the lead from reverse-grid pole and won by a dominant margin of 10.8 seconds over MP Motorsport’s Dennis Hauger. This was later followed by an excellent second-place finish from tenth on the grid in Sunday’s Feature Race.

By Tyler Foster

After the Sprint Race on Saturday, the 25-year-old spoke proudly of his momentous win.

“Better late than never! I’m super happy. The car was on rails. Thanks to the team – they deserve this so much, especially to actually win by more than 10 seconds. The car was incredible.”

Comfortable at Campos

Adrián Campos first took a chance on Boschung by signing the then 19-year-old to the Spanish team for his inaugural Formula 2 campaign in 2017. Since then, he has competed with Campos in five separate seasons, including this one.

Following his maiden win in the series, Boschung dedicated the moment to the late team owner, stating, “I wouldn’t be here [without Adrian Campos]”.

Making his debut with Campos, Boschung did not stay on with the team for his second season in 2018, instead racing for MP Motorsport. Another change followed in 2019, when he switched once again, this time to Trident.

The lack of stability in his start to life in F2 disturbed his growth in the series, but in reuniting with Campos, he found a familiar environment that enabled him to develop.

“I think that I matured a lot over the years. I maybe stepped up in F2 at the wrong time, when I was not in the right environment, let’s say. I always knew that I can do it. Now, finally, I can show my true potential.”

Recovering from 2022 neck injury

Boschung’s 2022 campaign started strongly, with two fourth-place finishes in Bahrain and a feature race podium in Imola. Unfortunately, this coincided with the onset of his facet syndrome. The injury caused neck and back problems which persisted for the remainder of the year.

Feeder Series asked Boschung if his physical condition had improved after having time to recover during the off-season.

“The neck itself, at the moment, is fine. I do have a couple of issues that I still need to resolve, to be honest, but overall, it’s still okay. I just need to keep doing some treatments. There is always a bit of anxiety that it suddenly comes back, which is obviously possible. I just need to keep doing my work on that.”

I see racing a little bit differently than I did before.

Ralph Boschung

Though he started 2023 on a high, Boschung admitted to Feeder Series that he lacked a bit of self-belief entering the season.

“I’m confident, but I wouldn’t say I’m the most confident. I think last year, at the beginning of the year, I felt really confident. Since the neck injury, things changed a little bit. I see racing a little bit differently than I did before.

“I think the confidence maybe takes a little bit of time to come back. Obviously winning like this is going to be a big boost to my confidence,” he explained.

“I realised that if your health is not there, there is not much you can do. I was never really worried. I always thought, ‘I’m young and everything will be fine’. But obviously it can happen to anyone – health issues – and I think … I just look at it from a different perspective. [Racing is] very important to me, but it’s not everything.”

Confidence for the rest of 2023

Following another podium visit on Sunday, Boschung now sits in second place in the Formula 2 drivers’ championship, five points behind feature race winner Théo Pourchaire.

The combination of Campos’ pace and Boschung’s extensive experience makes the Swiss driver confident in his ability to fight at the front for the entirety of this season — perhaps even to fight for the title.

“The car was just incredible. I have to thank the team so much because I just enjoyed both of the races. Our baseline race pace is now a lot better than it used to be,” he said after Sunday’s race.

Bahrain is a bit of a special track. We now go into two street circuits [Jeddah and Melbourne]. There I feel very confident. I think we have a mega car on street circuits, especially in qualifying. If on a track like [Bahrain] we have been so competitive, I think on more traditional circuits we can be a lot better than last year.”

Header photo credit: Formula Motorsport Limited